This week we are wearing shoes and socks because the word of the week is toe-biter, also known as the giant water bug. The toe-biter is a large freshwater insect that can grow up to seven centimetres long. They can breath underwater using a postier tube and are found along the eastern and northern coasts of Australia.
The giant water bug has another nickname: the giant fish killer. Yes, believe it or not, according to the Australia Museum this bug eats fish, frogs and other aquatic insects! Look up a picture on your favourite search engine. I dare you!
Australia has a lot of bugs and we spend a lot of time swatting them away from our faces. So it’s no surprise that bugs have featured on this blog before. Check out our blog of slang names for the mosquito.
Each week, we have a look at a slang word from Australian English. You can see other Aussie Word of the Week posts from the Macquarie Dictionary here.
