What is the meaning of ranga in Australia?
The meaning of ranga in Australia is redhead. This piece of Australian slang derives from orang-utan – and the name is based on the orang-utan’s orange hair.
Ranga is one of those distinctive pieces of Australian slang that doesn’t immediately translate into British or American English. Like bogan, hoon, flamin’ galah, budgie smugglers or root, the meaning of ranga is peculiar to Australia.
If someone is described as a ranga, it is not necessarily an insult. That said, it’s rarely used as a glowing compliment, either.
Meaning of ranga in Australia
Ranga in Australian slang is a reference to red hair. Generally, if an Australian is being effusive about someone with red hair, they’ll use redhead to describe them. Ranga isn’t quite a loaded term, but it sometimes comes with connotations of being scrappy or rough-and-ready. An Australian ranga tends to be the no-nonsense, earthy redhead rather than the graceful, elegant one.
Tick off 9 Australian bucket list experiences
- Take Blue Mountains day tour from Sydney – with kangaroo-feeding at a wildlife park, Scenic World tickets and a Parramatta River cruise.
- Snorkel or dive on the Great Barrier Reef from Cairns.
- Do Australia’s most spectacular drive on a Great Ocean Road day tour from Melbourne.
- Drive along the beach on a 4WD day tour of Fraser Island, the world’s biggest sand island.
- Have a dune-top barbecue dinner and stargazing session in the shadow of Uluru.
- See penguins on Phillip Island – and more native wildlife at the Moonlit Sanctuary – on a day trip from Melbourne.
- Go snorkelling, sandboarding and kayaking on Moreton Island from Brisbane.
- Meet gloriously cute quokkas on Rottnest Island near Perth with a ferry and bike hire package.
- Kayak with dolphins in Byron Bay.
But why on earth would you use the word ranga to describe someone with red hair? Well, the word is a somewhat brutal contraction of orang-utan. Orang-utans have distinctively orange hair. So calling someone a ranga is basically comparing them to an orang-utan, based on their hair colour.
Redheads called Blue in Australian slang
This is not the only strange word Australians use for redheads. A common nickname for someone with red hair is Blue or Bluey. This is the sort of absurdist contrarianism that might see a really tall man called Stumpy. There’s something very Australian about sarcastically calling someone the opposite of what everyone can see them to be.
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