What it means
Means something’s top-notch or someone’s done brilliantly. You’ll hear it for a ripper game, a ripper arvo, or a ripper deal. Said as You little ripper! it’s a proud, dad-style cheer when a mate nails something, from landing a fish to fixing the mower. It’s just harmless hype, not the horror-movie kind of ripper.
Usage examples
"Pulled a monster barra off the jetty, old mate nearly dropped his esky and yelled, You little ripper! Now whack it on the barbie, champ."
"My dad in the back garden of the bungalow in the western suburbs of Brisbane on Saturday afternoon of the long weekend of the Anzac Day commemoration finally fixed the rusty Hills hoist clothesline of the second decade in service of the family laundry of the back yard, my mum from the kitchen window of the second floor of the wash room yelled out you ripper darling at the top of her lungs, and the next-door neighbour over the fence of the back gate joined in the cheer of the third household of the street."
"That was a ripper of a goal, curled it right into the top corner from outside the box."
"We had a ripper of a weekend at the coast, sunshine, good waves and not a cloud in sight."
Other ways to say it
Editors of this term
Your vote counts
Is this real street talk or have we lost the plot? Cast your vote.