h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: New Zealand Language - A1038737
Author: Slartibartfast - U226062

My first guide entry, so much more I could have put in but I tried to use the most relevant and helpful phrases.

This is a good start.

I think it could use a little more background above the list of terms. Also, my cousins spent most of the last year working in New Zealand and they told me that a lot of vegetables and fruits have French, rather than English names. I found this very curious. I don't know if you'd like to explore this a bit, but I think it might be interesting.

Also, would this more appropriately be a "dialect" rather than a "language"?

Looking forward to seeing how this entry develops...

This should be entitled 'New Zealand English'. This is not a separate language.

There seem to be a few misspellings: privey is normally spelt privy for example.

Are you sure about vegemite being like Australia's marmite? I thought Australians used vegemite too and it was the British who consume marmite.

I've heard the term 'Godzone' used to refer to New Zealand (presumably from God's Own Country). Is this common? SHould it be in the list?

How about 'New Zealand Slang' as a title?

I have to agree with the suggestions of a title change: I thought this was going to be an entry on Maori.

So did I, and I have to say that I don't think this is even an entry about New Zealand English, it's more a list of NZ colloquialisms, which I believe is what the entry should be called. There's nothing about the NZ accent for instance, nothing about phonetics.

It's usually very easy to tell a NZ accent from an Australian one - just ask them to say 'Six penn'orth of chips'. A Kiwi will most likely say something like 'Sux pinn'orth of chups'.

'Pikelet- A round snack made from batter not unlike a pikelet'

Did you *really* mean to say that? I suspect that the second pikelet should read 'crumpet' or something similar.

Also in the heading 'toilet' there is some first person stuff, which isn't normally allowed in the edited guide. Some of the words are fairly common all over, although some come from specialised origins, eg 'head' for toilet is from naval slang - from 'hogshead' I believe.

"New Zealand is a small isolated island"
NZ is primarily two islands - North Island and South Island, along with many, many other smaller islands dotted around its coast.

I'm in agreement with the Researcher who mentioned 'Godzone'.

I believe that a lot of Kiwis like to refer to Australia as 'The biggest desert island in the world'. You might want to add that one to the list

Is 'Boot' specifically a NZ term? It's most definitely used in English English too - has been for years.

Ditto 'Bugger', 'Cheerio', 'Dairy', 'Flat', 'Lift', 'Mate', 'Nappy', 'Paddock', 'Pikelet', 'Ta', and 'Toilet'.

Many of the other words listed are also well known as Australian slang terms

Canada certainly isn't New Zealand but let's see:

I use these words in the context listed:

bro
bugger
bull
bungy
BYO sometimes with a B on the end
creek
GST
knackered
lolly
stubbies are something similar: an archaic type of beer bottle
togs (rarely used any more)
restroom
loo
crapper
head
shouse (is there supposed to be a "hit" in there? if so, we use it.)
WC
outhouse
the privey
the can
the john

So, they don't strike me as distinctly kiwi. Like I said, this is Canada, and we use them all.

Hi Slartibartfast,

Ka Pai

After 'All Blacks' you could add that this name has spawned many imitations for our international sporting teams: Black Caps (cricket), Tall Blacks (basketball), Black Sticks (hockey) etc etc ad nauseum

Aotearoa - sometimes pronounced as 'land of the wrong white crowd'

Aussie - also Ocker

Bach - some say this was derived from 'bachelor pad', known as a 'crib' in Otago and Southland - neighbouring areas, inhabited predominantly by those with Scots ancestry

Bro - linked to 'Cuzz' (cousin) also 'Cuzzy-Bro'

Flat- An apartment OR any rented accommodation
With students, even a 6 bedroom house is called a flat

Haere Ra - Maori for cheerio

Hangi- A form of underground cooking used by the Maoris AND Pakehas (white NZers) ideal for catering to large numbers of hungry people, often used at weddings because you can cook a whole sheep / kuni-kuni (wild pig) /deer etc in one piece AND 'truckloads' of Kai Moana (seafood) AND all the veggies too and everything is (or should be) ready at the same time

Jandals- These originated in India (I think) but the term is definitely in use here - it's one of the (many) Kiwi words that make the Aussies laugh, but that's another story...

Kia Ora- The Maori word for hello AND agreement (akin to the way 'hear hear' is used in meetings/parliament etc)

Polynesion = PolynesiAn

Marae- is MORE than just the 'meeting house' - that's the whare nui (transliterates as 'house big')
A marae is the whole 'village'

Number 8 Wire- A STILL a common type of fencing wire.
You're right about the association with DIY though - if you can't fix it with a bit of Number Eight and a bit of baler twine (from a hay bale), it must be buggered/knackered mate

<< Pakeha- New Zealand residents or visitors not Polynesian in origin. >> yes, but *usually* reserved for white people

Vegemite- actually I think you'll find the Ozzies invented that mate - and a Kiwi company (that makes food according to their [christian] beliefs) responded with their own brand of marmite, which is similar (but distinctly different) to the UK brand and vegemite

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The names for the 2 main islands are THE South Island and THE North Island, omitting the THE is a sure sign of being a LOOPY (tourist)

Australia is often referred to as The West Island

Tramping: hiking, and not just a day hike either mate, that's a walk - at least one night in THE BUSH (incl but not limited to forests)
A few Maori terms have recently (in the last 10~15 years) become widely used by all Kiwis, including:

Whanau : extended family
and
Mana : prestige, respect, high social standing etc all in one word with no simple English translation

There's bound to be more

I'll mention this thread in F72190?thread=178765&latest=1 - Kia Ora/ G'day Two : a Sports Free Zone, so you'll probably get 'heaps' more Kiwis dropping in to have a TIKI TOUR around your entry

Cheers Cuzz

six7s

So I take it that Bach is not pronounced like the German composer, with a guttural ch as in Achtung? Does it rhyme with catch?

Yes, bach rhymes with catch - and batch, and 'Godzone' is used by Kiwis in reference to NZ

Pikelets are like mini crepes/pancakes - about 7cm / 3" in diameter and (relative to crepes) quite thick - about 0.5cm or so, best served with lashings of 'strawberries' - not fraises , I think French names for fruit and vegetables are more common in the UK than they are here... Where I live (a town with quite a few Italians) we grow/eat zucchinis rather than courgettes and by the way, we all call Actinidia chinensis 'kiwifruit', NOT 'kiwis'

The plural of Maori is Maori (there's no s in the language, nor b, c, d, f [although there's 'wh' which is pronounced 'like' an f in some parts of the country], g [although there's an 'ng' as in Ngaio Marsh], j, l, q, v, x, y or z)

As you might have guessed, I think it would be great to see this entry expanded to take in, among other things, pronunciation and accents (as Gosho suggested) - although I'm surprised that you recognise 'dairy' Gosho - over here it's a 'corner shop' - something that threw me and my family when we first arrived. Years later, when I returned to the UK, whenever I heard it used as such, I immediately knew I was in the presence of someone from (what is now) 'home'

Speculation on how the accent*s* of todays New Zealanders came to be is wide-ranging, but no-one can deny that our influences have resulted in some unique blends 'Fish and Chips' is the dead give-away, often pronounced 'Fush und Chups' and, stereotypically, our sentences all end on a high note - almost like we're asking a question

I'd like to see the title ('The New Zealand Language') retained (as opposed to 'New Zealand English') - but with 'Te Reo O Aotearoa' as (preferably) a subtitle or at least mentioned in the intro

The fact that almost all Kiwis today recognise this term is due in large part to "Te Reo Maori" being (finally) accorded 'official' status a few years ago (can't remember when exactly - I was doing my OE )

This happened around the same time that "Kohanga Reo" (language nests) were spreading, initially without government funding (I think). These are now in every town in the country and are attended by children of *any* ethnic background, so now we have lots of 20-something-year-olds with an understanding of not only the language but also the indigenous culture

Now (I think all) governmental employees must attend "Te Tiriti O Waitangi" seminars and (at least) acknowledge the status of 'Te Reo' in their dealings with colleagues and customers/clients etc

I think that it is because so many Pakeha welcomed these moves that recent changes in our language have been so (relatively) quick

A Google search on the phrases in "quotes" above should yield more than a few hits

These terms are definitely NOT 'slang', nor are they 'New Zealand English' - so if you go with the suggestions from Gnomon or Ste (in posts 2 and 3), then please leave them out

Ka Kite

six7s

Make that 'either of the suggestions in posts 3 and 4 , from Gnomon and NumberSix' - sorry, it was a case of more haste etc and the that threw me...

There is already an entry called New Zealand English.

" There's nothing about the NZ accent for instance, nothing about phonetics."

But we don't have an accent, you do.

"It's usually very easy to tell a NZ accent from an Australian one - just ask them to say 'Six penn'orth of chips'. A Kiwi will most likely say something like 'Sux pinn'orth of chups'."

Actually this example is of suburban wellington or should I say willintin. and then there's those dodgy South Islanders

I think you're slightly confusing Bro with the Maori term Whanau. Loosley translated Whanau means extended family, but in practise can be applied to non related members of a family e.g. people who you have close associations with. It is acceptable to bring members of one's whanau to job interviews, especially for government jobs for example, to speak for your character. In that capacity I once went to an interview with a lad who's family went to the same church as mine, I had known since birth and whom I'd babysat on many occasions. Bro is a far looser term, usually quite affectionate and commonly combined with Cuzz. Cuzzy-Bro.

Enough about Wellington Apparition! (You're just jealous!)

Yup, I'm with the "New Zealand Slang" title. This isn't a language...

Also you have "Bro" down as being a Maori term-it's not. It may be used by people who are Maori however.

No. 8 wire is less than uncommon now-it's not made anymore!

sandshoes for sneakers?

And from my jar of marmite I find that it is "Made in New Zealand" Then I checked the vegemite and find that it was too so much for that idea....

Aussie is also called "West Island".....



Kia Kaha

Jesi

okay I'll lay off cold windy wullintin

Thanks for all the great comments. I'll work on bettering the entry. I am a New Zealander, believe it or not. I guess I wasn't really thinking when I wrote about New Zealand being one island. I know we share much slang with other countries, but I thought that for the benefits of those who didn't come from the country i would include those terms. I was thinking of renaming it New Zealand English or Colloquialisms.

Just another thing- I'd just like to repeat how many more terms I could add but didn't because of the amount of room I had. Does it matter if its much longer?