How to speak kiwi: common New Zealand slang

Popular kiwi words

• Kiwi: New Zealanders, also a native bird
• Chilly bin: Cooler/esky
• Wop wop’s: The middle of nowhere/the sticks
• Togs: Swimsuit
• Jandals: Flip flops/thongs
• Buggered/knackered: Really tired
• Jumper: Sweater/pull over
• Bach/crib: Holiday home
• Bro: Brother, friend
• Chur: Thanks
• Hokey-pokey: Ice cream flavour (definitely try this while in New Zealand)
• Stubbie: Bottle of beer
• Stubbies: Shorts (short shorts)
• Tramping: Hiking
• Mate: Friend or enemy (depending on the speakers tone)

Popular Kiwi phrases

• All good: That’s ok, never mind
• Sweet as: Great, good, fine
• Choice as: That’s great, awesome, sure
• Yeah nah: This has a large variety of meanings, the most common one’s being: an acknowledgment that you have spoken, but disagree with what you said; a space filler within a sentence
• Most common use example:      
  “Nick thought the show was rubbish, didn’t you Nick?”
  “Yea, nah”
• Bring a plate: Bring a shared dish of food to a party/gathering (if you get asked to ‘bring a plate’ do not just bring an empty plate, you will be judged harshly)
• She’ll be right: It will be fine, everything is ok, don’t worry about it
• No worries: You’re welcome, no problem
• You right?: Are you ok? Is everything ok?

Common Maori phrases you will hear

• Kia Ora (key-or-a): Hello
• Haere Mai (high-reh-my) – welcome.
• Haere Ra (high-reh-rah) – goodbye
• Whanau (far-no): Family
• Ka kite ano: See you later (commonly used by news anchors)
• Mana: Respect
• Kai: Food
• Ka pai: Good work