Where "Big Noter" Comes From
“Big noter” is Australian slang for a show-off or braggart. It comes from the verb “big-note”, to boast, and Green’s Dictionary of Slang explains that “note” there means paper money, so a big noter is someone flashing the cash or the importance.
The earliest dated use of “big noter” in Green’s is 1967, in a Sydney Kings Cross Whisper glossary: “A braggart who uses money to impress birds.” The verb is a little older, with its first Green’s example in 1953. “Big noter” then appears in a 1972 Australian swearing guide, a 1990 prison glossary, Chopper Read’s 1993 book How to Shoot Friends, and Shane Maloney’s 2000 novel The Big Ask, which calls a character a “fatuous big-noter”.
Source:
“Every office has one big noter who keeps telling you about their holiday house.”
How Aussies Actually Use It
You will hear it for anyone who talks themselves up, whether it is money, contacts or achievements. The matching verb is “big-note yourself”, and a similar Aussie word for a boaster is “skite”.
Say It Like an Aussie
Say it: BIG NOH-ter.
In conversation:
- Every office has one big noter.
- He’s a big noter, always talking about his connections.
- Don’t be a big noter, mate.
Good to know: A big noter is someone who talks themselves up. The related verb is “big-note”, as in “big-noting yourself”.
See also: Big note yourself, Skite, Up yourself
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