Understanding Kiwi, much?

[Weta]

Have you found your Kiwi ears? Do yours sometimes do a double-take and cause you to have some embarrasingly long pauses for a moment to think long and hard about what is being asked or said?

Today someone asked me would I like some peer. Some peer? Do I want a pier?


No, not right now, I don't think I do!


Then I saw it, it was a piece of fruit, a pear!

[anski]

Originally Posted by Weta

Have you found your Kiwi ears? Do yours sometimes do a double-take and cause you to have some embarrasingly long pauses for a moment to think long and hard about what is being asked or said?

Today someone asked me would I like some peer. Some peer? Do I want a pier?


No, not right now, I don't think I do!


Then I saw it, it was a piece of fruit, a pear!

Kiwi's probably feel the same about certain accents from other countries.

I will never forget as a new arrival to Glasgow & working in a shop I was asked by a customer for a "POKE" luckily a Scots lass stepped in (realising I would not know what she meant) & helped me out.

Wonder how many of you know what the customer was asking me?

[masibabes]

size of a portion or could be poke of chips; like a handful
but of course depends on which part of Scotland, it might has different meanings

i.e. - like in Dumfries, it means a bag of chips at fish and chips shop; they use brown paper bags thats the actually poke

We have to be more attentive to understand fully the Kiwi's, but the more popular
phrases are a doddle, Awesome; Gud Job and of course Cool.

Has anyone else noticed how Americanised the NZ shop staff are, Have a Good Day and How
are you doing to day etc etc. They never leave you alone, reminds you of the UK's Perfume staff
chasing you about the store trying to spray scent on you.


BUT loving it here everyone has been so friendly and helpful,

[bleater]

Trust me, it's not just the expats who can't understand the New Zealand accent sometimes.

First day back in NZ after 3 years away, in a supermarket:
Check-out operator: "Hue ayr yew".
Me: "Ummm, I'm Philip. I'm your customer".
Check-out operator: "No no no HUE ayr yew".
Me: (Long pause). "Ummmmm..."
Me: (Sudden clarity): "Oh.... HOW am I? I'm well, thanks!"

Anyway, this should help...

[CaroG]

I've been with my Kiwi husband for nearly 5 years and I still have long pauses before my brain kicks in and I understand what he just said!!!

CaroG that's just your selective hearing kicking into gear.

Carole has just started at the Girls High School and the Secretary said she would have
sort out what to my UK ear was Celery, of course she had said Salary. Made me laugh
so much for me understanding Kiwi.

[G-Mo]

Originally Posted by anski

Kiwi's probably feel the same about certain accents from other countries.

I will never forget as a new arrival to Glasgow & working in a shop I was asked by a customer for a "POKE" luckily a Scots lass stepped in (realising I would not know what she meant) & helped me out.

Wonder how many of you know what the customer was asking me?

POKE is a small packet of something, e.g. a wee poke of sweets; although my mate from Dumfries insists the POKE is the paper bag.

[G-Mo]

I've been living with a Kiwi for over a decade, although her accent has softened from being outside NZ (UK and Canada) for over 10 years... I has my sister's fresh off the boat ex-partner about for 4 years, he was a South Island Maori, learned a whole new world of kiwi through that... But, if I have to be honest, everything I know about Kiwi language, I've learned from bro'Town!!! Sweet as! 8D

[topcat83]

You can't get worse than some of the parts of the Midlands of England. Wolverhampton and the Black Country come to mind.

Hubby (who is from Loughborough) took me and the boys (all Londoners) to Dudley, where we visited a local MacDonalds. I ordered two childrens meals, two 'Big Macs' and two cups of tea.

Girl with studs in eyebrow behind the counter mumbled something that ended in 'Tay'.

I asked her to repeat what she'd said four times - still without any kind of understanding.

Hubby comes up and says 'For goodness sake, she's asking you if you want milk and sugar with the tea!'