Whenever you are in New Zealand, you need to communicate, so here are some Kiwi terms for the beginners.
- Eh/Aye – compulsory addition to the end of a rhetorical question… “Last night was bloody good, eh”
- “ie” – often found at the end of shortened words, e.g. pressie (present), hottie (hot person), tantie (tantrum)
- “As” – also added to the end of words: “cold as”, “fun as”, “drunk as” -used to place emphasis on the word preceding ‘as’.
- Sweet as – great, as in “sweet as pie”… “That bungy was sweet as!”
- Heaps – used instead of “lots”… “We saw heaps of dolphins in Kaikoura.”
- “Gap it” – to leave the situation
- Hard case – someone who has a big personality, may do unusual things but basically is a real laugh… “Our bus driver’s hard case!”
- No wakas! – no problem!
- Dairy – a corner shop or news agent that sells milk, newspapers, etc.
- Bro – friend or brother
- Cuz – friend or cousin
- Chur bro – “cheers, thanks” or “that’s cool, my friend”
- Good on ya mate -well done
- She’ll be right mate – it’ll be OK
- Not even – “no, it’s not” or “that’s not true”
- Ta – thanks
- True? – surprised question, like “is that true?”
- Togs – swimwear
- Jandals – flip-flops
- Sunnies – sunglasses
- Suss – to figure out
- Wop-wops – out in the back country (middle of nowhere)
- Piker – someone who backs out of doing something
- Tiki Tour – to drive around casually taking the scenic route
- Gawk – to gaze
- Pack a sad – to get upset and sulk
- Back in the day – an undetermined amount of time in the past
- Nek Minute – “next” minute – used to create suspense when telling an amazing story.
