[Ralph Nader]

Also, there's this great expression:

"How ya goin me old china?"

China = china plate = mate = cobber

[will]

You know I lobster and then I flounder..........too funny!

[lucid.motion]

theres also the lolly called a cobber.

COBBER

[LarryH]

My grandpa uses the term when talking about Skype.

COBBER!

[tanguero]

Being called cobber by an old bloke is a mark of acceptance, feel proud.

The one that it took me a while to get used to is "cock".
When I was working in Hobart 18 odd years ago the old blokes would say "Gidday cock" or "it's your shout cock".
Obviously meaning male chicken and meaning it in a friendly fashion.
I soon stopped using it myself when I got back to the big island.

[Abaddon]

Originally Posted by TheKeddi

Stobie poles are SA for power poles,

LOL. While it's true that Stobie poles are power poles, there really is nothing else anywhere in Australia like Stobie poles. When the nuclear holocaust comes and humanity is destroyed, the only things left will be the coackroaches and Stobie poles.

As far as the OP is concerned, as long as they call you Cobber it's o.k. When they start to call you a load of old cobblers, then it's time to get offended.

[stevejay]

Originally Posted by bdude

I started working at a supermarket and old men have been calling me cobber, anyone on MTAU know what this means? I don't know if I should take it as an insult or compliment?

I think cobber comes from convict days. Somebody from the circle of friends you knew you could depend on was in your "cob". (Probably a Crew Of Blokes or Company Of Blokes, but these things can go on ad infinitum back through history.) So, if you were in somebody's trusted circle, you were their cobber.

How terms like this and "mate" come to be used in such a cavalier way is probably as a simple bloke's mark of respect. As an expression of respectful thanks, a working bloke might pay a small kindness from a stranger by calling them "cobber".

Thus, the true meaning of the word is diluted.

EDIT: Moving on from my family folklore, according to wikipedia the etymology of cobber is...

Originally Posted by wikipedia

Australian goldfields produced a lot of clay-based spoil as the pits were dug. This was often used as building material, making unformed (usually red) mud cob huts. It is proposed without proof that this is probably the derivation of the term..

Edit 2: and the ABC language site Cods links above has two listings which may have a bearing on the etymology, 1 = friend/mate 2 = a hard, choc-coated toffee.

[kyncaid]

mate buddy chum pal etc.