(Australia, slang) To travel on a train without paying the fare.
(Australia, slang) To travel on a train without paying the fare.
"jump the rattler" means: To travel on a train without paying the fare.. This is informal slang, common in casual speech, texting and social media, but not appropriate for school work, applications or professional settings. There is no real cause for concern in itself; it is everyday peer vocabulary. If your child uses it, a light comment about audience and register is usually enough — no need to escalate. Context, more than the word, tells you whether to follow up.
"jump the rattler" means: To travel on a train without paying the fare.. Register: informal slang, fine in casual conversation, texting and social media but not in academic essays, business writing or formal speech. A common non-native mistake is to use the word in the wrong register, or to assume one fixed meaning when it is actually polysemous; always check the surrounding register and the audience before producing it yourself. In formal writing, prefer a neutral synonym or a short descriptive phrase, and use this word only when you have heard or read it being used naturally in a comparable context.
No comments yet — say something.
"jump the rattler" means: To travel on a train without paying the fare.. This is informal slang, common in casual speech, texting and social media, but not appropriate for school work, applications or professional settings. There is no real cause for concern in itself; it is everyday peer vocabulary. If your child uses it, a light comment about audience and register is usually enough — no need to escalate. Context, more than the word, tells you whether to follow up.
Slang is read by different audiences for very different reasons. The For parents view re-explains the term in plain, non-judgemental language so a caregiver can understand what their child means without needing the surrounding subculture. The For English learners view focuses on register (when it's safe to use), formal alternatives, and common mistakes — what a textbook won't teach you.
Add your own interpretation of "jump the rattler".
The vocabulary of software engineers, AI researchers, and anyone living in a terminal or on GitHub — from LLM to MCP, CORS to vibe coding, agentic to enshittification.
See all Tech, Dev & AI slang on Slangora.
Browse all slang words starting with J.
A freight train or, (chiefly, British), a passenger train.
(AU, transport, obsolete) Any of various red coloured passenger trains formerly operating in eastern mainland Australia.
(US, slang) To travel illicitly by clinging to the supporting rods under a freight train.
To enter something quickly, usually a mode of transport.
(Australia) To take part in a competition where riders attempt to stay on a horse that jumps in this way.