Heading to New Zealand, hey? Good on ya! You speak English, hey? Sweet as! Just to be sure you and your mates will have heaps of fun and your mum won’t be worried, rattle your dags and get keen on learning your Kiwi English! When you do, you’ll be good as gold! If not, don’t get your knickers in a wad, she’ll be right.
We have a brand spankin’ new English vocabulary after five months of road tripping New Zealand in our not-so-flash campervan, Bernie, and tramping through the fern filled bush. The drives around the country were filled with hours of admiring thousands of shorn ewes in green paddocks, being spontaneously welcomed into generous Kiwi homes and served heaps of tea, biscuits and mince pies. It's been a corker!
We hope our stories and pictures have inspired you to explore New Zealand for yourself or return to the inspiring views! We have loved it here in this magical country known as Middle Earth. Make sure to use the US vs New Zealand English dictionary below to prepare for your trip. Don’t forget your sunnies, jandals and togs for the beach and your jersey for the cool nights, hey!
Tongariro Crossing, North Island
American mustard: mustard
bach: vacation home
biscuit: cookie
bogan: redneck
bonnet: hood of a car
boot: trunk of a car
Mount Cook, South Island
brekkie: breakfast
bush: forest
capsicum: bell pepper
car park: parking lot
cheeky: sassy
cheers: thank you
Moeraki Boulders, South Island
chemist: pharmacy
chilly bin: cooler
chippies/crisps: potato chips
chips: French fries
college: private high school
chook: chicken
Nugget Point
corker: very good
corgets: zucchini
coriander: cilantro
cotton buds: Q-tips
dags: dingleberry
dear: expensive
Hokitika, South Island
entrée: appetizer
ewes: female sheep
fizzy: carbonated soda
flash: fancy/ high class
flat: apartment
fortnight: two weeks
Route burn Great Walk
“Gold as!”: “Awesome!”
“Good on ya!”: "Congratulations"
gutted: bad luck
heaps: a lot
hens: chicken
hey: used similar to the Canadian “eh”
Queenstown
holiday: vacation
jandals: flip flops
jersey: sweat shirt
keen: excited
knackered: exhausted
knickers: underwear
Manuka Mire, Invercargill, South Island
kumara: sweet potato
lolly: hard candy
loo/toilet: bathroom
mate: friend
maths: math/mathematics
mince: ground beef
Roy's Peak, South Island
mufti: when students don’t have to wear school uniforms
mum: mom
munted: broken beyond repair
nappies: diapers
naughty: mischievous
paddock: field
Cave Stream, South Island
partner: girlfriend, boyfriend, spouse
petrol: gas
pie: meat filled pastry
plaster: band aid
pram: baby stroller
push bike: bicycle
Arthur's Pass, South Island
“Rattle your dags!”: “Hurry up!”
rubbish: trash
“She’ll be right”: all will be okay
shout: pay for something for you
slip: rock slide
sunnies: sunglasses
Pancake Rocks, South Island
“Sweet as!”: “Awesome!”
tea: dinner
tea towel: dish towel
togs: bathing suit
tomato sauce: ketchup
torch: flashlight
Sunset at Pancake Rocks, South Island
tramping: hiking over several days
tyre: tire
university: college
walking: hiking
wapiti: elk
wee: little bit
Fiordland National Park, South Island
windscreen: windshield
yarn: chat and jokes with mates
zed: “z”
A huge shout out and thanks to the Foresters for sharing NZ with us and teaching us our Kiwi-isms!