Hoi An, Vietnam. Sue Tsang, 2010.


Thursday, 25 August 2011

Kiwi chat (working draft)

I've been in New Zealand just over 4 months now. I love picking up on the words this small nation of people use. I've marked this post as a working draft because I'm still collecting the lingo.

First off, let me introduce some phrases which I like to use. It can be an exchange. Language change happens everyday. Pass it on!

- What's the chat? What's goin on? What's happening?
- Pal Friend. They don't really use this here. I'm bringing it here. Thank you to Glasgow for the influence.
- Wee shame Aw, that's a little bit unfortunate.
- Rubbish Not good.
- Ace Very good.

Kiwi chat, let's start with the basics:
- Choice
Used as an exclamation of appreciation, or to describe something that's really good
Those shoes are choice!

- Mean
Same as above. Really cool, good
I had a mean weekend eh!

- Sweet as! I like this one, sweet as... what??
1. Great,
I made you a cup of tea
Aw, sweet as!

2. No worries
How much do I owe you for petrol?
It's sweet as, don't worry!

- Adjective as 
You can pretty much use any adjective with 'as' for extra emphasis, to intensify the meaning
Yup, keen as
Oh mate, I'm sleepy as

- Eh
I've seen some funny spelling variations of  this. Some people spell it 'aye' but coming from Scotland, I'm just not buying it. They are big fans of building rapport here when chatting. This along with the rising intonation towards the end of phrases, i.e. sounds like they are asking questions the whole time but they're not (always).
Good party eh!

- Bro
Brother, friend, mate. Can be used for both sexes.
Sweet as, bro!

- Chur I've also seen this doubled up, chur chur
Cheers, thanks
Chur bro!

- Oh yup
An acknowledgement. Like, yes, yup, or oh yeah.
Oh yup!

- Yeh, nah, yeh...
Means yes. I think it's like a, oh I'm deciding, yeah go on, yeah.
Do you want a cup of tea?
Yea, nah, yeh...

- Yeh, nah
I'm not sure about that
Yeh, nah...

- Stink
Rubbish, or bad.
I just got soaked walking home
Oh stink!
I can't get use to this one. You'll hear like 40 year old men say this: Anywhere else in the world you wouldn't hear anyone over 4yrs old say this.

- Stink buzz
Rubbish chat, bad vibes
Oh, stink buzz!
I just heard this one for the first time the other night. I think it's horrendous.

- Dumb 
Stupid, rubbish
My flatmates won't let me get a cat
Oh dumb!
This is quite similar to stink, I can't get used to it.

Work chat

- Flick me a txt/ email
Send me a txt
Yup, just flick me a txt when you're ready
I'm not a fan of 'flick', flick me a txt- flick yourself a txt!

- Dominated 
Really busy, owned
I was dominated at work today, didn't finish til 8
Kiwis are always talking about how much they're being dominated. They love it.

Other

- Heaps- this is not exclusively NZ but they do use it excessively here
Lots, loads
I took heaps of photos last night

- Park
A parking space
I'm looking for a park, keep an eye out for a park

- Dairy
Corner shop, newsagent or convenience store

- Togs
Boardshorts, swim wear

- Jandals
Flip flops

I'll be listening out for more, or if you have any suggestions, send them my way!
Chur!

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