A Few Semantic Observations
I was writing up a list of Kiwi words and phrases when I started to think about some differences in the way words are used in English speaking countries. I went to school in the United States but I moved around every couple of years so I never developed a hometown or regional accent. Living in England and doing my undergraduate degree in my personality-forming 20s (not to mention the fact that my husband is British) means that a lot of the things I say are very coloured by British English and culture. Now that I’ve been in New Zealand for so long I also have a good smattering of things I say and do that are truly Kiwi. My language use is as mixed up as my accent and, on occasion I read or hear something that reminds me of this fact. There are millions of these little instances but here are four.
One.
Kiwis say, “Big ups” to someone when they want to tell them they’ve done a good job at something. I thought this was a Kiwi phrase until I noticed an American, David Miller on Matador Network, write it in a comment. The difference was that he wrote “Big up” in the singular. I wonder why the difference. I guess Kiwis like to give more than one.
Two.
In England people use the word ‘brown’ to mean skin that has been coloured by the sun. For example,
“My you are looking brown. Have you been on holiday?”
“Yes, we’ve just spent two weeks in Spain.”
But in New Zealand, brown usually refers to skin colour based on ethnicity. So, when I said to a Chinese friend that he was ‘looking nice and brown’ a whole group of people looked at me like I was mad.
Three.
The Kiwi summer is marked by many occasions to get together with friends at a beach, park or back garden and cook things over fire in a metal box. We refer to both the occasion and the metal fire box as a barbecue as in,
“Come over to my house for a barbecue on Friday night”
“Choice. What should I bring*?”
And
“Could you put more sausages on the barbecue? John’s coming and he eats heaps.”
American’s (and, it seems, Canadians), however will call the metal box a grill and can also use it like a verb as in,
“Should we cook the steaks on the grill?”
And
“Come over. We are grilling out.”
As far as I’m aware I’ve never used “grill” as a verb because even if I was to talk about cooking something with a grill, which doesn’t even make sense in this context as a grill is a part of the cooker (uh…stove) with high heat only coming from the top, I would say something like,
“I’ll just put this cheese on toast under the grill for a few minutes until it’s golden and bubbly.”
Four.
One last thing. I was once doing some work in Laos with a team of people, one of which was from Hawaii. We immediately got on/ clicked (it’s an island thing) when we found out how many things we did the same in New Zealand and Hawaii. New Zealand is the largest Polynesian nation after all. They wear slippers while we wear jandals, but the biggest difference was that here in New Zealand we call everyone ‘Bro’, whereas they call everyone ‘Bra’. Again, I wonder why so close yet not the same.
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* You always bring a bottle of wine or a pack of beer and usually your own meat or veggies for the barbecue and/ or maybe a salad to share. Just in case you wondered.
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I can relate so much to this! I grew up in England and the US then lived in Asia and the Pacific for most of my adult life and now my accent tends to shift depending on who I talk to – I have a whole bag of words I have to consciously choose from to ensure whoever I’m talking to understands me.
Cool as.
At the small summer community we go to in Japan, there are people from many cultures and ethnic origins, including a guy from New Zealand. To maintain good relations with other members, all new construction projects need to be passed through the Executive Committee for approval. The following conversation is an only slightly embellished example of Kiwi vs American English confusion.
EX President (American): Well, are there any other items on our agenda related to property?
Kiwi: Yes, we need to approve the enlargement of my dick.
Pres.: Your dick?
K: Yes, my dick. We have to approve my plans to make it larger.
P: Your dick. Are you sure this is something that the EX needs to work on; isn’t it a private matter?
K: No! I already got all my neighbors’ approvals; they have signed off on the plans, so all I need is EX approval and I can go ahead and make my dick bigger before summer.
P: Before summer… right. Your dick.
K: Ohhhhhhh! Sorry ’bout that. My dEck (over emphasized pronunciation)!
As in some places in the US the “short e” sound and the “short i” sounds are pronounced the same.
Just found your blog through “A Girl in Asia”.
Hehehee…..the “brown” and “bro – bra” thing really tickled me.
Celeste- Thanks for your comment. I like how you described it as a “bag of words” as it’s so true. I really feel multilingual in English sometimes.
Jimmy B- Many houses in New Zealand have a deck outside and my British father-in-law LOVES this deck/ dick joke. We try to keep him away from the locals as much as possible;-)
Nmaha- Thanks for visiting! I’m glad you’ve found some fun here:)
Hi! I love this topic and have been thinking about it a lot on my trip. Just wanted to add some notes about barbeque:
-people definitely prefer the term “barbeque” in the US to designate that kind of popular party/gathering (and the etiquette for what to bring is the same), but do refer to the device as a “grill” more often than a barbeque.
-barbeque also refers to a particular type of food prepared this way, as in, barbequed chicken, pork barbeque, etc. It requires that the food be coated with or steeped in some kind of barbeque sauce, whereas “grilled” or “chargrilled” refers to anything cooked on that device whatever the seasoning.
Some of my favorites in Ireland thus far: the phrase “Traffic calming ahead” on road signs; referring to dinner items as “mains” rather than “entrees”; and one I’ve always loved- “Way out” vs. “Exit.”
Hi Jeni! Hope your travels go well:) Thanks for the clarification on the American use of ‘barbeque’. Especially that second one. I didn’t know that, but I did know that my Michigander parents were confused by what southerners cal ‘barbeque’ since it comes all shredded up on the plate. It sounds like what you are talking about, only maybe served shredded.
I love the other ones you’ve mentioned as well. I think the term ‘entree’ used as a main course is particular to the US (What about Canada, I wonder?). I guess it’s one more thing the early settlers did to be different;-)
As far as I remember, they use entrees in Canada too. And traffic calming zone as well (usually with a cartoon turtle drawn on the sign too.)
Now that I’ve lived in the South for five years, I can relate to what Jeni says about barbeque.
The dick/deck anecdote reminded me of what my [British] husband goes through every time he orders water and tomato in Texas. Almost none of the waiters has a clue what he’s saying
A friend of mine was working in a hotel in Vancouver one summer a few years ago when a guy came up to her at the bar where she was on duty. He was from the US South, very drawly. He said to her, something like “I’m really hot and I’d like some ass.”
It took a few repeated attempts before she was able to clarify that he actually wanted some ice for his drink.
Ana- I’ve never heard traffic calming zone. Very interesting.
Mary Anne- I guess some deductive reasoning was in order…unless that’s what people usually order in that particular hotel.