Each country has it’s own way of speaking and it’s own colloquialisms that everybody uses. New Zealand is certainly no different and has it’s own unique Kiwi expressions that you will hear every day and need to learn.
Here you will find a list of the most common:
Kiwi Talk |
||
| Saying | Meaning / Use | |
| As | If something is really good, then you add As after the event, eg., Scary As (really scary), Funny As (really funny), Intense As, etc. Here one stands out in particular : Sweet As. This means “That’s just fine” or another common Kiwi saying “All Good” |
|
| All Good | Everything is fine / no problem | |
| Eh | End the sentence with this phrase, pronounced like Hay, just without the H. Eg., “That was a sweet as movie eh”. You can also use it like we do to ask the person to repeat themselves because you didn’t hear what they said. eg., Paul : “What you doing tonight?”. You : “eh?” | |
| Bach | Pronounced Batch, means a holiday home | |
| Flash | Fancy, eg., “You just bought yourself a flash new car eh” | |
| Bricky | Bricklayer | |
| Chippy | Builder / Carpenter | |
| Mate | Friend, eg., “Hey mate, can I ask you a favour?” | |
| Gold Coin | One or Two dollar coin | |
| Jumper | Jersey or pull over jacket | |
| Choice | Very good, eg., “Thanks Mum, that was a choice plate of food” | |
| Chook | Chicken | |
| Crook | sick, eg., “I’m feeling a little crook today” | |
| Stink | Bad or not good, eg., “These black jelly beans taste pretty stink” | |
| Flick | send. Usually used when sending an email, eg., “Flick me your CV” (Email me your CV) | |
| Bro | Bru, eg. “What are you doing to night bro?” | |
| Dole | Unemployment benefit | |
| Ding | small bump or dent, eg., “I just dinged my car” or “I just dinged my head on the cupboard door” | |
| Dunny | Toilet | |
| Lifestyle Block | What we call a Plot in Afrikaans. | |
| Push Bike | Bicycle | |
| Good on Ya | well done | |
| Yakka | Work, eg., “It’s gonna be hard yakka building this fence today” | |
| Ice Block | Ice cream made with water | |
| Judder Bar | Speed bump | |
| Motorway | Highway / Freeway | |
| Pakeha | White people | |
| Kai | Food | |
| Kai Ora | Hello in Maori | |
| Whanau | Pronounced “Fah no” and means family in Maori | |
| Rellies | Relatives / your family, eg., “We’re gonna go visit the rellies today” | |
| Sealed Road | Tarred road | |
| She’ll be right | Everything will be okay | |
| Smoko | Smoke break | |
| Kumara | Pronounced “koo-muh-ruh”, Sweet potatoes | |
| Tea Towel | Used for drying the dishes | |
| Wellies | Gum Boots | |
| Tag | A form of graffiti where the kids spray paint their tagging name on walls | |
| Hoon | Teenagers with fast cars | |
| Boy Racer | same as hoon | |
| Ring | Phone me, eg., “Ring me” | |
| ya | pronounced “yuh” (not Ja like in Afrikaans), eg., “Ring me will ya” | |
| wop wops | In the middle of nowhere, eg., “Gee this place is really in the wop wops” | |
Then there are words and terms we are used to using in South Africa that the Kiwis simply don’t understand so you will need to unlearn them:
South African Sayings that you can’t use in New Zealand |
||
| Saying | Rather use |
|
| Just Now / Now Now | Shortly | |
| Couple | In New Zealand this means two and not a few | |
| Robot | Traffic Light | |
| Circle (driving) | Roundabout | |
| Takkies | Trainers | |
| Costume (swimming) | Togs | |
| Supper | Tea or Dinner | |
| Sweets | Lollies | |
| Lekker | good | |
| Ja | Yep, or yes | |
| Cooler Box | Chilli Bin | |
| Geyser | Hot water cylinder | |
| Air conditioner | You can say Air conditioner, they will understand but Heat Pump is the term used here | |
| Bakkie | Ute | |
| Plakkies / Flip Flops | Jandals | |
| Ground Road | Metal Road | |
| Pressure Washer (like Karcher) | Water Blaster | |
| Kafee | Dairy | |
| Capsicum | What we are used to calling pepper, like green or red or yellow peppers | |
| Pawn Shop | Not big in New Zealand, folks usually just donate to Hospice or the Salvation Army. The items are then sold and the profits used for charity work. These charity shops are called Op Shops | |
| Scrap Yard | Dismantlers, also called Wreckers | |
| Braai | Barbi | |
| Hiking | Tramping | |
| SMS | Text | |
| Ground Road | Metal road | |
| Ouma and Oupa | Kiwis do understand what this means, but they usually say Nana and Pops | |
| Spanspeck | Honey Dew Rock Mellon | |
| Spinach | Silverbeet | |
| Brinjal | Eggplant | |
| Naartjie | Mandarin | |
| Baby Marrow | Courgette. Pronounced “korszet”. | |
| Granadilla | Passion Fruit | |