Kiwis speak British English, although the accent is a little different. I've had some fun picking out things that they say differently here, although I've no idea which ones are British and which ones are entirely Kiwi.
"Chilly bin" = cooler (like for picnics)
"Flat white" = their idea of a regular coffee = actually a latte
"Flick" = send (like an email or a text message)
"Hash mark" = pound button on your cell phone
"Holidays" = vacations
"Lift" = elevator
"Lollies" = candy
"Muesli" = granola (and granola bars are muesli bars, don't ask me to pronounce it)
"Papers" = exams, or occasionally people also seem to mean courses?
"Rubbish bin" = trash can
"Ta" = thank you (also you'll hear "Cheers" a lot)
"Tea" = dinner
"Togs" = bathing suit
"Toilets" = restrooms, bathrooms
"Top up" = add money (to your bus card, or minutes to your cell phone, etc)
"Tosser" = litter bug
"Vivid" = Sharpie, permenant marker
People are generally very easy to understand here, although I have had a few interesting experiences with a "language barrier." My lab partner did get a bit of a laugh out of it when she asked me for the "Vivid" and I got all confused, and the first time I went to buy more cell phone minutes, I nearly lost them all because I didn't know which button was the hash key! It all worked out, though, and it's been good fun. Hope you're all doing well!!!
Firearms Training
2 years ago
3 comments:
Neat dictionary! Occasionally you'll also hear a "#" referred to as a "sharp", but that may be more of a computer science (or music) thing. Examples include C# (see-sharp, a programming language, and probably also a musical note) and #! (pronounced sharp bang, a special kind of of comment in some programs)
OMG that is amazing, and so interesting!
Some of those are British/Kiwi (i say tea instead of dinner from time to time) but have never heard others before (Flick and flat white???).
I keep forgetting the language barrier and what interesting problems it can cause as it was never such a problem for me in the US.
Hope that you get the hang of the language soon, bet by the time you get back to VT you'll be talking like a native NZlander lol.
Just remember, when you visit the UK that the same sentance can be said in a dozen diffent ways with barely a recognizable word between them... and a tosser, is not a litterbug! It has a completely different meaning and may get you beaten up.
Learned the basics of the british slang in london! a lot of similar ones, the basics (lift, lolly, rubbish) and i learned that get mad if you say tomato the normal way...it's "to-MAH-to". and in dublin the place hostess's said "cheerio" a lot.
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