Just a few ELK observations!

In case any of you followers head to the South Pacific in the future, we are going to try and give you some kiwi language 101. We have touched on how odd it has been for us to drive on the left side of the road but also with our common everyday sayings, we find ourselves getting a few blank faces. You would think that when traveling to an English speaking country the language barrier would not be a problem. On the contrary my friends, it’s rather hard to understand kiwis for they always speak so fast. In addition, while they speak in a more proper British manner, they tend to slang the ba-jesus out of words (especially in text messaging) but we won’t get into all that.

Here are some simple common kiwi sayings: Sweet as! How you going? Good on ya!! Good day mate. Cheers. I’ll ring you. Toss it in the rubbish bin. That will be a five dollar note. Give way. Kumera, capsicum and aubergine are my “favourite” veggies. You can get a beer out of the chilly bin! Let’s go to the vinYARDs! AWsum!!!!! (These are just a few!)

As a foreigner they may sound a little out of sorts but for the day in the life of a kiwi… these are common words and phrases. Let’s begin with the phrase “Sweet As”. Well for starters, sweet as what? Instead of just a simple “cool” or “awesome,” kiwis say “sweet as” but then they have us hanging in suspense. We constantly are waiting for them to finish the simile but it never comes. Another problem we find with these saying is where to put the emphasis. Lindsay has often gotten a few looks because she puts her emphasis on the “As,” and sometimes sounds like she is saying a certain body part. As you can imagine, this does not go over well to other girls and adults.

As you know we are all working in restaurants. Typically we would say “'how are you doing this evening,' or 'how’s it going?!'” but a common way of greeting a fellow Kiwi is “how you going”(with a slightly higher pitch)? In some ways it makes sense, … how YOU going, instead of how’s it going. What is “it”? It is still extremely awkward to say.
“Good on ya” is one of our “favourite” sayings meaning well done or go get ‘em… we think! :) Kiwis, like Australians, refer to their friends as mates. And if you are married you refer to your spouse as a partner, not to be confused with the American meaning of partner. “Cheers” has a universal meaning of whatever you want, like if you want to say bye or thanks or your welcome. All else fails just say cheers and smile!! :) If someone is going to call you, they will say they will ring you, again not to be confused with the American saying: “ring your neck”. Kiwis throw their trash in the rubbish bins, which sounds so much more pleasant than trash can. They refer to dollar bills as dollar notes. So if you have a lot of dollar dollar notes, dat be a good thang! “Give way” is a street sign that means yield, another significantly more pleasant term.
few common veggies that we eat such as sweet potatoes, peppers and eggplants which are called kumera, capsicum and aubergine. This is important to know before serving dishes with these foods in them. Coolers=chilly bins! The emphasis on the word vineyard is more like vinYARD. And if you have not noticed from reading our blog we LOVE the way kiwis say AWWsum. It is probably one of the most commomly used words on the island and all demographics use it!! It makes for a relaxed atmosphere and AWsum time. That is it for now!!!