New Zealand Slang 101

UNIVERSITY

If there’s one thing that will help you settle down more easily it’s mastering some of these expressions before coming. The first few weeks are usually the most difficult (tired from travelling, homesickness, new weather, new food, different people and place to live in, loneliness, different ways of doing things, etc.), the last thing you need is to feel greater the ‘culture shock’ by not understanding what New Zealanders are seeing to you! (“And I thought that my English was good because I understood all what the Crocodile Hunter says!). And they speak fast too!

-Bach – a holiday house away from town
-Beauty – good (short for beautiful)
-Booze – alcohol
-Broke – to have no money
-Bush – New Zealand forest
-Catch you later – see you later
-Chilly bin – a picnic box for keeping food cool
-Dope, grass, hooch – marijuana
-Down under – New Zealand and Australia as seen from the northern hemisphere
-Fair go – and even or fair chance
-Flatmate – someone you share a house or flat (apartment) with
-Geek, dork – a person who is not fashionable or cool
-Give it a go – to have a try
-Good on you – well done!
-Gooday, g’day, gidday – hello
-Neat, choice, wicked – very good
-Greenie – a conservationist
-Hard case, character – an unusual or amusing person
-Heaps – a lot of, as in ‘heaps of money’
-How’s it going? – how are you?
-I’ll give you a buzz – I’ll phone you
-It sux! – it’s really bad
-Jandals – thongs, rubber summer sandals
-Jerk, bastard – a man who treats women badly
-Loo, lav – toilet, lavatory
-Marmite or vegemite – a yeasty savoury spread to put on bread
-Mate – a good friend
-Nerd – a boring person who studies a lot
-No hoper – someone who doesn’t try and doesn’t progress
-Okey doke(y) – okay
-Over the top/ OTT – excessive
-Pain – someone or something that annoys you
-Pav – a pavlova (a New Zealand meringue dessert)
-Pub – a public bar where you meet friends for drinks, usually alcohol
-Swot – to study hard, especially before an exam
-Ta – thanks
-Togs – bathing suit, swimming costume
-Uni, varsity – shortened forms of university

* There are a number of slang words which are unacceptable language except among close friends. Watch out for them!

The first lectures or tutorials can be very discouraging but don’t give up! Talk to your teacher after class and ask about anything that is not clear or to write a few things down. And remember: THEY don’t know that YOU don’t understand! So YOU will need to speak first as clearly as possible. Don’t keep quiet!