Pokie Meaning – Might Not Be What You Think
Australia and New Zealand are two countries that can offer an immense amount of architectural and natural wonders to its visitors. While you’re out and about exploring and taking pictures to impress your friends and followers with, the time will come for you to hit one of the nearby gambling venues or online sites, looking for your favourite money-making game. Here you will come across the term “Pokie”, which nowadays spreads even across the best gambling sites for Canadian players. But what are pokies anyway?
We are certain that many of you, especially the native speakers, have heard of this word, and their connotation is related to something entirely different. Let us assure you that in our case it has absolutely nothing in common with the visibility of the female nipples through clothing, dry ice chest rubbing, or unregistered pocket monsters in your Pokemon Go account, as some sites might suggest. Don’t freak out, as pokies are what the Kiwis and Aussies use when they refer to your casual poker machines or simply slots as it is most widely known across the globe. Check out our list of the best online pokies NZ sites and browse through the huge game collections.
Possible Origins of the Pokies Slot Term
Why are slots called poker machines and what’s the reason for the pokie slots nickname you might wonder? Well, no one really knows for sure regarding the first, and some people have tried to speculate that in the early 1900s when the very first Australian slots were introduced to the locals, they were, in fact, poker machines. This would be what the rest of the world has known as video poker machines. Quickly after, with the introduction of the slots and their close proximity to the rest of the bunch, it simply became easier for the residents Down Under to call them all “pokies”. However, some of them can currently be found even at the best mobile casino sites in Canada.
Australians Abbreviate Everything
As you might easily figure out by now, “pokie” is their short way of saying poker and by that, refer to the machine itself. If you are somewhat familiar with the local slang and ways the Aussies express themselves, this will be far from surprising to you. They are used to abbreviating everything there. In fact, you might find yourself having a hard time understanding everything just because of the entirely abbreviated words and sentences they are so accustomed to using. Just take a quick look at the following examples, and you will know what we are talking about:
- Petty – In your car running on fumes? Better head to the nearest gas station and fill up your tank with some petty (petrol) then.
- Cuppa – If you fancy tea, double-highlight the word “cuppa” in your brain vocab as it stands for “a cup of tea”. Yup, it’s true.
- Arvo – Now, do you like to have your tea in the morning or the afternoon? In case it is the latter, be aware that it’s referred to as “arvo” over there. Wanna have a cuppa this arvo, mate? – Yes, please!
- Biccy – For the sweet teeth out there, make sure to refer to biscuits as “biccies” the next time you’re at the local supermarket or service station.
- Lappy – The Aussie super cute way of referring to a laptop.
- Firey, Cabbie, Postie, Coppa – A fireman, a taxi driver, a postman, and a police officer. Serious professions with serious nicknames.
As you can see, it’s more than obvious, why a poker machine would be simply known as a pokie. Aussies are definitely not fans of words with more than 2 or 3 syllables and are giving their best to shorten their way through their daily convos (you see what we did there?). It makes us wonder how would they abbreviate the best Canadian live casino sites. It can be quite time-saving, we will give them that. In any case, if you want to successfully blend in with the locals and feel like a true Ozzie, this will definitely boost your rankings and comprehension.
Pokie Slots Around the World and Our Advices for You
Circling back to the topic of the article about what are pokies, know that a pokie slot machine is virtually the same as a slot, nowadays. Luckily for you, this isn’t the only synonym you will have the joy of encountering when visiting the native English-speaking countries. Set foot in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and you will mostly hear the locals refer to the slots as fruit machines. This dates back to the times when the slot was composed of the 3 rotating wheels illustrating various fruits. In Scotland, however, you will stumble upon the word “puggy” which is practically the same.
While at it, know that there are a plethora of great UK slot sites where you can spend a bit of your free time on your favourite digital pokie slot machines. As a last piece of advice, if you are planning a trip to Oz in the near future, do include small lingo lessons in between your gaming sessions. You can even take a look at our full guide about gambling in Australia. More and more Australians are roaming the planet these days, and it will be much fun to brag to them with your expert knowledge of their local English variation. Plus, it’s hard for us to deny the fact just how much fun it is to say “pokie”, instead of a slot, not to mention the rest of their clever and fun abbreviations.
Popular Questions
As you know, Australia is a very popular destination, therefore it isn’t at all surprising that quite the number of people are stumbling upon the pokies Australian slang term and are scratching their heads, trying to figure out what it means. This naturally leads to an endless stream of queries about it. We decided to add a brief written Q&A session about it to be sure you’re all fully informed.
