Digger Is What Australians and New Zealanders Call Each Other
A digger excavates. In Australia and New Zealand it became a term for a soldier, and then a friendly form of address.
A digger is a person or machine that digs. In Australia and New Zealand the word became something more: soldiers of the First World War were called diggers, probably from gold-rush mining slang and from the trenches they dug at Gallipoli. It became a national term of comradeship and is still used as a friendly address.
- One who digs. *A grave digger.*
- An excavating machine. *The digger arrived.*
- An Australian or New Zealand soldier. *The diggers of Gallipoli.*
- A friendly address (Australian). *G'day, digger.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | digger | A mechanical digger. |
| Plural | diggers | Two diggers. |
| Verb | dig | Dig a trench. |
| Past | dug | Dug in deep. |
| Related | excavator | A tracked excavator. |
How it is used in a sentence
- The diggers landed at Gallipoli.Australian and New Zealand troops.
- A digger cleared the site.Machinery.
- Dig in and hold the line.Military, from trench digging.
Australian and New Zealand English
- Digger — a soldier, or a friendly address
- Anzac — Australian and New Zealand Army Corps
- Cobber — a friend, now dated
- Mate — the standard term of address
- Bloke — a man
From *dig*, of uncertain origin, possibly from Old French *diguer*. The military sense dates from the First World War.
Why are Anzac soldiers called diggers?
Probably from gold-rush mining slang combined with the trench digging of the Gallipoli campaign.
Digger or excavator?
Digger is the everyday British and Australian word. Excavator is the technical and industry term.