The New Zealand accent (although they swear they don’t have one!) takes a bit of getting used to - they stress the letter ‘e’ in many words. A lot of Kiwis allow their voices to go up at the end of a sentence, which makes it sound as if they are asking a question, even if they are not. The plural for “woman” is pronounced in the same way as the singular.
Just so you know what everyone is talking about, I list below the most common words that are different:
Aussie or Ocker - Australian
Bach - (pronounced Batch) Holiday home
Backyard - garden - could be a considerable size
Bench - worktop
Blue - mistake (you made a blue)
Bottle store - off licence
Bush - forest or dense wooded area
BYO - bring your own drink (seen outside certain restaurants)
Cheerios - cocktail frankfurters
Chilly bin - cool box
Chips or Chippies - crisps
Chook - chicken
Cobber - friend
Cockie - Farmer
College - High school
Crib - Holiday home (Otago)
Crook - unwell, broken
Dag - a bit of a character
Deck - patio
De-facto - unmarried live-in lover
Dairy - corner shop
Daylight savings - putting clocks back/forward
Domain - public picnic green
Flog - borrow
Fossick - look for (fossick about in the cupboard)
Godzone - New Zealand (God’s own country) - used mainly by satirists
Good as gold - yes, that’s fine
Good on yer - Good for you
Gumboots - Wellington boots
Hoon - moron, rush around in cars
Hot chips - chips
Housie - bingo
Ice blocks - Ice lollies
Jandals - flip flops
Judder bars - sleeping policeman
Jug - kettle
Kiwi - New Zealander
Lollies - sweets
Manchester - linen (department)
Morning tea - mid morning coffee/tea break
Muffler - exhaust pipe
Paddock - field
Pakeha - white person (Maori word)
Pants - trousers
Park - parking space
Pikelets - scotch pancakes
Pink Batts - fibreglass roof insulation
Pom, Pommie - Englishman
Pottle - small plastic container, or punnet
Section - plot your house is built on
She’ll be right - It will work out OK
Skite - braggart
Smoko - term for tea break used in factories or industrial sites
Sneakers - trainers
Tad - small amount
Togs - swimming costume
Trundler - shopping trolley
Varsity - university
Veges - vegetables
Washhouse/laundry - utility room
Wee - small
WOF - MOT