Understanding Kiwi slang & jargon
06/01/2021
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Before travelling to New Zealand, familiarise yourself with common Kiwi slang and jargon you will hear locals say. It’ll make understanding the local jargon easier and phrases easier. Plus, you can use them during your travel adventure in New Zealand!
| Kiwi word or phrase | Translation | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Bach | Pronounced as “Batch”. It is a holiday home often near the beach or in the countryside. In the South Island, it can be referred to as a crib. | |
| “All good!” | That’s okay, that’s all right. | |
| Beaut | Great, or beautiful. | |
| “Bring a plate.” | Bring a shared dish of food to a party or event. Don’t bring just an empty plate haha. | “Dinner party at my place on Friday. Bring a plate!” |
| Bro | An endearment for friends and strangers alike, usually a male. | |
| Bugger | Oh no, oh crap! | |
| “Bugger all.” | None, nothing at all. | “Do much this weekend?” “Nah. Bugger all.” |
| Buggered (knackered): | Really damaged, or tired. | “That car looks buggered!” “I’m off to bed. I’m knackered.” |
| Chilly bin | Chiller box keeping food and drinks cold. | |
| Chips | Term applicable to both fried potato crisps and potato fries from a Fish ‘n Chip shop. | |
| Chip shop | Referring to a Fish ‘n Chip shop serving fried foods such as fish, chips, burgers and other delicious takeaway foods. | |
| Chocka | Full. | “Had enough chips?” “yeah, chocka!” |
| Chook | Another word for chicken. | |
| Choice as | That’s great. | |
| Chunder | Vomit (verb). | “He chundered all over the floor in the club!” |
| Chur | Thanks or thank you. | |
| Dairy | Small convenience shop selling basic food items. | |
| Dunny | Toilet. | |
| “Eh?” | Pronounced ‘ay’. Means “Don’t you agree or think so?”. Also means “What?” (Eh?”) | “Today’s pretty hot eh?” |
| “Good as gold!” | That’s great! | |
| Gumboots | Term for rubber ‘Wellington boots’ that are commonly worn by farmers. | |
| “Hard case” | Person is funny, or a difficult person to deal with. | “He’s in trouble again?” “Yeah, he’s a hard case.” |
| “He/She couldn’t organise a piss-up in a brewery!” | Person is unable to accomplish an easy task. | |
| “He/She’s a muppet!” | Person is an idiot. | |
| “He/She’s a sammie short of a picnic.” | Person is a bit stupid. | |
| Jafa | Just Another Fucking Aucklander. | |
| Jandals | Flip flops. | Also used as “You can handle the jandal!” as in you can’t handle the situation. |
| Jumper | Sweater/Top. | |
| Kiwi | Informal demonym for New Zealanders, along with being the name of the native bird that is New Zealand’s national icon. | |
| “No worries.” | You’re welcome, no problem at all. | “Thanks for your help!” “Oh, no worries.” |
| Munted | When something is broken, or someone is highly intoxicated. | “Thanks for your help!” “That car is munted!” “That guy’s so munted!” |
| “Pack(ing) a sad” | Feeling sad. | “Is she all right?” “Nah. She’s packing a sad after her boyfriend dumped her.” |
| “Piece of piss.” | It will be easy. | “Can you fix my car?” “Yeah, it’ll be a piece of piss!” |
| Piss up | A party, often involving a lot of alcohol. | |
| “On the piss.” (“OTP”) | Drinking alcohol, often a lot. “On the turps” is another expression. | “He’s on the piss tonight!” |
| Rark up | Telling off. | |
| Scroggin | Trail mix of nuts and chocolates, ideal for tramping/hiking. | |
| “She’ll be right.” | It will be fine, don’t worry about it. | “How’s the weather looking?” “She’ll be right.” |
| “Sickie” | Sick day. | “He’s so hungover. He’s gonna take a sickie.” |
| Smoko | Break (noun), typically from working. | “Where’s Bob?” “He’s on smoko.” |
| Squiz | To take a quick look. | “Did you read the guide?” “I’ll just have a squiz.” |
| “Stoked” | Happy about something. | “She looks stoked with her new car.” |
| Stubbie | Bottle of beer. | |
| Stubbies | Short shorts. | |
| Sweet as | Great, good, excellent. | |
| “Ta!” | Thanks. | |
| “Taking the piss.” | Making fun of, or joking. | |
| Tiki tour | Taking the long way to get to a destination. | |
| Togs | Swimwear. | |
| Tramping | Hiking | |
| Wop wop’s | The middle of nowhere, often the remote countryside (“The sticks”). | |
| “Yeah nah” | Yes but no – maybe! Can also informally mean thanks, but no thanks. | “You wanna go to that movie tonight? “Yeah nah.” |
| “You’re an egg!” | You’re such a clown or douchebag. |
