The Kiwi lexicon

Greetings, friends!

For your reading pleasure, I've put together some of the lingo I've learned since coming to New Zealand. As you can guess, there's a lot of influence from British English here, but some of these are pure Kiwi-isms!


Bro: dude; bro. Usually preceded by "sweet as" (see below).
Bach: short for "bachelor." A cottage or beach home.
Brilliant (often abbreviated to just "bril"): Excellent; wonderful.
Cheers: thanks; okay; great.
Chiller: fridge.
Chuck: toss; put; place.
Dodgy: sketchy; sleezy.
Good on ya: congratulations; good job.
Harden up: toughen up. (Side note: I was told this by a 20-year old colleague at the cafe.)
Heaps: lots; tons.
Jandals: flip-flops.
Kia ora: Hello (Maori greeting).
Kiwi: a New Zealander.
Kiwi: an endangered bird in NZ.
Kiwifruit: the fruit, not the person.
Sorted: fixed; worked out; in order.
*Sweet as: very cool. Can also be used with other adjectives: cheap as, wicked as, etc.
Ta: thank you.
Zed: the letter "z." Frequently used when referring to New Zealand, NZ, as "n zed."

*I've had long conversations with various people about the use of "sweet as." As somewhat of an English language snob, I am bothered by it. Not to mention, I've often seen it misunderstood by non-Kiwis as a commentary on their posterior. It seems that you can use the "as" with almost any adjective, but in order to do it properly, it has to be organic, and you need to make sure it "sounds right." More information, including examples, can be found on Urban Dictionary.

I've included an additional piece of Kiwi pop culture below. This is a recent New Zealand anti-drunk driving advertisement that runs often on TV. It's the butt of many jokes, and you can probably see why.

Now all Kiwis are learning how to be bloody legends. I think I'll try too.
Cheers!