New Zealand slang words and phrases to know (if you want to understand Kiwis)
New Zealand English is a mish mash of Australian, American, and British English, with a few Māori language loan words thrown in.
For example, you might hear people say “gidday” in place of hello, as is common in Australia.
Combined with the unique New Zealand accent, which makes bat sound like bet, bet sound like bit, and bit sound like but to foreign ears, New Zealanders can be difficult to understand.
Here’s my guide to understanding New Zealand slang, as well as other quirks of New Zealand English.
New Zealand slang words
Here are some of the most common slang words you might come across while visiting New Zealand.
Handy slang to know for travelling
Kiwi — The (unoffensive) nickname for New Zealanders.
Bach — A holiday home, pronounced “batch.” Baches are typically simple, beachside cottages. In Invercargill and Dunedin, locals call a holiday house a crib instead of a bach.
Eftpos – Short for Electronic Fund Transaction at Point of Sale, Eftpos is how we pay for everything in New Zealand. It’s essentially the card machine, so instead of asking if you’d like to pay by card, you might get asked if you want to pay by Eftpos.
OE – Short for Overseas Experience, an OE is a classic New Zealand experience. Most New Zealanders take an OE to the UK for a couple of years — it’s basically an extended overseas trip. Locals might ask if you’re ‘on your OE’.
The wops/the sticks — The middle of nowhere, or rural areas. I can say I come from “the wops,” because I come from a remote dairy farm.
Dairy — Small corner stores, usually with a Tip Top ice cream sign over the door. Dairies usually stock things like newspapers, treats, drinks, and basic groceries.
Sick/mean — Another way of saying awesome.
Stoked — Really happy about something, as in “I’m so stoked it’s a long weekend.”
Tiki tour — Taking a tiki tour means taking the scenic route, or the long way round. A lot of New Zealanders (particularly dads) will say they are going on a tiki tour when they are really just lost, or have strayed off route.
Dressing like a New Zealander: Slang for clothes
Togs (swimwear) are essential in summer
A bach is a simple holiday home
Jandals — Flip flops/thongs, jandals are an essential part of a New Zealand wardrobe.
Togs — Swimwear. We call both swimsuits and bikinis togs.
Stubbies —Short rugby shorts, usually worn by men.
Gumboots — Wellington boots, or wellies. Gumboots are a major part of New Zealand rural life — back in the 70s, a comedian called John Clarke even put together a song about gumboots,
In 1973, New Zealand comedian John Clarke created a television character called Fred Dagg, satirising the typical ‘Kiwi bloke’. He wore a bucket hat, a black singlet, ripped shorts, and gumboots — the Fredd Dagg look was a riff on classic New Zealand clothing, and is still - a look that is recognisable as classic Kiwi for most locals.
Hiking slang
We have a few different words for hiking in New Zealand.
Tramping —The New Zealand word for hiking or backpacking.
Long drop — A pit or composting toilet, long drops are common on hiking trails around New Zealand.
Bush — This is the New Zealand word for native forest or a wooded area. We refer to almost all forested areas as bush. To ‘bush bash’ means to try and make your way through dense native forest where there’s no trail, and to ‘go bush’ means to head into the backcountry for a few nights.
Scroggin — Our word for trail mix.
Huts — We call almost all backcountry shelters, no matter whether they are a two-bunk hut with a stream for a water source, or a mighty Great Walk hut with flushing toilets and lights. Our huts are a big part of our hiking/backpacking culture.
Food slang
Make sure you try New Zealand food while travelling here — these words will help you understand what you’re ordering.
Lollies — Candy or sweets. A local speciality, which you will see in most bakeries, is lolly cake, a type of dense slice made from colourful lollies and malt biscuits.
Snags — Sausages.
Tea — Dinner
Pudding — All kinds of dessert
A feed — A meal
Chilly bin — Cooler/esky
Barbie — A barbecue
Chips — We call both hot and cold chips, chips. You might call them crips or French fries, to us they are only chips.
New Zealand phrases
“Yeah, nah”
New Zealanders are pretty indirect, so this is a way of indirectly saying no. But it can also mean yes. As in “yeah, nah that show was great” or “yeah, nah, I can’t come tonight.”
“Sweet as”
The phrase ‘sweet as’ can mean “thank you”, “it's all good”, “no worries”, “you're welcome”, and “that's cool”.
The as here is used more as emphasis than as a comparison.
We quite often also just say sweet as a way of agreeing with, or acknowledging someone.
Adding as to words isn’t just limited to sweet — you can also say funny as, weird as, awesome as, and so on, just to really emphasise a point.
“Box of birds”
A way of saying someone is great, or in good health. For example, when I asked my mum how our ancient, arthritic dog is doing, she replied “Buddy? He’s a box of birds.”
“She’ll be right”
This is possibly the most classic New Zealand saying. It means that everything will be okay, or not to worry about something.
It reflects the laid back attitude of New Zealanders, who value being calm and steadfast.
“Take the piss”
This means to make fun of, or imply that someone must be joking.
“Cheese costs $20 a kilo? You must be taking the piss.”
“Rattle your dags”
This means to hurry up, referring the dags on the rear end of sheep rattling together when sheep break into a jog.
“You'd better rattle your dags and get ready for school” is something my mum used to say to us when we were teenagers.
The New Zealand accent
We New Zealanders have a cute and quirky accent.
The vowel sounds we use all sound the same (so there’s no distinction between bear/beer/bare or hair/hear/hare).
That makes New Zealand sounds a lot like Nu Zullund.
The New Zealand accent adds to the quirky nature of the characters in Flight of the Concords. This is my favourite clip from the show, poking fun at the accent:
Some quirks of New Zealand English
If you speak English, you probably won’t have too much trouble understanding New Zealanders. However, there are a few quirks, along with the accent, that make New Zealand English unique.
Māori words you’ll probably hear
New Zealand has three official languages — English, te reo Māori, and New Zealand Sign Language.
Although te reo Māori is only spoken by around 5% of the population, you’ll still see and hear many Māori words used casually in New Zealand, even among English speakers.
When you’re welcomed onboard an Air New Zealand flight, your flight attendants will probably welcome you with a ‘Kia ora’, and when you drive into towns around the country, many welcome you with signs reading ‘Haere Mai (Welcome).’
Here are some of the most common Maori words you’ll hear:
Kia ora — Can mean hello or thank you.
Tāne/Wāhine — Man/Woman, which you might see on toilet doors.
Kai—Food
Mōrena—Good morning
Haere mai — Welcome, or hello. It’s common to see this on signs as you enter towns or regions.
Haere ra — Goodbye, which you often see on signs leaving towns.
Tip: A really great resource is the Te Aka Māori Dictionary, where you can look up the meanings of pretty much any Māori word.
Swear words in New Zealand English
New Zealanders swear a lot more than other English speaking countries (particularly the United States). Not only that, but we use some words in a positive or endearing way.
“Good c**t,” for example, is a way of saying someone is a great person worthy of respect.
A “good b*tch” means the same thing when directed at a woman.
Shortening words
Much like Australians, New Zealanders love to shorten words.
Onions become “unnies”, sausages become “saussies”, a cup of tea or coffee is a “cuppa.”
This goes for names too. You might hear people called things like Bazza (short for Brian), Wazza (short for Warren or Warrick) and so on.
Driving around the East Cape, which is a fantastic place for a road trip, I loved a little roadside takeaway joint which called itself “KFC — Kai For Cuzzies”. Translation — food for cousins.
Thanks for reading this far! If you’re curious about New Zealand culture, you might also find these articles interesting:
