N.Z. English to U.S. English Dictionary
The following is an incomplete list of expression and words commonly
used in New Zealand followed by the U.S. equivalent definition. Many of these words,
phrases and expressions are of British or Australian origin.
A B C D E
F G H I J
K L M N O
P Q R S T
U V W X Y
Z
- adverts: TV commercials
- afo / arvo: Afternoon (Australian)
- afternoon tea: light meal of finger-foods and tea served between lunch and dinner
- arse: rear end, butt, ass
- aubergine: eggplant, bringal
- banger: sausage
- bach: small holiday home (see crib)
- bed sitter: sleeper sofa
- big bickies: lots of money
- biscuit: cookie
- bludge: to live off the generosity of others, to sponge
- bonk: to have sex with
- bonnet: car hood
- boot: car trunk
- bomb: (referring to car) very old car in disrepair
- box: cup (device for protecting male genetalia)
- box of birds: cheerful, happy, very good
- brekkie: breakfast
- bugger all: not much, very little
- bulk: Many, a lot ("there were bulk people there") - early 90's
expression
- bum: rear end, butt
- bun-fight: social gathering with food
- bush: forest
- bust a gut: make an intense effort
- candyfloss: cottoncandy
- capsicum: bell pepper
- car park: parking lot
- caravan: trailer, mobile home
- carked it: died, kicked the bucket
- caustic soda: lye
- cellotape: scotch tape
- chat-up: flirt, try pick-up lines on someone you "fancy"
- cheeky: sassy, impish, insolent or impudent
- cheers: good-bye; thank-you
- chemist: pharmacy
- chilly bin: cooler
- chips: French fries
- choc-a-block-full: very full
- choice: very good
- chook: chicken
- chrissy: Christmas
- chuffed: pleased
- chunder: to vomit
- claytons™: Erzatz, the drink (or whatever) you're having when you're not
having a drink (or whatever). From a variety of alcohol free beer like beverage.
- collywobbles: upset stomach
- cor blimey: exclamation of disbelief, derived from "God blind me"
- corker: very good
- cornflour: cornstarch
- cotton buds: Q-tips
- cracker: very good
- crib: small holiday home
(see bach)
- crisps: potato chips
- dag: An amusing person or situation (colloq). The perianal section of a sheep's
fleece.
- dairy: convenience store
- a deal: a problem
- ding: a small car accident (fender-bender)
- dole: unemployment benefit; state funded income support
- draughts: checkers
- dreaded lurgy: imaginary disease used as an excuse to get out of doing something
- dressing gown: bathrobe
- dummy: pacifier
- duvet: quilt
- Eketahuna: the archetypal small country city lacking
amenities and which no
one is expected to know anything about, similar to "timbuktu". This town does
exist.
- entree: appetizer or hors d'oeurve
- fancy: to find attractive, to have a romantic interest in someone
- fizzy: soda pop
- flannel: wash cloth
- flash: sensational
- flat: apartment
- football: rugby
- fortnight: fourteen days, two weeks
- French letter: condom
- frenchie: condom
- fringe: bangs
- get off the grass: exclamation of disbelief; equivalent to "stop pulling my
leg" and "no way"
- give way: yield (traffic)
- going bush: to drop out of society or become reclusive
- Good on ya, mate!: congratulations
- guts for garters: in big trouble
- Gumboots: large rubber overshoes ranging from calf to knee height. These are
usually black, although little children may wear colourful ones. Together with shorts and
a black singlet, gumboots constitute the quintesential kiwi-joker or farmer's outfit.
- heaps: general expression to mean a lot, as in "miss you heaps", or try
hard; "give it heaps"
- high dudgeon: feeling of deep disgust or irritability
- hokey pokey: `sea foam' candy covered in chocolate
- holiday: vacation
- home and hosed: safe, completed successfully
- hoon: gang member, a rough person
- hottie: hot water bottle
- ice block: popsicle
- jandal: thongs, flip-flops, slippers
- Jeeze, Wayne!: exclamation, said to someone regarded as acting or speaking
foolishly
- jersey: sweater
- joker: man
- judder bar: speed bump
- Kiwi: New Zealander
- kiwi: an endangered flightless bird native to New Zealand
- kiwifruit: kiwi (formerly known as Chinese gooseberry)
- kia ora: Maori for hello
- knackered: Exhausted (from Knacker, an archaic profession whose practitioners
destroyed old horses)
- Knickers:underpants, bloomers, shorts, more generally, pants. "Don't get
your knickers in a twist" = Don't get upset (familiar, but not rude. Origin "the
Basil Brush Show", a British kidult humour programme from the 1970s. Similarly,
"Don't get your tits in a tangle", origin unknown.
- kornies: Kellogs cornflakes
- ladies/gentlemen a plate please: bring a
food dish that can be shared with
others
- lemonade: clear soda (7Up)
- lift: elevator
- lolly: candy
- loo: bathroom
- lorry: truck
- main: primary dish of a meal
- Maori: indigenous people of New Zealand
- mate: buddy, pal
- metal: gravel used on country roads (e.g. a metal road)
- a mission: A difficult undertaking
- mobile: cell phone
- money for jam: easy money
- motorway: freeway
- mudguard: fender
- nappy: diaper
- netball: game somewhat similar to basketball
- pakeha: non-Maori person
- panel beater: auto body shop
- petrol: gasoline
- piece-of-piss: easy
- pike out: to give up when the going gets tough
- pikelet: small pancake often served with jam and whipped cream
- piker:one who gives up easily (see pike-out)
- pissed: drunk, inebriated
- pissed-off: angry
- piss-up: social gathering with alcohol
- PMT (Pre Menstrual Tension): PMS
- power cut: outage
- postal code: zip code
- pottle: small container
- pram: baby carriage, stroller
- prang: car dent
- pub: bar
- push bike: bicycle
- quencher: ice cream bar
- quite nice: very good, exceptional (pronounced "quoite noice")
- rack off: go away (angry)
- randy: horny, feeling sexual impulses
- ratbag: scally-wag, somewhat annoying person
- rattle your dags: hurry up, from the sound that sheep make when running, caused
by the striking together of dried feces stuck to the fur near the tail
- ring: phone/call
- rockmelon: cantaloupe
- Rogernomics: (derogatory) radical free enterprise economic policies
introduced by Roger Douglas, a Labour Government Minister of Finance
- rooted: to feel tired
- rubber: eraser
- scone: a small cake of shortened bread raised with baking powder or soda
- shandy: drink made with lemonade and beer
- Sheila: woman (outdated expression)
- skiting: bragging
- skull: drink beer rapidly
- smoko: break, rest period
- snarky: mixture of sarcastic and nasty
- spew: to throw up
- spotcha (later): see you later
- sprog: a child, to give birth
- sticking plaster: band-aid
- stirrer: trouble-maker, agitator
- strewth: honestly, from "God's truth"
- swede: rutabaga
- stroppy: bad tempered
- stubby: small bottle of beer
- supper: late evening coffee/desserts
- suss: to figure out
- ta: Thanks
- take away: take out
- take the piss: to ridicule
- tasty cheese: sharp cheddar cheese
- tea: dinner - generic name for evening meal
- tea towel: dish rag
- tiki tour: roundabout way to get somewhere; scenic tour
- tinned goods: canned goods
- trad: rigidly traditional
- tracksuit: sweats
- tramping: hiking
- togs: swimsuit
- tomato sauce: catsup
- Toodle pip: Good-bye (often slightly jocular, and "English")
- torch: flashlight
- trundler: shopping trolley
- tyre: tire
- unwaged: unemployed
- Waikikamukau Mythical town that is so remote it makes Eketahuna look like a
metropolis. The essence of hickdom. (pron "Why kick a moo cow").
- Wally: incompetent person, loser
- wardrobe: clothes closet
- wharfie: longshoreman
- whinge: complain
- Wicked: cool
- wing: fender
- wobbly (throw a wobbly): become angry, have a fit
- WOF (Warrant of Fitness): car inspection
- wonky: crooked
- wop-wops: out of the way location
- a bit of a worry: a troubling event or person.
- wuckas (no wuckas): no worries
- yonks: forever, a long time ago
- zed: z