New Zealand differences

Kiwi phrases:

Sweet as, or “insert any word here as”= cool

Keen= sounds good, I’m down

Cheers= thanks

Mate= friend

Piss, on the piss, pissed= alcohol, getting drunk, drunk

Dodgy= shady or bad

Knackered= tired

Wanka, tossa= someone who’s a loser

Togs= guys bathing suit

Toilet= bathroom

Tea= dinner

Tramping= hiking

For ages= a long time

Uni= university

College= high school (all grade and high schools wear uniforms)

Diary= planner, date book

Lecture= class

Trolly= grocery cart

Boot= trunk

Chilly bin= cooler or ice bin

Lift= elevator

Polytech= community college

Blow wave= blow dryer

Partner= boyfriend or girl friend

Mum= mom

Petrol= gas

“Ay” added to the end of a sentence= ?

maggot= drunk

ichy bite= a bug bite

mint= cool

choice bro= I don’t know exactly how to translate this

give way= yield

cultural differences:

- driving on the left side of the road and the passenger seat on the left

- outlets turn on and off to conserve energy

- light switches flip down to turn on

- turn your key left to lock a door and right to unlock

- toilets have a half flush and fully flush button (to conserve energy and water)

- recycling bins are everywhere- glass, plastic, cardboard, organic

- t.v. show series are a season behind the U.S.

- temperature is measure in Celsius instead of Fahrenheit

- distance is measured in km instead of miles

- weight is measured in kg instead of lbs

- NZ is 17 hours ahead of US central time right now

- Minimum wage in NZ= $12

- No tipping waitresses, cab drivers, hairstylists (20% gratuity is added onto bills on holidays)

- Lectures that start after 12 p.m. start 10 minutes after the hour

- Kiwi’s don’t know Spanish

- NZ used the UK English way of spelling. ex) z=s so capitalization= capitalisation

- Blinkers in cars flick the opposite way

- Heat and AC systems are rarely used.

- Hot water bottles are used to heat beds

- Tip Top and Deep South are the two main NZ ice creams (both made here) They have about 8 flavours. My favorite being hokey pokey (I seriously don’t know how I’m going to live without hokey pokey). Some other weird flavours include: orange chocolate chip and boysenberry.

- Everyone is into 80’s and 90’s music.. Kiwis don’t know the band Journey (what a crime). They are also into electronica and reggae music.

- After dinner lattes take 20 minutes to arrive

- -NZ coffee shops have no idea how to make my favorite coffee drink (a skinny iced caramel latte). The put in ice cream, whole mile and whip cream= the exact opposite of what I asked for. Haha

- Farming= sheep farms, deer farms, and cow farms

- There are separate faucets for hot and cold water (which I still don’t understand)

- Manual cars are popular v. automatic

- NZ doesn’t have pre-made alfredo pasta sauce, cookie dough or cake icing.

- Bridges in NZ are only one way. So they have to be shared by both ways of traffic

- Eggs aren’t stored in the fridge at the grocery store but on a store shelf.

- NZ’s version of Ramen noodles sucks

- Seat belts strap from left to right on every seat.