# Aussies and the use of "mate." **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 9, 2008, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-and-the-use-of-mate/476435 "2008-12-09T19:36:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-and-the-use-of-mate/476435/21 "2008-12-10T03:30:40Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > Dude, I honestly thought that “dude” was the American catch-all. Yup. I call everybody ‘dude’. Not often, but it works in pretty much every informal situation. ---
**Author:** ![ToeJam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-and-the-use-of-mate/476435/22 "2008-12-10T03:47:21Z")
> [@Captain\_Carrot](#): > > Yup. I call everybody ‘dude’. Not often, but it works in pretty much every informal situation. Dude, I totally feel ya on that one. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![bundykala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@bundykala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bundykala)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-and-the-use-of-mate/476435/23 "2008-12-10T04:06:13Z")
[This](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vjn2JKrlkcU) ad that shows a lot currently in NZ demonstrates quite nicely the different ways the term can be used. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-and-the-use-of-mate/476435/24 "2008-12-10T04:17:47Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > Actually “it’s” usage is “its”. :o My keyboard has developed a peculiar tic. I swear I had nothing to do with it. > [@](#): > > There’s also the dreaded maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaate, which means roughly “no offense old mate, old bud, oh pal of mine, but you’re being a dickhead”. Yes, but nothing is that simple. It can also mean “great to see you, haven’t seen you in ages” or “congratulations”. It is commonly used where you’ve forgotten someone’s name. I’m not very good at it, but the trick is to say “_Mate!_” in such a friendly fashion that your target is so pleased by the effusiveness of your greeting they don’t realise the reason you didn’t use their name. ---
**Author:** ![Junior\_Spaceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Junior\_Spaceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Junior_Spaceman)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-and-the-use-of-mate/476435/25 "2008-12-10T04:57:12Z")
I’m with Princhester, despite him being a Queenslander 😉 - in my circles, the MATE with many A’s is always positive. The curt, tight lipped ‘Mate’ means there’s going to be trouble. ---
**Author:** ![BigNik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/73ab20/32.png) [@BigNik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigNik)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-and-the-use-of-mate/476435/26 "2008-12-10T05:07:38Z")
It’s a word that foreigners should stay well away from until their ability to use it has been vetted by an official panel - it’s the verbal part of the citizenship test. It’s a catch-all word whose meaning is completely governed by context, and if you don’t quite get it you can think you’re being friendly while actually causing the listener to think that you’re extracting the urine. When I was working the door at a blood-pub in a touristy area (the Orient in Sydney’s Rocks - it was owned by the state police minister and was on record as being behind only one bar in the state as to the number of times an ambulance was needed), I saw any number of fights break out over this. ---
**Author:** ![chicken\_wire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e4f/32.png) [@chicken\_wire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chicken_wire)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-and-the-use-of-mate/476435/27 "2008-12-10T05:30:43Z")
> [@DellieM](#): > > My bosses over the years tend to use “mate” if they can’t remember someone’s name. Yeah, that’s the best part of the whole ‘mate’ thing. I have a terrible memory for names, I’d be lost without it. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-and-the-use-of-mate/476435/28 "2008-12-10T05:37:32Z")
I used to see “mate” used all the time talking with friends in Europe in online games and stuff, but I haven’t seen it as much in the last year or so. I’m not sure if it was a fashion at the time or if I’ve just moved into a more intellectual group of friends. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-and-the-use-of-mate/476435/29 "2008-12-10T05:46:11Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > ‘Mate’ here in Toronto refers rather specifically to a reproductive partner, so the Australian usage was always something I have to get used to. I think that ‘guys’ might be approaching that usage in the plural (I’ve heard women using it, as in ‘You guys’…) but when just addressing someone one-on-one, no, it isn;t used the same way. I’m not sure we have an equivalent. I thought Guy=Dude and Guy=Mate in Canadia (land of Canadians) 😉 ---
**Author:** ![leander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bcef8e/32.png) [@leander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leander)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-and-the-use-of-mate/476435/30 "2008-12-10T21:42:47Z")
I always thought of it as “man”. As in, “How’s it going, man?” Of course, “man” may come from my midwestern upbringing. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-and-the-use-of-mate/476435/31 "2008-12-10T22:32:03Z")
I’d rarely use “man” to address someone. I might say “aw man, that sucks!” or “hey man, don’t look at me, I don’t know!” I definitely don’t use it the variety of ways Aussies use “mate.” ---
**Author:** ![leander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bcef8e/32.png) [@leander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leander)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-and-the-use-of-mate/476435/32 "2008-12-10T23:14:04Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > I’d rarely use “man” to address someone. I might say “aw man, that sucks!” or “hey man, don’t look at me, I don’t know!” I definitely don’t use it the variety of ways Aussies use “mate.” When you say “hey man…” you are actually using “man” to address someone. Anyway, I suppose there are differences but having lived in both Australia and the US “man” is the closest I’ve seen to a similar word. I would agree that Aussies on whole use “mate” much more often and with more inflections (and thus more “meanings”). (And as an aside, sometimes in AU I would accidentally combine the words “mate” and “man” – which of course would come out “Matt”. :)) ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-and-the-use-of-mate/476435/33 "2008-12-10T23:37:31Z")
> [@leander](#): > > When you say “hey man…” you are actually using “man” to address someone. I don’t know what the linguistic term for it would be, but “aw man” is more of a general exclamation, like “oh God!” I could say “aw man!” when I’m alone, and just spilled something on the floor. I’ll grant you “hey man.” 🙂 I wouldn’t say “hey man, you just dropped your keys.” That would seem weird. ---
**Author:** ![Gleena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b3f665/32.png) [@Gleena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gleena)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2008, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-and-the-use-of-mate/476435/34 "2008-12-11T01:52:15Z")
I’ve been here almost six years, but I never really started saying “mate” until just recently, and sort of by accident. I knew I’d been here too long when I stuck my head out a door at work and yelled to a storeman, “Mate, we’re flat out here, don’t you dare try and chuck a sickie tomorrow or you’ll cop it, I swear.” And then I went…um…what did I just say? But mate is fairly ubiquitous in my circle of college educated, middle class Aussie friends and relations. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2008, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-and-the-use-of-mate/476435/35 "2008-12-11T03:22:07Z")
I’ve got an Aussie uncle (he’s been living here for,geez, at least 5 years I’d say) that still calls people mate from time to time. It’s so natural you almost don’t even notice it through the accent. ---
**Author:** ![tetranz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a587f6/32.png) [@tetranz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tetranz)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2008, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-and-the-use-of-mate/476435/36 "2008-12-11T03:33:53Z")
In 2005 there was an attempt to ban the [use of the world mate](http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200511/s1509861.htm) in the Australian federal Parliament. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2008, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-and-the-use-of-mate/476435/37 "2008-12-11T05:21:06Z")
> [@Gleena](#): > > I knew I’d been here too long when I stuck my head out a door at work and yelled to a storeman, “Mate, we’re flat out here, don’t you dare try and chuck a sickie tomorrow or you’ll cop it, I swear.” I have no idea what that could possibly mean. 🙂 English translation? Someone going to take a sick day? ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2008, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-and-the-use-of-mate/476435/38 "2008-12-11T06:14:12Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > English translation? Someone going to take a sick day? Yes ---
**Author:** ![Sierra\_Indigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2008, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-and-the-use-of-mate/476435/39 "2008-12-11T07:18:08Z")
_“Mate, we’re flat out here, don’t you dare try and chuck a sickie tomorrow or you’ll cop it, I swear.”_ “Excuse me my good sir, but we are under a large amount of pressure at this time. Please do not call in with a feigned illness tomorrow, or I will be forced to apply the harshest sanctions to you upon your return.” ---
**Author:** ![Gleena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b3f665/32.png) [@Gleena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gleena)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2008, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-and-the-use-of-mate/476435/40 "2008-12-11T07:42:36Z")
Yes, what Cunctator and Sierra Indigo both said. The gentleman in question at my last job had a habit of calling in sick after a busy day and I had had about enough of that. The problem is when I do go native people laugh at me - which is what happened then, because my American accent is fading, but comes out strong in times of stress. For the Australians, imagine that line delivered in a somewhat Southern US accent. It’s Just Wrong. To the OP, while I do use “mate” sometimes, I still cannot pull off the “awww…mate…” that means “dude, seriously?” It’s a favorite of my husbands but I just sound stupid. But I find myself more and more using mate as a form of address for someone who has been kind to me in some way whose name I do not know. “Thanks, mate!” “Cheers, mate” and so forth. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-and-the-use-of-mate/476435.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-and-the-use-of-mate/476435.md?page=3)