afternoon tea: light meal of finger-foods
and tea served between lunch and dinner
arse: rear end, butt
aubergine: eggplant
banger: sausage
bach: small holiday home (see crib)
baby blue: ending of a sentence, like
"Sorry charlie"
bed sitter: sleeper sofa
big bickies: lots of money
biscuit: cookie
bludge: to live off the generosity
of others, to sponge
bolshie: extreme radical
bonk: to have sex with
bonnet: car hood
boot: car trunk
bomb: (referring to car) very old car
in disrepair
box: cup (device for protecting male
genetalia)
box of birds: cheerful, happy, very
good
bugger all: not much, very little
buggered: exhausted
bum: rear end, butt
bum-bag: fanny pack (pouch worn around
the waist)
bun-fight: social gathering with food
bush: forest
bust a gut: make an intense effort
candyfloss: cottoncandy
capsicum: bell pepper
car park: parking lot
caravan: trailer, mobile home
carked it: died, kicked the bucket
caustic soda: lye
cellotape: scotch tape
chat-up: flirt, try pick-up lines on
someone you "fancy"
cheeky: sassy, impish, insolent or
impudent
cheers: good-bye; thank-you
chemist: pharmacy
chilly bin: portable insulated cooler
chips: French fries
chippy: carpenter
choc-a-block-full:
very full
choice: very good
chook: chicken
chrissy: Christmas
chuffed: pleased
chunder: to vomit
collywobbles: upset stomach
cor blimey: exclamation of disbelief,
derived from "God blind me"
corker: very good
cornflour: cornstarch
cotton buds: Q-tips
cracker: very good
crib: small holiday home (see bach)
crisps: potato chips
dairy: convenience store
ding: a small car accident (fender-bender)
does me up a treat: suits me just fine
dole: unemployment benefit; state funded
income support
draughts: checkers
dreaded lurgy: imaginary disease used
as an excuse to get out of doing something
dressing gown: bathrobe
dummy: pacifier
duvet: quilt
Eketahuna: the archetypal small country
city lacking amenities and which no one is expected to know anything about,
similar to "timbuktu". This town does exist.
entree: appetizer or hors d'oeurve
fancy: to find attractive, to have
a romantic interest in someone
fanny: male or female private parts
fizzy: soda pop
flannel: wash cloth
flash: sensational
flat: apartment
French letter: condom
frenchie: condom
fringe: bangs
get off the grass: exclamation of disbelief;
equivalent to "stop pulling my leg" and "no way"
going bush: to drop out of society
or become reclusive
Good on ya, mate!: congratulations
guts for garters: in big trouble
Gumboots: large rubber overshoes ranging
from calf to knee height. These are usually black, although little children
may wear colourful ones. Together with shorts and a black singlet, gumboots
constitute the quintesential kiwi-joker or farmer's outfit.
high dudgeon: feeling of deep disgust
or irritability
hokey pokey: 'sea foam' candy covered
in chocolate
holiday: vacation
home and hosed: safe, completed successfully
hoon: gang member, a rough person
hottie: hot water bottle
ice block: popsicle
jandal: thongs, flip-flops, slippers
Jeeze, Wayne!: exclamation, said to
someone regarded as acting or speaking foolishly
jersey: sweater
joker: man
judder bar: speed bump
Kiwi: New Zealander
kiwi: an endangered flightless bird
native to New Zealand
kiwifruit: kiwi (formerly known as
Chinese gooseberry)
kia ora: Maori for hello
Knickers: underpants, bloomers, shorts,
more generally, pants.
don't get your knickers in a twist:
don't get upset (also - don't get your tits in a tangle)
kornies: Kellogs cornflakes
ladies/gentlemen a plate please: bring
a food dish that can be shared with others
lemonade: clear soda (7Up)
lift: elevator
lolly: candy
loo: bathroom
lorry: truck
main: primary dish of a meal
Maori: indigenous people of New Zealand
mate: buddy, pal
metal: gravel used on country roads
(e.g. a metal road)
mobile: cell phone
money for jam: easy money
motorway: freeway
mudguard: fender
nappy: diaper
netball: game somewhat similar to basketball
pakeha: non-Maori person
panel beater: auto body shop
petrol: gasoline
piece-of-piss: easy
pike out: to give up when the going
gets tough
pikelet: small pancake often served
with jam and whipped cream
piker: one who gives up easily (see
pike-out)
pissed: drunk, inebriated
pissed-off: angry
pissing-down: raining hard
piss-up: social gathering with alcohol
plonked: drunk
PMT (Post Menstrual Tension): PMS
power cut: outage
postal code: zip code
pottle: small container
pram: baby carriage, stroller
prang: car dent
pub: bar
push bike: bicycle
quencher: ice cream bar
quite nice: very good, exceptional
(pronounced "quoite noice")
rack off: go away (angry)
randy: horny, feeling sexual impulses
ratbag: scally-wag, somewhat annoying
person
rattle your dags: hurry up, from the
sound that sheep make when running, caused by the striking together of
dried feces stuck to the fur near the tail
ring: phone/call
rockmelon: cantaloupe
Rogernomics: (derogatory) radical
free enterprise economic policies introduced by Roger Douglas, a Labour
Government Minister of Finance
rubber: eraser
scone: a small cake of shortened bread
raised with baking powder or soda
shandy: drink made with lemonade and
beer
Sheila: woman (outdated expression)
skiting: bragging
skull: drink beer rapidly
smoko: break, rest period
snarky: mixture of sarcastic and nasty
spew: to throw up
spotcha (later): see you later
sprog: a child, to give birth
sticking plaster: band-aid
stirrer: trouble-maker, agitator
strewth: honestly, from "God's truth"
swede: rutabaga
stubby: small bottle of beer
supper: late evening coffee/desserts
suss: to figure out
ta: Thanks
take the piss: to ridicule
tasty cheese: sharp cheddar cheese
tea: dinner - generic name for evening
meal
tea towel: dish rag
tiki tour: roundabout way to get somewhere;
scenic tour
tinkle-tank: toilet
tinned goods: canned goods
the tip: the dump
trad: rigidly traditional
tracksuit: sweats
tramping: hiking
togs: swimsuit
tomato sauce: catsup
torch: flashlight
tyre: tire
unwaged: unemployed
Waikikamukau: the essence of hickdom
(pronounced "Why kick a moo cow"). A mythical town so remote it makes
Eketahuna look like a metropolis.