In the past few months I’ve been creating a list of common words and phrases I’ve heard here in New Zealand. Some of them are Māori words while others are Kiwi slang. Enjoy!
Sweet as – awesome
Choice – great, cool, thanks
Mate – friend
Chuck a uyey – make a U turn
Spit the dummy – to get upset / throw a fit
Keen / keen beans (or “I’m a keen bean”) – when you’re excited to do something
Trolly – shopping cart
Kia ora bro – hi / what’s up / welcome friend
Kai – food
Whakapapa – genealogy / lineage
Flick me a message – send me a message
Snag – sausage (seems like the US version of pizza for college events)
No circulars – no junk mail
Slog – difficult, cumbersome
Munted – broken
Singlet – tank top
Jandals – flip flops
Pikelet – mini pancake
Lollies – candies
Heaps – lots of something
How are you going? – How are you doing?
How’d you get on? – How did you do?
Car park – parking lot
Papers – university courses
Maths - the short form of mathematics (note the "s" they don't say math)
Uni – university / college
Pronunciations/Spellings
Aluminum - Aluminium - pronounced "ah-loo-min-ee-um"
Glacier - pronounced "glassier"