New Zealand English - slang 101

New Zealand spoken English has

its own unique features. One of the things we do is add "ie" or "y" on many words to make them shorter. We don't write these but we say them.

barbie - barbecue
bikkie - biscuit
brekkie - breakfast
cardy - cardigan
chippy - builder, carpenter
dodgy - looks suspicious
dummy - pacifier or an idiot
dunny - toilet
fancy - to desire somebody or an expensive, flash, very nice item
the dreaded lurgy - influenza
gummies - gumboots, rubber boots
hottie - hot water bottle
lolly - sweets, candy
pinky - little finger
snarky - a mixture of sarcastic and nasty
sparkie - electrician
Scandi - someone with Scandinavian heritage
stubby - beer bottle
stroppy - bad-tempered, argumentative
tradie - tradesman
Westie - someone from West Auckland

Comments

Rachael

@George Excellent 😀. Just listen to dodgy and lurgy again

2021.09.01 09:02
Rachael

@승환 You live in Auckland which is has a much more multi cultural so many colloquialisms may not be so common. South of the Bombay Hills this is common language ☺

2021.08.31 19:25
승환

Mostly, those words are new to me except dummy, gumboots, lolly, pinky, loo(toilet). It seems like I live in far and different world away where you live.

2021.08.31 11:36
jong

@Rachael You, too. Keep safe, keep healthy. 😃😓

2021.08.31 10:12
jong

@Rachael Right! Thank you :)

2021.08.31 10:08
Yun

@Rachael I love it. I am in a snackie mood after learning new expressions about snakie.🤩😆😆

2021.08.31 09:03
Rachael

@Yun Yes. We commonly say in my family, "I'm in a snackie mood" 😂. Usually it means we want chocolate and chips

2021.08.31 09:00
Yun

@Rachael Wow. Feel snackie to mean having a crav2 for snacks. Thanks. I really love the way it sounds.🤩

2021.08.31 08:56
Rachael

@Yun Yes, we don't say snackie as a noun. We do say "I feel snackie" as an adjective. That means we are feeling a bit like snacking 😉. Then we eat a snack.

2021.08.31 08:51
Yun

Oh, I thought that's an Australian thing. Good to know. I used to say "snackie" to mean "snack" to Aussies and they said they didn't use it that way. 😁

2021.08.31 08:44
Rachael

@jong I see you are in Auckland. Keep safe. I hope you are surviving the lockdown okay.

2021.08.31 08:38
Rachael

@jong Now you know many more😁

2021.08.31 08:36
Rachael

@Eli ☺🍀

2021.08.31 08:36
jong

I've heard just fancy, gummies, and lolly.

2021.08.31 08:22
Eli

Another useful post, thanks Rachael🙏🏻

2021.08.31 08:16
Rachael

@Arash Some are probably also British

2021.08.31 08:10
Arash

I have heard some of them

2021.08.31 08:06