17 Things That The Rest Of The World Finds Weird About Australia

The world has spoken — Australia is weirder than we ever realised.

We recently asked the BuzzFeed Community to tell us the weirdest thing they found out after visiting Australia. Here are some of their wacky finds!

1. The unsolicited nicknames.

New Line Cinema

Everyone in Australia loves to give people nicknames, even if they didn't ask for one: Steveo, Warny, Macca, Bazza... the list goes on.

—granth48d7ca1f8

2. The accosting wild turkeys.

Getty Images

No one warned me about the wild turkeys that flock like pigeons.

—kennadyk

3. The unholy mixing of sweet chilli sauce and sour cream.

Getty Images

I’m from the UK and I find it really weird how Australians put sweet chilli sauce and sour cream TOGETHER in restaurants. Tastes good, but still weird.

—hollyb4d240ac02

4. The hundreds and thousands of flies.

Marvel Studios

The novelty cork hats make absolute sense. They fly on your face, in your ears and they hitch rides on people’s backs. Some people hardly notice them, but they drive me crazy.

—kmfogleman

5. The invading swarms of ants.

Marvel Studios

Oh my god, all the ants?! Thousands! Everywhere! And they bite?!

I couldn’t handle it and moved to NZ after only six months.

—sarvanaleekinghorn

6. The unnecessary holidays and strangely shaped money.

Netflix

The fact that you get a holiday for the Queen's birthday, which we don't even get in the UK — WHERE SHE LIVES! Also some states don't even have it near her actual birthday (April) or official birthday (June), but in Sept or Oct!

—judes3105

7. The multi-purpose and half-formed vehicles.

Instagram: @blackberry93 / Via instagram.com

Those cars that look like a pickup truck and sedan mixed together — a “ute” I believe? Anyways I absolutely lost my mind the first time I saw one.

—laurae42a5b87d6

8. The coded language that everyone speaks in.

ABC Indigenous

"Yeah, nah" — which one is it?!? Yes or no?!?

—reks80

9. The Australian pronunciation.

USA Network

The way they pronounce the letter “H”.

—sarvanaleekinghorn

10. The horrific reality of Australian pigeons.

@u/xcommunicated84 / Via reddit.com

All the magpies. Seriously, they are the Australian pigeon. So annoying. While I was living there, my roommate left our apartment’s balcony door open and the magpies invaded and crapped on everything.

—elenag6

11. The annoying questions that aren't really questions.

DreamWorks Pictures

Every sentence somehow sounds like a question. It can be simultaneously endearing and maddening.

—ellenpdx

12. The confusing numbering of floor levels.

NBC

American here, living in Australia for 11 years now. It goes ground floor then first floor in Australia. In America, it goes first floor, then second floor. Still confuses me.

—Kiri Porritt, Facebook

13. The random rhyming method of naming things.

ABC

The fact they call weed whackers “whipper snippers” and surf and turf “reef and beef”.

—Aly Kostecki, Facebook

14. The way we round up money.

Getty Images

That the smallest coin is a 5 cents but shops still sell things for 99 cents. So if you're paying cash and the total is $1.98, they just round up to $2?!

—judes3105

15. The way Australians say goodbye.

Disney

Check-out people saying "cya later". At first we wondered when we were going to see them.

— Lauren Bottacin, Facebook

16. The "O" obsession.

Endemol Shine Australia

Australians add "o" onto everything. If you get given a nickname, it's your name with "o" on the end. Jacko, Sammo — you get the picture.

—milliesh

17. And finally, absolutely everything else.

Marvel Studios

I’ve lived in Australia now for five years and there are still surprises all the time!

You don’t have to wear shoes in places, you can’t pay for gas at the pump, lock out laws, end of financial year parties, two different ways to get your bread sliced, every menu has beetroot and halloumi cheese and no Halloween — although they are starting to do some things.

—tinybuzz

Some entries have been edited for length and/or clarity.