The Top 5 Best Phrases in Kiwi English

“I can speak American, British, Kiwi, Aussie, Canadian, and a tiny bit of Spanish.” –a seasonal worker at Mt. Ruapehu orientation

Living in a lodge or town full of seasonal workers is an interesting experience for many reasons. For one, it often feels like a college dorm because the average age of seasonal workers is somewhere between 20 and 25, and the most common night-time activity is drinking followed by loud talking, dancing, and sometimes running or pranking co-workers.

But because we are from all over the world--Taiwan, China, Chile, Argentina, Holland, Germany, England, Ireland, South Africa, America, and Canada—it is also a multilingual place. Many people have come to New Zealand to learn English, which can cause for some really long and strenuous Spanglish conversations or blank looks. And the fact is, even native English speakers have trouble understanding each other at times. American English is different from British English, and Kiwi English is different still.

Language is such a flowing and changing entity in each country that almost all words were borrowed and changed from some other country, so when I decided to make a list of my top five favourite Kiwi phrases I was not concerned with their country of origin. I only care that they are spoken constantly in New Zealand.


What I love about comparing different forms of language is how much it can tell you about a culture. Language is often such a clear reflection of the attitude and the pride of a society as much as their art, music, and food tell stories about who they are. In New Zealand, the slang is friendly and relaxed. It often sounds direct and unflowery, but also inviting.

So here we go, my top five favourite Kiwi phrases are:

#5 Nicknames. I’ve found that Kiwis (and Australians) shorten anything. Breakfast becomes brekkie, hot chocolate chockie, McDonald’s is Mackey’s. Even cities and towns are not exempt: Franz Josef Glacier is Franz, Palmerston North is Palmy, Ohakune is simply Kune, and Wellington is Welly. This form of abbreviation or nicknames makes every concept and place seem more familiar, more fun, or more like home.

#4 Hey/ey, bro and babe. Hey in the US is a way to say hello, but in New Zealand most people add ey or hey to the end of their sentences. After a few weeks of being in New Zealand, I purposely picked this up. It makes me feel some kind of solidarity with other people. Like because we are all humans, they will obviously understand what I am about to say. “The weather was awful last night, ey?”  “The new girl seems really cool, hey?” Some Aussies and Kiwis I’ve met also add bro or babe to the end of sentences, and I think it has the same effect. “Thanks, bro,” sounds familiar and friendly, just as “It’s alright, babe” sounds slightly sweeter than the phrase by itself. That one word addition changes my statements into conversation-starters and to my foreign ear, makes the conversation sound much more relaxed, like I am part of the community.

#3 Cheers—this one word says it all. Thank you, take care, goodbye all with a friendly familiarity that we lack in America. I really wish this word could catch on in my home country.

#2 Good on ya. This phrase sounded so awkward to me before I entered the country. It is said as a form of encouragement, congratulations or thanks. For example: “I got incredibly pissed last night” “Good on ya, mate” or “Here is the rent payment I owe you,” “Good on ya.” This phrase is sometimes said so casually and quickly that my German friend, Alex, who is still honing his English and learning all of the Kiwi phrases thought that our landlord had a queer fascination with onions. “Why is he always saying good onion?” he asked me one night. Good on ya, Alex.

#1 Sweet as. This is the most famous Kiwi phrase, but what I love about it is the form: any adjective can be followed by the word “as” for extra emphasis, for ex: funny as, hard as, cold as, hot as, cool as, anything as! We already do this a bit in America but we feel the need to explain more: “Cool as shit,” or “Hot as hell.” In the Kiwi tradition of shortening everything, they’ve simplified the statement to all you need to know. Cool as, bro.

Runners up: 
Shattered as a way to say really tired or exhausted
Crook, is another word here for sick
Guttered to mean really disappointed or sad
Knock off, meaning leave, for ex: “You can knock off work early today; we’re not that busy.”
The different names for vegetables: Kiwis say capsicum for bell peppers, and aubergine for eggplant
Shot, my Aussie friend Kat says that this is her favourite way to say thank you. It still sounds odd to me, but it is a way some people say cheers or thanks here, for ex: a bus driver might say, “Aw, it’s raining, so I can drop you right at your front door, so you don’t have to walk from the bus stop.” “Aw, shot.”

If you stay in a country long enough, no matter where you are from, you will start picking up their phrases. When I first arrived in New Zealand, I fell in love with saying “sweet as” or “cool as,” but it wasn’t until I had lived here for a few months before I felt comfortable saying it in front of other Kiwis. Was I allowed to say their phrase? Was I using it correctly? But once I got up the nerve to use the phrases I liked, I realized how they natural they sounded and that my using them was just another form of praising this new culture.

The Kiwis and travellers I’ve met have started telling me the American expressions they like too, which is fun to hear. My English friend, Sophie, loved the expression, “That’s so cute,” that many Americans say to compliment a piece of clothing or an object. Some of my Kiwi co-workers think it’s funny that I say, “yo” to start conversations, that my boyfriend Abe says “dude” all the time, and that we both end a lot of conversations with, “awesome.” “What an American, surfer thing to say!” they all exclaim.

This is one conversation that every traveller I’ve met enjoys having because some differences are so strange or subtle that they are really fun to discover. If any readers have favourite phrases from around the world, please share them with me. I never get tired of learning about language.