English with a Kiwi Twist

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"