Where This "Wog" Comes From
The exact origin of this sense is murky — it doesn't have a clear, well-documented etymology the way many other Australian slang terms do, and it's listed by dictionaries as a rare, informal usage.
It appears to have circulated in everyday speech, particularly among older generations, as a casual catch-all for a minor bug going around — the kind of thing you'd "come down with" rather than anything serious.
"I've got a bit of a wog, I might head home early."
A note on this entry
This word has two completely unrelated meanings in Australian English. This page covers only the older, informal sense above — a minor bug or illness, as in "I've got a touch of the wog." It's a fairly obscure, dated usage today.
The same word is also, much more commonly, a genuinely offensive ethnic slur historically directed at people of Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, and South Asian descent, and it's still widely recognised that way. That sense isn't covered here, and this entry shouldn't be read as endorsing or downplaying it.
How Aussies Actually Use It
In this sense, it's used the same way you'd say "I've caught a bug" or "I'm coming down with something" — a mild, non-serious illness, usually a cold or flu-like bug.
This usage is uncommon today and mostly heard from older speakers; because of the word's much more prominent offensive meaning, most Australians now avoid it altogether, even in this original, unrelated sense.
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