As a New Zealand author, I’m afraid I’m a bit of a trial to my editors. I keep slipping Kiwi speak into my manuscripts, mainly the contemporary and paranormal ones. When I get my edits back there are comments about “head scratching” and lots of question marks. Here are a few you probably haven’t heard before.
Thirteen Examples of Kiwi Speak
1. “Haven’t seen you in yonks!” – This means ages. i.e. I haven’t seen you for a long time.
2. Sweet as – this means yes or I agree. i.e. Do you want to go for a drink? Answer – sweet as.
3. Were you born in a tent? – I heard this one often as it kid. My mother’s way of telling me I’d left the door open and was letting in cold air.
4. He’s on his OE, earning big bikkies in London now. – translation: The man is on a working holiday in London, has a job and is receiving a good wage. OE = overseas experience.
5. Come on, ref, are your eyes painted on? – the referee is making decisions that the audience don’t agree with.
6. Got any chuddy? – they’re asking if you have any chewing gum.
7. Nine girls are running under a wharf and here I am – this is the way we learn to spell Ngaruawahia, the place where the Maori King lives.
8. You make a better door than a window – this means you’re standing in the way of something the speaker is trying to watch i.e. the television or at a sports match.
9. No need to pack a sad – means that the person is having a tantrum or sulking. The speaker is telling them that there is no need to sulk.
10. Oh, give me a break – means that something has gone wrong i.e. you’d say this if you were mowing the lawn and run out of petrol with just a little of the lawn left to mow.
11. Your turn to shout – means it’s your turn to buy a round of drinks.
12. It’s puckarooed – means that something is broken and can’t be fixed.
13. You couldn’t organize a piss-up in a brewery – means the person is useless.
A bonus – Ka pai – this is Maori and means good. Puku – Maori for stomach. I often say, “My puku is full.”
Have you heard of any of these?
Source: Kiwi Speak by Justin Brown.
Flippin’ heck, mate, can’t yer speak Ocker?
Seriously, loved ’em, Shelley. I hadn’t heard the chewing gum one.
LOL why yes I can!
Loved reading them… hehe they made me giggle.. I know most of them, and even use some in Aussie land. Hmm one I got caught on the other day by a critique partner from US was when said ‘I was having you on’ :) Made me chuckle.
It gets confusing after a while, trying to work out which sayings belong down this end of the world and which ones don’t.
Um…no. I would be scratching my head on all of these. The only ones I could figure out without your definitions:
#3 sounds like the American saying, “Were you born in a barn?” and #10. :)
Ah, my work here is done then! *grin*
#8 & #10 are pretty common American sayings, too.
Thanks for stopping by!
Got any Chuddy? I’ve never heard that one. I guess I better study up if I’m going over to New Zealand. :)
I used to hear this one a lot as a kid. Not so much now. Maybe because I don’t chew gum much these days!
Too right! #3, 8 & 10 were familiar but the rest, not so much! Thanks for sharing.
I’m glad I didn’t totally confuse you.
I’ve heard a few of these, but not most of them. Thank you for teaching me some new things…
You’re all set for a visit now :)
Ooooh!!! These are so cool! I love the nine girls are running under a wharf and here I am! Brilliant.
I still use this when spelling Ngaruawahia!
I think #7 was my favorite!
Thanks for visiting, Sidney.
It looks like we are on the same wave length. Love the word, chuddy lol Thanks for sharing. Happy T13!
Great minds think alike :)
As noted above, #s 3, 8, & 10 are very familiar to most Americans.
Puckarooed, though, was totally new to me. I love it, will be using it regularly. Thanks!
Puckarooed is such a great word. I like it.
Fun TT! As an NFL football fan, love number five! LOL!
*hugs*
Paige
My TT is at http://paigetylertheauthor.blogspot.com/
There are lots of other sports ones too. It seems refs get abused in every country.
8 and 10 are also Americanisms, and — as Brinda said — the US equivelent of #3 is “born in a barn.” Our equivelant of #5 would be to ask if the ref was blind.
We use the blind ref one too.
Some of these I could kind of guess, but some I’d be lost without the translation. Thanks.
Isn’t it weird how English evolves in different countries.?
I like “pack a sad.” I knew “eyes painted on” and my dad asked me if I was “raised in a barn.”
Pack a sad is a common one down here.
Number 10 I’m familiar with, and number 3 would be, were you born in a barn over here. The rest were new to me, and very cool.
Thanks for stopping by, Gerri.
A lot of them are the same as Yorkshire sayings but some are a little different. We were born in barns not tents lol
Sometimes we use barns down here but tents are more common.
Eight of them are common across the Tasman as well.
We add “Back of Bourke” for the far outback, sometimes “beyond the black stump”, and “Two bob short of a quid” which dates itself as an expression of doubt about the subject’s mental competence.
I am often reminded of my age when I let expressions like these drop and am rewarded with a blank look.
I’ve heard the ones you mentioned too. I’m not copping to old though!
Chuddy made me laugh. Haven’t used that in years.
Hi Erin – it’s one we used to heard a lot at school. Probably you heard it there too.
I hadn’t heard of a single one of them except number 8. Hubby says that to the dogs all the time when they get in front of the tv.
And your dogs would do a great job of blocking the TV. At least Bella is little :)
Almost as strange as Cockney Rhyming Slang!
I love these! Around here, instead of asking if you were born in a tent, it would be “Were you born in a barn?” Thanks for sharing. This was quite interesting!
Thanks for sharing! They were all new to me.