bitzer

bitzers (plural)
bitsa (alternative)
bitser (alternative)
bitza (alternative)

Unknown. Originally used of dogs. Perhaps from bits + -er, in reference to the dog's composition from multiple different "bits". The spelling with tz may be influenced from other names of breeds (e.g. spitz, shih tzu, etc.) or in imitation of German names. Compare also German Betze (“bitch, female dog”).

(Australia, New Zealand, informal) A mongrel dog.

And a bit Welsh on your father's side. And a bit Irish. There's even some Chinese in there. You're a bitzer, Stevie.

2017, Fiona Farrell, Decline and Fall on Savage Street, →ISBN:

(Australia, New Zealand, informal) A person of mixed race or ethnicity.


home and hosed

(Australia, New Zealand, horseracing, figurative) Assured of winning.

The judge summed up in our favour. He almost instructed for an acquittal. We're home and hosed, mate.

(Australia, New Zealand, figurative) Having safely reached one's target.


swing bridge

swing bridges (plural)
swingbridge (alternative)

Cross New Zealand's longest Swingbridge on the 110m long Buller Gorge Swingbridge, suspended 17 1/2 metres high above the mighty Buller River.

2025 April 23 (last accessed), “Buller Gorge Swingbridge Adventure and Heritage Park”, in Buller Gorge Swingbridge Adventure and Heritage Park:

For an active day out, walk the most varied section of the Abel Tasman Coast Track from Medlands to Anchorage with return boat transfers from Kaiteriteri. This walk features the impressive Falls River Swing Bridge (15–20 metres high, depending on the tide height), Torrent Bay inlet, and Anchorage Beach.

2025 April 23 (last accessed), “Swing Bridge, Bush & Beach #6”, in Abel Tasman National Park:

(New Zealand) A rope bridge, or simple suspension bridge, that swings as pedestrians walk across.


wananga

wanangas (plural)
wananga (plural)
wānanga (alternative)

Borrowed from Maori wānanga (“traditional knowledge”).

(New Zealand) A school in New Zealand that teaches native Maori knowledge, instituted by the Education Act of 1990.


whare wānanga

Borrowed from Maori whare wānanga (“house of knowledge, [traditional] school”).

bor

house of knowledge, 􂀿traditional􂁀 school

(New Zealand, historical) Formerly, a type of traditional Maori school.


Liverpool kiss

en-noun

Liverpool kiss (plural Liverpool kisses)

Liverpool kisses (plural)
Liverpool Kiss (alternative)

From Liverpool (“city in England”) + kiss.

1957, Gerald Kersh, Fowler′s End, 2006, The Olympia Press, page 42,
“This Irisher give ′im a Liverpool Kiss. You know what it is, a Liverpool Kiss? Make a quick grab for the lapels o′ the coat, an′ pull somebody forward. At the same time bunt ′im in the face miv the top o′ your ′ead an′ kick ′im in the balls miv your knee. Naturally ′e falls forward. While ′e′s falling, punch ′im in the jaw miv all your might so he gradually falls dahn senseless. Then, at your leisure, kick ′im in the ′ead. Naturally I don′t want you should do such things.... […] ″

1992, Bryce Courtenay, Tandia, Volume 1, 2010, ReadHowYouWant, page 157,
There wasn′t room to throw a punch so, grabbing the man by the lapels of his coat, he gave him a Liverpool kiss, his forehead smashing into his assailant′s face connecting with the edge of his brow and the base of his nose.

Hamblyn flew into a rage and butted Alec in the face. The old Liverpool kiss!

1998, Jock Barnes, Never a White Flag: The Memoirs of Jock Barnes, page 146:

He often told people about the woman who had given him a Liverpool kiss.
‘What′s a Liverpool kiss?’ asked one unsuspecting drinking companion.
‘This,’ said Beer, butting him.

2001, Vaughan Tucker, Grubby the Eighth Dwarf, page 24:

Who would have thought you′d be reading about the classic Liverpool kiss in a game of squash. Poor old Anthony Hill never expected to read about it let alone be the victim of one.
Pakistani squash player Mir Zaman Gul knocked Hill unconscious with his cowardly headbutt in a squash tournament.

2006, Stephen Hagan, Australia′s Blackest Sporting Moments: The Top 100, page 354:

(UK, Australia, New Zealand, slang) A headbutt.


jakeloo

en-adj

jakeloo (comparative more jakeloo, superlative most jakeloo)

more jakeloo (comparative)
most jakeloo (superlative)

‘If it's the way you say it is, everything is jakeloo.’

1939, Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep, Penguin, published 2011, page 190:

(chiefly Australia, New Zealand) Fine, excellent.


get one's arse in gear

en-verb

get one's arse in gear (third-person singular simple present gets one's arse in gear, present participle getting one's arse in gear, simple past and past participle got one's arse in gear)

gets one's arse in gear (present singular third-person)
getting one's arse in gear (participle present)
got one's arse in gear (participle past)
got one's arse in gear (past)

(UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, slang) To start performing a task effectively or start behaving better in general; to shape up.


ten pound pom

ten pound poms (plural)
ten pound Pom (alternative)

From ten + pound (“unit of currency”) + pom (“British person”); compare ten pound tourist.
An allusion to the immigrant′s contribution (in sterling) paid for passage to Australia under an assisted immigration scheme, the remainder being paid by the Australian government. The scheme operated from 1946 to 1982; in 1973 the immigrant contribution was increased to £75.

Under the slogan “Populate or Perish”, the government reintroduced assisted passages from Britain - the “ten-pound-poms” - also accepting substantial numbers of European refugees.

2004, Margo Daly, Alison Cowan, Adrian Proszenko, The Rough Guide to Sydney, page 323:

She was able to overcome the hurdles of the Immigration Department because she had actually been born in Adelaide five years before, the child of ‘ten pound Poms’ who were now re-returning to Australia.

2008, Eric Richards, Preface: Destination Australia: Migration to Australia Since 1901, page xiii:

2008, Timothy Darvill, “Jones, Rhys Maengwyn (1941-2001)", entry in Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology, 2nd Edition, unnumbered page,
On graduating he became one of the last ‘ten-pound poms′ by migrating to Australia under a scheme where the individual paid £10 and the Australian government paid the rest of the fare for a one-way journey.

(Australia, New Zealand) An assisted immigrant to Australia or New Zealand from Britain, from the decades following World War II.


ohu

(New Zealand, historical) A kind of rural commune established in New Zealand under a government scheme of the mid-1970s.


chuck a sickie

chuck a sickie (third-person singular simple present chucks a sickie, present participle chucking a sickie, simple past and past participle chucked a sickie)

chucks a sickie (present singular third-person)
chucking a sickie (participle present)
chucked a sickie (participle past)
chucked a sickie (past)

A more slangy variant of throw a sickie.

2010, Veechi Curtis, Lynley Averis, Bookkeeping For Dummies, Australian & New Zealand Edition, page 180,
For example, if an employee chucks a sickie, you need to check that they have enough sick leave available.

2010, Eve Brenac-Mooney, Kaleidoscope, Ebrem, Australia, 2012 EPUB edition, unnumbered page,
I wished I could chuck a sickie, but it was only my second day at Forest Glen, so that was out of the question.

“Fuck it,” I say flippantly. “I′ll chuck a sickie.”
A mischievous grin works its way into her features. “Sounds brilliant,” she muses. “I′ve been trying to convince you to use up some of your sick leave for ages now. What an odd change of heart. Are you sure you are feeling normal?”

(slang, UK, Australia, New Zealand) To take a day off from work feigning ill health.

whakangehengehe

to feign illness so to take time off work


chud

(UK, New Zealand, youth slang) Chewing gum.


statutory authority

en-noun

statutory authority (plural statutory authorities)

(Australia, New Zealand, UK, law) A body set up by law which is authorised to enforce legislation on behalf of the relevant country or state.


you gals

Hey you gals! How you doin'?

You gals headin' down to the beach?

(idiomatic, colloquial, chiefly Canada, US, Australia, New Zealand) You (plural).

the list of other second-person pronouns in you


Macca's

[T]he busload of bogans stop at Macca's for a sausage-and-egg McMuffin to line their respective stomachs for the day ahead.

2010, Michael Jayfox, E. Chas McSween, Intravenus DeMilo, Enron Hubbard, Hunter McKenzie-Smythe, Flash Johnson, Things Bogans Like, Sydney: Hachette, page 112:

"So Bell Street Macca's on Saturday?" Macca's on Saturday. Taylor would be in stitches, Scooter would be on the floor. He could hear them: They're taking you to Macca's? To celebrate? Are you serious, fucking Macca's?

2014 September 9, Christos Tsiolkas, Barracuda: A Novel, Hogarth, →ISBN:

(Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, slang) The McDonald's chain of fast food restaurants; one of these restaurants.


Macca's

(Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, slang, uncountable) Food purchased at a McDonald's fast food restaurant.


whānau

whānau (usually uncountable, plural whānau or whānaus)

It was the 1880s, so timber houses also featured, but here the whānau were travelling to tribal lands and building makeshift whare to camp in.

2014, Tina Makereti, “He Taonga te Reo: How ngā Kupu Māori Contribute to New Zealand Writing in English”, in Jolisa Gracewood, Susanna Andrew, editors, Tell You What: Great New Zealand Nonfiction 2015, Auckland: Auckland University Press, →ISBN, page 119:

(New Zealand) Alternative spelling of whanau.


bush lawyer

(Australia, New Zealand) One who is not qualified in law yet attempts to expound on legal matters.

(New Zealand, historical) A mining agent.


swiftie

Somebody, ’tis said, pulled a swiftie on our newest Amateur in this zone—2ASE. A marauding gent from a country area, whilst visiting, switched a wire or two behind a panel. Nowt blew up, but nowt ’appened it seems. 2ASE took it in good part and soon discovered the joker’s work.

1951 January, “New South Wales: Eastern Suburbs”, in Amateur Radio, volume 19, number 1, Melbourne: Wireless Institute of Australia, page 16:

Green’s Dictionary of Slang
w:Green's Dictionary of Slang

(Australia, New Zealand, slang) A fraud or trick; an act of deception.


rohe

Such rohe were most often delineated by geographical features such as mountains, rivers and valleys, or by botanical markers such as forests or individually identified trees.

2003, Michael King, The Penguin History of Aotearoa New Zealand, Penguin, published 2023, page 68:

(New Zealand) A Māori tribal territory or region; (loosely), an area or region.


dim sim

For the defence, James Harris, of Northcote, said he had put a bottle of beer in his hip pocket at home, and went to the cafe to buy some dim-sims.

1925 July 23, The Age, Melbourne, page 14, column 4:

On the walls about were the hieroglyphic markings of the craft. Across this scene wafted the pungent fragrance of chop suey, dim sims and other delicacies in course of preparation for the funeral feast.

1926 December 16, The Telegraph, Brisbane, page 20, column 7:

No Chinese meal is complete without some succulent dim sims (pork minced with water chestnuts and enclosed in paste), and such sweets as honeyed lychee nuts and honeyed ginger.

1928 October 13, The Argus, Melbourne, page 2, column 7:

There was feasting and joy from Shanghai to the Wall,
What with dim-sims, chop-suey and crackers and all,
And the donor of these, by the hook of my crook.
Was Chiang Ki-Konglong, the Mandarin Cook.

1929 February 10, The Sunday Times, Sydney, page 26, column 7:

One night my husband twisted my arms behind my back and said he had seen me in Bourke street with a Chinaman, eating dim sims.

1930 April 11, The Brunswick and Coburg Gazette, Moonee Ponds, Vic, page 1, column 4:

(Australia, New Zealand) Any of various kinds of Chinese-style meat and cabbage dumplings, similar to shumai and other dim sum and usually steamed or deep fried. Commonly offered by Chinese restaurants and fish-and-chip shops.


pepper-pot

en-verb

pepper-pot (third-person singular simple present pepper-pots, present participle pepper-potting, simple past and past participle pepper-potted)

pepper-pots (present singular third-person)
pepper-potting (participle present)
pepper-potted (participle past)
pepper-potted (past)

In a government office not so long ago, we read an understandable petition from Europeans asking that these 'pepper-potted' people be removed, or they were going to move.

1982, Hans Mol, The fixed and the fickle: religion and identity in New Zealand, page 70:

Although these would be of a maximum of 12 houses, he would prefer to pepper-pot rather than create the risk of "mini ghettos".

1997, Institute of Housing (Great Britain), Housing (volume 33, page 22)

Residential surveyors also say pepper-potting reduces the marketability of a house.

2008, Barry Goodchild, Homes, Cities and Neighbourhoods, page 222:

(UK, New Zealand) To intersperse privately-owned houses and social housing.


cabinetisation

(New Zealand) The process of decentralising the telecommunication infrastructure by installing roadside cabinets that act as miniature telephone exchanges.


kahu

Riding along the road near the Whenuakura river, I observed a kahu pursuing a small bird (apparently a ground lark) high in the air.

1879, Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand, page 368:

Circus approximans
Circus approximans#Translingual

(New Zealand) swamp harrier (Circus approximans)


ngawha

Borrowed from Maori ngāwhā (“geyser, fumarole, hot spring”).


wankette

From wank + -ette, by analogy with wanker.

Exactly. Hate her if you will, but I can't stand it when she gets lumped in with Sheryl Crow, Heather Nova, and all of the other wankettes, because, like you said... there's an element of sincerity, and I can't say it differently.

1997 February 20, Hal Phillips, “Re: The Almighty Alanis”, in alt.music.nin (Usenet):

Remember the wall to wall wankettes in navy blue pullovers, collars turned up, frosted hair and button earings^([sic]) who went to the same school that mummy did, and married a wanker who went to the same school daddy did, And who have never lived more than a mile from the house they were bought up in?

2002 December 10, Alan Brennan, “Re: State of emergency in Dunedin”, in nz.reg.dunedin.general (Usenet):

There is always one wanker or wankette who is so completely drunk that they ruin the fun for everyone else.

2009, Therese Raft, "Conception Day Do's and Don'ts", Grapeshot (Macquarie University), Issue 8, 14 September 2009, page 22

(UK, Australia, New Zealand, slang, vulgar, derogatory) A stupid or annoying woman.


tuakana

Among those who followed were, as might have been expected, Tāmati Wāka Nene and his older brother and tuakana, Patuone.

2003, Michael King, The Penguin History of Aotearoa New Zealand, Penguin, published 2023, page 152:

(New Zealand) In Maori contexts, the elder brother of a male or the elder sister of a female; also, a same-sex cousin of a more senior branch of the family; (loosely), a mentor.


skux

Unknown but has been dubiously claimed to derive from Samoan sitati (sometimes colloquially pronounced as sikaki) meaning study.

(colloquial, New Zealand) stud, player, womaniser


bograt

(Australia, New Zealand, military, humorous, derogatory) A junior fighter pilot.


granny flat

Hundreds of people have built houses, granny flats, apartments and log cabins without planning permission across Ireland in the last 15 years.

2023 August 5, Amy Molloy, “Hundreds build houses, granny flats and log cabins without permissions”, in Irish Independent, page 5:

AARP, the research and advocacy behemoth, has begun aggressively promoting the spread of these units, often referred to as casitas or, more cheekily, granny flats.

2023 September 6, Michelle Cottle, “The Magic of the Granny Flat”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(UK, Australia, New Zealand, informal) A dwelling detached from a primary residence, traditionally designated for a member of an extended family to live in.


spieler

spielers (plural)
shpieler (alternative)
speiler (alternative)

From German Spieler (“player, gambler”) or from spiel.

That a crowd of Sydney stealers,
Jockeys, pugilists and spielers
Brought some horses, real heelers,
Came and put us through.

1891, Banjo Paterson, An Evening in Dandaloo:

‘A spieler,’ Leah gently loosened the painful crab hold of the boy's hand. ‘[…] A trickster. A quandong. A ripperty man. A con-man.’

1985, Peter Carey, Illywhacker, Faber and Faber, published 2003, page 228:

(slang, now chiefly Australia, New Zealand) A swindler, a gambler.


cattle crush

(UK, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand) An enclosure for livestock to keep them from moving while being examined, marked, or given veterinary treatment.


rumpty

en-adj

rumpty (comparative more rumpty, superlative most rumpty)

more rumpty (comparative)
most rumpty (superlative)

I lived in a fringe of the city, down Happy Valley Road, in a bit of a rumpty palace of a house banged together by some DIY no-hoper.

2000, Nigel Cox, Skylark Lounge, page 12:

(New Zealand) Of a quality below standard; in a state of disrepair.


notornis

From translingual Notornis (“a genus name”), from Ancient Greek νότος (nótos, “south”) + ὄρνις (órnis, “bird”).

The weather had been exceptionally severe, and it is supposed that this was how the Notornis came to be found on the flats, having been driven down from the high country.

1881, Walter L. Buller, “On the Notornis”, in Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute:

(New Zealand) The takahe, Porphyrio mantelli, a flightless rail native to New Zealand.


sly-grog

‘The only taproom in Hobart without a Gould on the wall,’ remarked the sly-grog shop owner Mr Capois Death […], ‘is the one with Gould in the gutter.’

2001, Richard Flanagan, Gould's Book of Fish, Vintage, published 2016, page 88:

For want of anything else to do, diggers frequented the sly-grog shops, got drunk, and were then prone to use bad language and become either victims or perpetrators of crime and violence.

2020, Amanda Laugensen, Rooted, NewSouth Publishing, p. 71

(Australia, New Zealand, now chiefly historical) A place illegally selling alcohol without a license, or outside of licensed hours.


boilover

en-noun

boilover (countable and uncountable, plural boilovers)

[…] there was not much good horsemanship. The Derby itself was an ordinary race, something of a boilover for Dark Star […]

1953, Pastoralists' Review (volume 63, issues 7-12, page 716)

(Australia, New Zealand, slang, countable) A sporting event with an unexpected outcome, especially a horse race where the favourite fails to win.


hoonish

en-adj

hoonish (comparative more hoonish, superlative most hoonish)

more hoonish (comparative)
most hoonish (superlative)

Jet-ski person, selfish fink,
May your silly jet-ski sink,
May you hit a pile of rocks,
Oh hoonish summer coastal pox.

1994, Michael Leunig, Ode To A Jet-Ski Person:

(Australia, New Zealand, slang) Resembling or characteristic of a hoon.


rabbit-o

rabbit-os (plural)
rabbit-oh (alternative)
rabbito (alternative)

He would have anyone to his house who would come – bishops and rabbit-ohs, limping ex-servicemen and flash characters from the racetrack.

1985, Peter Carey, Illywhacker, Faber and Faber, published 2003, page 11:

(Australia and New Zealand colloquial, now historical) Someone who sells rabbits for food, especially an itinerant salesman.


bowyang

From British dialect (Lincolnshire) bowy-yanks (“leather leggings”).

Jack McGrath […] travelled innocently beside his team in his faded red shirt, his moleskins, bowyangs, and heavy boots.

1985, Peter Carey, Illywhacker, Faber & Faber, published 2003, page 75:

(Australia, New Zealand) A strap worn below the knee, especially by labourers, to keep the trousers up or to stop them stretching while bending.


swimming hole

The path, so she had been told, followed the river to the big swimming hole and the falls beyond.

1985, Peter Carey, Illywhacker, Faber & Faber, published 2003, page 95:

The boys' swimming-hole was nearly a mile from town, it was a secluded spot — Blue Lick running close to the side of the hill, with massive rocks jutting out from its rugged front, and forming almost a canopy over the swimming-hole.

1895, Forrest Crissey, The Young Newspaper Scout, W.B. Conkey Company, page 33

(chiefly Australia, New Zealand) An area for swimming in a stream or river.


reserve bank

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand.

(Australia, India, New Zealand, South Africa, and other countries) A central bank.


chookie

‘Now, darling,’ she said to her client, ‘we have ten colours written on our chart so we can put our chookie back in its little house.’

1985, Peter Carey, Illywhacker, Faber and Faber, published 2003, page 292:

(Australia, New Zealand, colloquial) A small or young domestic fowl; a chick.


rear vision mirror

en-noun

rear vision mirror (plural rear vision mirrors)

rear vision mirrors (plural)
rear-vision mirror (alternative)

The cockatoo was tied with dunny chain to the outside rear-vision mirror from which perch it shrieked and wailed and attacked its own reflection.

1985, Peter Carey, Illywhacker, Faber and Faber, published 2003, page 298:

I stood on the brake and shoved the gear stick into reverse, not even looking in the rear-vision mirror, thinking there was no need.

1995, John Marsden, The Third Day, The Frost:

The girl was watching my rear vision mirror, and when I looked into it, she murmured, ‘You're welcome.’

(Australia, New Zealand) A rear-view mirror.


shickered

en-adj

shickered (comparative more shickered, superlative most shickered)

more shickered (comparative)
most shickered (superlative)
shikkered (alternative)

From Yiddish שיכּור (shiker, “drunk”), from Hebrew שיכּור.

uder

Hebrew שיכּור

‘I'm shikkered. I've never been so shikkered before. Do you know how I know? Because,’ he started giggling, ‘because I don't normally fucking swear.’

1985, Peter Carey, Illywhacker, Faber and Faber, published 2003, page 458:

'You're shickered, dear.' She is coolly diagnostic. 'You know what you're like when you're shickered.'

1994, Annamarie Jagose, In Translation, page 13:

(Australia, New Zealand, colloquial) Drunk.


rengarenga

(New Zealand) Arthropodium cirratum, a herbaceous perennial plant endemic to New Zealand.


paepae

(New Zealand) The horizontal element on the ground at the front of a wharenui, serving as the threshold of the building.


darl

'Well if you're sure. I was going to make myself a cup of tea before it gets too hot. Do you want one?' 'No. I'll be right. Listen darl, I brought you back something, and the kids,' he says, opening his backpack[…]

2004, Marie Seltenrych, Five Golden Rings and a Diamond, page 306:

'Hello, darl. This must be the newest addition to our family.' Melissa's attention was wrenched away from her confusing thoughts about Joss as she was enveloped in a warm hug from a woman just a little shorter than her.

2010, Joanna Neil, Lucy Clark, Posh Doc, Society Wedding / New Boss, New-Year Bride:

(informal, chiefly Australia and New Zealand) darling (as a term of address)


six o'clock swill

Licensing laws in Australia were finally relaxed in 1967, bringing an end to the infamous six o'clock swill and encouraging people to eat out.

2003, Nicholas Faith, chapter 7, in Australia's Liquid Gold, Hachette UK, →ISBN:

The six o'clock swill was the male ritual of consuming as many beers as possible in the hour before hotels and pubs closed at six o'clock. Early closing was introduced during World War One, when wartime patriotism and austerity and a general temperance mood impelled its introduction.

2007, D. Kirkby, T. Luckins, Dining On Turtles: Food Feasts and Drinking in History, Springer, →ISBN, page 93:

(Australia, New Zealand, historical) The last-minute rush to buy alcohol at a bar before it closed at 6pm.


karengo

“I also look after a stand of mushrooms hereabouts, and my patches of puha and my karengo beds are very carefully tended.”

1983, Keri Hulme, The Bone People, Penguin, published 1986, page 106:

(New Zealand) Pyropia columbina, an edible seaweed.


moho-pereru

(New Zealand) A bird, the buff-banded rail.


kokihi

(New Zealand) Tetragonia tetragonioides, a leafy ground cover with edible leaves.


Mihanere

Borrowed from Maori mihinare, from English missionary.

(New Zealand, archaic, religion) A convert to Christianity.


kete

He leans over his seat and picks up the kete, full of sandwiches and teamaking gear.

1983, Keri Hulme, The Bone People, Penguin, published 1986, page 157:

(New Zealand) A traditional Maori woven basket.


relief teacher

(Australia, New Zealand) A supply teacher.


freezing works

(New Zealand, Australia) An industrial facility where animals are slaughtered and the carcases frozen for export.


freezing worker

en-noun

freezing worker (plural freezing workers)

(New Zealand) A person who works at a freezing works.


Welly

Clipping of Wellington + -y (diminutive suffix).

(New Zealand, informal) Wellington, New Zealand


long service leave

(business, Australia, New Zealand) An additional employee vacation payable after long periods of service with an employer.


underdaks

(Australia, New Zealand, informal) underpants


Te Ao Māori

(New Zealand) The Māori world, including its languages, community practices, sites of importance, etc.


whip the cat

en-verb

whip the cat (third-person singular simple present whips the cat, present participle whipping the cat, simple past and past participle whipped the cat)

whips the cat (present singular third-person)
whipping the cat (participle present)
whipped the cat (participle past)
whipped the cat (past)

Originally from reference to a prank played on country bumpkins, in which they were encouraged to show their strength by whipping a cat that was harnessed to a load that was too heavy for it. This led to the sense of attempting to get more than can be provided, and by extension, to practice extreme parsimony. From there, it possibly evolved to the other senses, which tend to reflect the connotations of poverty and/or uselessness.

I believe one of the members of our hunting section was lucky enough to get a subscription through before they stopped it. The rest of the members of the section have been "whipping the cat” because they left it too late

[…] he will be whipping the cat he did not leave this line down to carry light traffic from the hills.

1965, Western Australia. Parliament, Parliamentary Debates, page 2103:

But whipping the cat she ever sold her house over here, the young man remarked.

1978, Helen Shaw, The Gipsies, and Other Stories, page 30:

When you're stoney broke and walking An' your tucker bag is flat, It will never get you nowhere If you start to whip the cat, For there aint no time for weepin' When you're on a hungry track,

1983, John Meredith, Duke of the Outback: The Adventures of "a Shearer Named Tritton", page 56:

And then, as if to prove that we are not always on the drink, or “whipping the cat, or committing suicide,” that we can love and live for others besides self, Neaves' mate came down from the little rise beyond the sliprails, where he had spent his day carving a headstone out of a rough slab of wood that now stood at the head of our sick traveller's grave.

2019, Jeannie Gunn, We of the Never-Never:

(Australia, New Zealand) To regret; to feel self-pity


Oscar Asche

After Oscar Asche (1871–1936), Australian actor, director and writer.

(rhyming slang, Australia, New Zealand) cash; money.


Native

He did not ask the Council to sanction the removal of all restrictions on Native lands, but simply asked that such lands as are to be rated under this Bill should have their titles freed in so far as to enable the Native owners to lease those lands and obtain some benefit therefrom.

1904 November 3, in the New Zealand Parliamentary Debates, second session, fifteenth parliament, legislative council and house of representatives, volume 131, Native Land Rating Bill, page 814

Aboriginal to a colonized region, especially one colonized by English-speaking people. (Compare native, which is more general.)

(Australia, New Zealand) Aboriginal; of or relating to Australian Aboriginal peoples, Aborigines.


Native

An aboriginal inhabitant of a colonized region, especially one colonized by English-speaking people. (Compare native, which is more general.)


taonga

The islands and fishing grounds that are now a jewel in the crown of tourism were from the earliest days populated and prized by Maori as taonga.

2013, Radio New Zealand, Waitangi Tribunal visits islands prized as taonga:

(New Zealand) In Maori culture, any treasured thing, whether tangible or intangible.


rangatiratanga

(New Zealand, Maori) chieftainship; sovereignty


tohunga

From Maori tohunga (“skilled person, chosen expert, priest, healer”).

bor

Those who became tohunga did so not simply voluntarily, but because they displayed aptitudes at an early age which indicated to their elders that they had been chosen by deities to perform particular functions […].

2003, Michael King, The Penguin History of Aotearoa New Zealand, Penguin, published 2023, page 68:

(New Zealand) A Māori chosen to be a specialist in a specific skilled field; especially, a priest.


psychopaedic

(New Zealand) Of or relating to the care of the mentally disabled.


rewena

(New Zealand) A traditional Maori sourdough potato bread.


colonial goose

For the colonial pioneers, this dish often replaced the traditional goose, which was relatively scarce in New Zealand.

(New Zealand) A roast leg of lamb or mutton, boned and stuffed with honey, dried apricots, etc., and marinated with red wine.


Crown land

en-noun

Crown land (countable and uncountable, plural Crown lands)

Crown lands (plural)
crown land (alternative)

Aboriginal groups could apply to jointly manage all Crown land under the most radical overhaul of native title settlement proposed in Victoria.

2009 January 6, Jewel Topsfield, “Native title reform bid”, in The Age, Australia, retrieved 2014-08-26:

The Crown Estate confirmed today they would allow shooters taking part in one of two pilot culls to access Crown land in west Somerset. . . . The Crown Estate manages the Queen’s property portfolio but revenues go to the Treasury.

2013 September 21, Charlie Cooper, “Crown Estate permits badger cull on its land”, in The Independent, UK, retrieved 2014-08-26:

LINZ administers three million hectares of Crown land or eight percent of New Zealand's land area.

2014, “LINZ's Crown Property Role”, in Land Information New Zealand, Government of New Zealand, retrieved 2014-08-26:

The Province of Alberta recognizes its obligation under the Natural Resources Transfer Agreement (Constitution Act 1930) to transfer provincial Crown land back to the federal government to allow the settlement of aboriginal land claims.

2014 July 10, Lorne Beloud, “Opinion: In wake of decision, who owns Canada?”, in Ottawa Citizen, Canada, retrieved 2014-08-26:

(UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand) In Britain and some Commonwealth countries, land that is owned by the state, nominally titled to the reigning King or Queen of England, and whose use and disposition is controlled by a government within that Commonwealth country or by an official representative of the monarch.


debt of honour

(UK, Australia, New Zealand) Alternative form of debt of honor.


kahikatoa

Leptospermum scoparium
Leptospermum scoparium#Translingual

(New Zealand) Leptospermum scoparium, the manuka.


karaka

It may have been around this time that ‘wild’ plants such as karaka, cabbage tree and bracken fern began to be semi-cultivated.

2003, Michael King, The Penguin History of Aotearoa New Zealand, Penguin, published 2023, page 59:

(New Zealand) An evergreen tree, Corynocarpus laevigatus, bearing fruits with a kernel that can be eaten after extensive roasting and washing.


mates' rates

I looked at him quizzically. ‘It's Rose's place. She says pop in anytime for a hairdo. Mates' rates.’ I must have looked wary because he added, ‘She's good.’ I nodded politely.

2014, Jonathan Harvey, The Girl Who Just Appeared, Pan Macmillan, →ISBN, page 94:

(UK, Australia, New Zealand, informal, chiefly in the plural) Discounted prices offered to friends.


Nasa

Nasa administrator Bill Nelson criticised Beijing on Saturday, saying the failure to share the details of the rocket’s descent was irresponsible and risky.

2022 July 30, “Nasa criticises China after space rocket makes uncontrolled return to Earth”, in The Guardian:

(UK, Australia, New Zealand) Alternative letter-case form of NASA (not used in North America)


smallgood

smallgood sausages

smallgood production

(Australia, New Zealand, attributive) smallgoods


Pasifika

From English Pacific, changed to use Samoan orthography.

My political stance as a Pasifika poet has always been one of inclusion – I'm a bridge not a wall.

2018, The Guardian, "Post-colonial talk back: seeing London in the South Seas", Selina Tusitala Marsh, 24 February 2018 (Selina Tusitala Marsh is a poet-scholar and New Zealand Poet Laureate for 2017–2019)


boozeroo

(New Zealand, slang) A session of alcohol drinking.

[…] until next time my words find their way to The Land Down Under, off to the boozeroo with you — but watch out for the technicolour yawns […]

2005, Elrod Stanton, Resurrection and Reclamation, page 425:

(New Zealand, slang) A place for drinking; a public house.


honour guard

honour guards (plural)
honor guard (alternative)
guard of honour (alternative)

Princess Anne inspects the Honour Guard at Rideau Hall.

2014, “Princess Anne takes part in Remembrance Day ceremony in Ottawa.”, in Canada.com:

(Australia, Canada, New Zealand, UK) a ceremonial assembly of uniformed military personnel performing the duty of escort or exhibition, i.e. accompany a casket during a funeral procession.


pukatea

(New Zealand) Laurelia novae-zelandiae, a tree of New Zealand.


flow-on

(Australia, New Zealand) A wage adjustment or an improvement in working conditions made as a consequence of one already made in a similar or related occupation.


down the gurgler

“Those people who have sought to deify our wilderness … those days are over. We are not going to sit around and read poetry to rare lizards, whilst our current account deficit goes down the gurgler,” Jones said.

2025 May 26, Eva Corlett, quoting Shane Jones, “New Zealand will not be ‘guilt-tripped’ over environment, resources minister says”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

(Australia, New Zealand, informal) Synonym of down the drain.


kereru

Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae
Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae#Translingual

(New Zealand) The New Zealand pigeon (species Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae).


log-burner

2014 June 17, Shelley Robinson, “Anger over state-home log-burner upgrades" The Government is facing criticism for upgrading log-burners in Christchurch state houses while other people are being pushed into using alternative heating options.”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name):

(UK, Australia, New Zealand) A woodburning stove, especially one used to heat a house.


sweet as

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-sweet as.wav

His new car is sweet as.

(UK, Australia, New Zealand, slang) Wonderful, extremely good.


lifestyle block

lifestyle block (plural lifestyle blocks)

Keep checking your home and farm security – thieves never sleep and rustling small mobs of stock on lifestyle blocks is on the rise.

2009 January 3, “Farming Diary for March”, in LSB:

His parents had a lifestyle block. They called it their life sentence.

2023, Eleanor Catton, Birnam Wood, page 57:

(New Zealand) A small farm that is not the resident owner's primary source of income, or large residence that includes some agricultural features.


green vegetable bug

green vegetable bug (plural green vegetable bugs)

(Australia, New Zealand) A stink bug, Nezara viridula, that has spread worldwide in tropical and subtropical regions and is a significant pest on many crops.


tena koe

(New Zealand) A greeting (to a single person)


Dominion Day

(New Zealand) A day commemorating the granting of national status to New Zealand.


shower rose

(Australia, New Zealand) A perforated nozzle that sprays water on a bather, sometimes in adjustable patterns.


matinée jacket

matinée jackets (plural)
matinee jacket (alternative)

“I just can't see you with wool and needles,” she said in amusement one day on the phone when Kerry told her she was halfway through a tiny white matinée jacket.

2007, Cathy Kelly, Best of Friends, →ISBN, page 440:

She gestured to her knitting. "I'm just running her up a little matinée jacket." .

2010, Madeleine Wickham, Cocktails For Three, →ISBN:

It was meant to be a matinée jacket but it bore a far stronger resemblance to a string vest, so many and various were the holes where the inexpert knitter had dropped stitches.

2012, Judith Saxton, Nobody's Children, →ISBN:

(UK, Australia, New Zealand) A short coat for a baby, similar to a cardigan.


panel beater

McGee was one of three siblings, born in 1959 and raised in Glasgow's Mount Florida area. His father, John, was a panel-beater.

2003, John Harris, The Last Party, Harper Perennial, published 2004, page 105:

(UK, Australia, New Zealand) One who repairs vehicle bodywork; an auto body mechanic (US).


panel beaters

(UK, Australia, New Zealand) A business that repairs bodywork damage to vehicles; a body shop.


posh wank

Mark bought a packet of condoms so that he could have a posh wank.

(slang, vulgar) An act of male masturbation with a condom placed over the penis.


in the pudding club

* Possibly derived from the round shape of a pregnant abdomen, resembling that of a traditional boiled pudding.
* An alternative suggestion is an association with dialectal English pod (“belly”), German puddig (“swollen”), Westphalian Low German Puddek (“lump, pudding”).

(UK, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland, colloquial, slang) Pregnant.


chardonnay socialist

chardonnay socialist (plural chardonnay socialists)

champagne socialist
champagne socialist#English

(chiefly Australia and New Zealand) Synonym of champagne socialist.


kahawai

Māori oratory of those years began to employ proverbs about […] the propensity of the kahawai for devouring the mullet.

2003, Michael King, The Penguin History of Aotearoa New Zealand, Penguin, published 2023, page 168:

(New Zealand) An edible marine fish, Arripis trutta, found around the southeastern coast of Australia and New Zealand, having a dark bluish-green body with indistinct rows of spots forming narrow irregular bands on the upper sides.


bollocks up

en-verb

bollocks up (third-person singular simple present bollockses up, present participle bollocksing up, simple past and past participle bollocksed up)

bollockses up (present singular third-person)
bollocksing up (participle present)
bollocksed up (participle past)
bollocksed up (past)

The webpage didn't display properly because I bollocksed up the formatting.

(UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Commonwealth, vulgar, slang) To fail to do correctly; to make a mess of.


chocolate crackle

en-noun

chocolate crackle (plural chocolate crackles)

Meanwhile, I'm catering for Verity's fifth birthday party on the same day at 2 p.m. – am up to my armpits tonight in honey joys and chocolate crackles! I also have to bake a mermaid cake!

2011, Jacqueline Pascarl, Abducted: The Fourteen-Year Fight to Find My Children:

(Australia, New Zealand) A snack made from a mixture of Rice Bubbles, desiccated coconut and hydrogenated coconut oil left to set in patty cake cases.

巧克力卜卜米餅 /巧克力卜卜米饼 (qiǎokèlì bǔbǔmǐ bǐng) (no equivalent exists; literal translation given)


whangai

whangai (countable and uncountable, plural whangais)

(New Zealand, uncountable) A traditional Maori form of adoption practised within the extended family.

(New Zealand, countable) A child adopted under this system.


whaikorero

(New Zealand) formal speechmaking in the Māori culture


wharangi

(New Zealand) Melicope ternata, a coastal shrub or small tree in the Rutaceae family, native to New Zealand.


toetoe

toe-toe (alternative)
toi-toi (alternative)

I set out from Northcote towards Mr Sargeson's place in Takapuna, walking along the largely unformed road with paddocks of scrub and toetoe on either side […].

1984, Janet Frame, An Angel at my Table, Virago, published 2024, page 255:

(New Zealand) Any of various tall grasses native to New Zealand, especially of the genus Austroderia.


kaitiaki

kaitiaki (countable and uncountable, plural kaitiakis or kaitiaki)

(New Zealand, uncountable) The Māori concept of guardianship of the natural environment.

Kaitiaki are rarely resourced to respond to the many requests for their time and expertise.

2019, Jeannette Bastian, Andrew Flinn, Community Archives, Community Spaces: Heritage, Memory and Identity, page 72:

(New Zealand, countable) In Māori culture, a person serving as a guardian of the natural environment.


kaupapa

(New Zealand) Among the Māori people, a philosophy or set of principles.


korero

“What about korero, Joe? What about our tribe's famous talk-it-out with all concerned?”

1983, Keri Hulme, The Bone People, Penguin, published 1986, page 273:

(New Zealand) Among the Māori people, a meeting to discuss something; a conference.


korero

en-verb

korero (third-person singular simple present koreros, present participle koreroing, simple past and past participle koreroed)

koreros (present singular third-person)
koreroing (participle present)
koreroed (participle past)
koreroed (past)

(New Zealand) Among the Māori people, to hold a meeting to discuss something.


karakia

(New Zealand) Māori incantations and prayers, used to invoke spiritual guidance and protection.


kamokamo

kamokamos (plural)
kamokamo (plural)
kumikumi (alternative)

Cucurbita pepo
Cucurbita pepo#Translingual

(New Zealand) A variety of squash, Cucurbita pepo.


rahui

(New Zealand) In Māori culture, restriction of access to a place, as a form of taboo.


kaumatua

/kʌʉˈmʌːtʉə/

/kaʊˈmɑːtʊə/

Borrowed from Maori kaumātua (“adult, elder”).

The kaumatua would have rubbed the finished ring against belly and nose to make that shine, for many months.

1983, Keri Hulme, The Bone People, Penguin, published 1986, page 313:

(New Zealand) In Māori culture, an elder; a respected older person.


mokopuna

(New Zealand) In Māori culture, grandchildren, or sometimes children generally


turangawaewae

/ˌtuːɹʌŋəˈwaɪwaɪ/

/ˌtuˌɹʌŋəˈwaɪˌwaɪ/

/ˌtuːɹʌŋəˈwɑewɑe/

Borrowed from Maori tūrangawaewae, from tūranga (“place to stand, position, site, situation; foundation”) (from tū (“to stand”) + ‑ranga (suffix forming nouns from verbs)) + waewae (“foot; leg; footprint”).

(New Zealand) In Māori culture: the place where one belongs or has a right to live; one's own land; also, the sense of freedom, identity, and spiritual connection associated with this place.

turangawaewae

in Māori culture: the place where one belongs or has a right to live; sense of freedom, identity and spiritual connection associated with this place


urupa

(New Zealand) In Māori culture, a burial ground.


green fairy

She used to buy the majority of her medicines from a local green fairy, but when they were busted, her supply line, like that of many other patients, was cut.

2020, James Borrowdale, Weed: A New Zealand Story, Penguin Random House New Zealand, →ISBN:

(New Zealand, colloquial) A person who supplies medicinal cannabis products illegally.


Beetle

Beetles (plural)
beetle (alternative uncommon)

(UK, Australia, New Zealand) A small car, the Volkswagen Beetle (original version made 1938–2003, similar models made 1997–2010 and since 2011).


zambuk

zambuks (plural)
zambuck (alternative)
Zambuk (alternative)

From Zam-Buk, a type of healing ointment originally manufactured in England, United Kingdom; further origin uncertain.

“C’mon ‘Zambuk,’ what’s keeping yer!” the old-time football crowds would yell when one over-eager barracker k.o.’d an opposition supporter. Spencer Middlemiss sat back in a chair at his Mascot home last week, and, surrounded by a pile of certificates, photographs and cuttings, proudly confessed that he was one of the original “Zambuks.”

1957 April 14, David Burke, “He slept in a police cell: Oldest ambulance man looks back”, in The Sun-Herald, 2nd edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: John Fairfax and Sons, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 32, columns 1–2:

The Hospitaller's Clubs, who work for the Hospital of St. John, an op[h]thalmic hospital in Jerusalem, and the St. John Ambulance Brigade, they're the voluntary uniform body, the Zambuks on the football field and the women in white who look after fainting people in big crowds …

1966 March 17, Marjorie Higgins, quotee, “And how is your first aid? Do you know what to do until the doctor comes?”, in The Sydney Morning Herald, late edition, number 40,013, Sydney, N.S.W.: John Fairfax and Sons, →ISSN, →OCLC, Women’s Section, page 8:

When I came past the accident scene I couldn't believe it—the driver was walking around, though he was breathing a little huskily. As the ambulance by that time had arrived I told one of the zambucks.

2005, Trevor L. White, chapter 6, in Death at the Post, [Bloomington, Ind.]: Xlibris, published 2012, →ISBN, page 67:

‘You’re still bleeding from that wound on the head. Tiger’ll put a dressing on it.’ / ‘Aw, call the Zambuck,’ he protested. / […] / ‘Zambuck’s the first aid man at the footy—you know, St John’s Ambulance. They’re called that ’cause of the ointment they carry.’

2007, Michael O’Sullivan, “Another Sunday Morning”, in Easter at Tobruk, [Sydney, N.S.W.]: ReadHowYouWant, published 2008, →ISBN, part 2, page 59:

All Black lock Tiny White (born 1925) being taken from the field by zambuks in the fourth New Zealand–South Africa rugby test, Eden Park, Auckland, 1 September 1956.

2009, Graeme Hunt, “Post-war Challenges”, in First to Care: 125 Years of the Order of St John in New Zealand 1885–2010, Auckland: Libro International; Wellington: Waddington Press for the Priory in New Zealand of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem, →ISBN, image caption, page 182:

We better tell them the shooting is over, otherwise the cops won't let the zambucks come up to get Cathy.

2010, Alix Bosco [pseudonym; Greg McGee], chapter 47, in Slaughter Falls, [Sydney, N.S.W.]: ReadHowYouWant, →ISBN, pages 414–415:

(Australia, New Zealand, informal) A first-aider, especially one from St. John Ambulance attending at a sports event.


for Africa

Suggesting large aid donations to the Third World.

Every Christmas, my mother makes fruitcakes for Africa.


rip, shit or bust

(New Zealand, slang) With vigour and enthusiasm, but without regard to quality of outcome.


nikau

These buildings with split-paling walls and nīkau-thatched roofs would become their home for several years.

2003, Michael King, The Penguin History of Aotearoa New Zealand, Penguin, published 2023, page 218:

(New Zealand) A New Zealand palm, Rhopalostylis sapida, with edible pith and leaves used for building and thatching.


caravaner

(UK, Australia, New Zealand) One who travels or stays in a caravan (furnished vehicle used as a dwelling).


balls on

balls on (third-person singular simple present ballses on, present participle ballsing on, simple past and past participle ballsed on)

ballses on (present singular third-person)
ballsing on (participle present)
ballsed on (participle past)
ballsed on (past)

“Can you tell me why it is,” said Ian in an aggressive way, “every time we go into a fucking pub you go ballsing on about bleeding Lance Platt. Can you tell me that?”

2010, Ruth Rendell, Portobello: A Novel, →ISBN, page 250:

Here was Oswald, trying to make the business a bit of money, to go out and find a few pictures to sell and a few clients to sell them to; and here was this youth ballsing on about Chatsworth and his weekends with Lady Lindisfarne.

2013, Philip Hook, The Stonebreakers, →ISBN:

(British, Australia, New Zealand, slang, vulgar, intransitive) To blather.


papakainga

(New Zealand) Land used for housing by a hapu or whanau group.


kapa haka

en-noun

kapa haka (countable and uncountable, plural kapa haka)

Borrowed from Maori kapa haka (literally “line” (i.e. forming a line of people) “dance”).

bor

(New Zealand, uncountable) Māori performing arts, including song, dance, and synchronized movement

(New Zealand, countable) A group performing these arts.


Maoritanga

‘But I'm Maori. And that's the way I feel too, the way you said, that that the Maoritanga has got lost in the way I live.’

1983, Keri Hulme, The Bone People, Penguin, published 1986, page 62:

(New Zealand) Māori culture, traditions, and way of life; Maoriness.


ranchslider

From a trademark, Ranchslider, from ranch + slider.

It is common ground that all four young men entered the house through an unlocked ranchslider door giving access to the combined kitchen-living room area.

1995, The New Zealand Law Reports, volume 3, page 132:

(New Zealand) A kind of sliding glass door with a moving panel that slides behind a fixed panel.


CIB

CIB (disambiguation)
Cosmic infrared background

Criminal Investigation Branch
w:Criminal Investigation Branch

(New Zealand) Initialism of Criminal Investigation Branch.


hiff

en-verb

hiff (third-person singular simple present hiffs, present participle hiffing, simple past and past participle hiffed)

hiffs (present singular third-person)
hiffing (participle present)
hiffed (participle past)
hiffed (past)

hiff a ball

(transitive, chiefly New Zealand) To throw (an object) through the air.


dirty dairying

(New Zealand) Damage to New Zealand's freshwater environment caused by the intensification of dairy farming.


kakabeak

From kaka + beak, from the resemblance to the beak of the bird.

(New Zealand) Any of various flowering plants in the genus Clianthus.


fair shake of the sauce bottle

EN-AU ck1 fair shake of the sauce bottle.ogg

fair suck of the sauce bottle
fair suck of the sauce bottle#English

(Australia, New Zealand, colloquial, informal) Synonym of fair suck of the sauce bottle.


rewarewa

Borrowed from Maori rewarewa, from rewa (“to float”).

The wood is rewarewa, blond and fine-grained and sanded to satin finish.

1983, Keri Hulme, The Bone People, Penguin, published 1986, page 267:

(New Zealand) A tall evergreen tree, Knightia excelsa, endemic to New Zealand, with leathery leaves and red flowers.


shed out

shed out (third-person singular simple present sheds out, present participle shedding out, simple past and past participle shedded out)

sheds out (present singular third-person)
shedding out (participle present)
shedded out (participle past)
shedded out (past)

(New Zealand, transitive) To move (sheep who have lambed) to better pasture.


wayleggo

(New Zealand) Used by a shepherd to call a sheepdog back to his side.


amenity block

(Australia, New Zealand) A building at a park, campground, caravan park, or holiday park containing multiple facilities for use by patrons such as toilets, showers, kitchen, laundry, or lockers.


holiday park

(UK, Australia, New Zealand) A commercial facility that includes various forms of inexpensive accommodation, such as campsites, cabins, caravan or RV parking, and motel rooms, for the use of people on holiday.


-zza

Australian origin. Combination of -z and -er.

Boris → Bozza, Sharon → Shazza, Charlotte → Chazza

(Australia, New Zealand, UK) Forms nicknames, especially of personal names.


comajor

Instead, in addition to my molecular biology major, I was enrolled in a scientific philosophy comajor along with all other members of the honours program, leaving me with time to also do a psychology minor.

2015, Bryan Grieg Fry, Doctor Venom, →ISBN:

Dr. Gönen also received an MS in industrial engineering (1973) and a PhD comajor in industrial engineering (1978) from Iowa State University, as well as an MBA from the University of Oklahoma (1980).

2014, Turan Gonen, Electrical Power Transmission System Engineering, →ISBN:

(US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand) One of multiple main areas of study of a student working toward a degree at an institute of tertiary education.


comajor

comajor (third-person singular simple present comajors, present participle comajoring, simple past and past participle comajored)

comajors (present singular third-person)
comajoring (participle present)
comajored (participle past)
comajored (past)

(US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, intransitive) To concentrate on one of multiple areas of study as a student in a college or university.


each way

According to the Crown's case, in pursuance of this scheme, a slip was handed in by Humphreys on Saturday, Feb. 6, 1965, for a five shilling each way Yankee bet coupled with a twenty shilling each way bet on one of the horses.

1966, Justice of the peace and local government review reports:

A win bet carries one unit stake, a place bet one unit and an each way bet two units — one for win and one for place.

1973, J. P. Jones, Gambling yesterday and today: a complete history, page 114:

This horse does not achieve the criteria you have laid down, whether it is a win or an each way bet.

2013, Lee Werrell, How To Develop Your Natural Charisma The Easy Way:

(UK, Australia, New Zealand, gambling) For either a win or a place in a competition.


each way

At first the shilling each way I put on horses was not my own but the concession allowed me by the street bookmaker for the other bankers' bets I brought him.

1946, Sean O'Faolain, Peadar O'Donnell, The Bell - Volume 12, page 132:

In time it is envisaged that in this State betting will be permitted by way of doubles, quinellas, win, and place, as well as up-the-lot betting, for a win, for a place, and each way.

1960, Great Britain Parliament, Western Australia Parliament, Parliamentary Debates, page 2465:

He would put his 50 pence each way on Crisp or whoever whilst Mum's 50 pence each way went on Red Rum.

2011, Mark Senior, Changing Speed 2, →ISBN, page 84:

I wanted to put sixpence on, each way.


Raro

The drink's name is a trademark, from Rarotonga.

(New Zealand) A drink made from flavoured powdered sugar and water; cordial.


Tron

I'm headed down to the Tron for the weekend.

(New Zealand, informal) Hamilton, a city in the North Island of New Zealand.


hei-tiki

en-noun

hei-tiki (usually uncountable, plural hei-tikis)

hei-tikis (plural)
heitiki (alternative)
hei tiki (alternative)

Borrowed from Maori heitiki, from hei (“to tie around the neck; scarf, pendant”) + tiki (“carving of a human figure”).

The ability to work stone and bone was also prized, for the production of essential tools such as adzes and fishhooks, and for the quality of ornaments such as pendants and hei tiki.

2003, Michael King, The Penguin History of Aotearoa New Zealand, Penguin, published 2023, page 74:

(New Zealand) An ornamental pendant (typically made of pounamu or greenstone) among the Māori, worn around the neck, representing a human figure traditionally connected with Tiki, the first human in Maori mythology.


SFO

(UK, New Zealand) Initialism of Serious Fraud Office.


niff

Whew, there's a bit of a niff in here. Is that your socks?

Police helicopters blared loudspeaker warnings about the smelly man. Soon afterwards, a nosy motel receptionist noticed a nasty niff from a new guest.

2014, Nick Arnold, Horrible Science: Body Owner's Handbook, page 159:

(UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, informal) A bad smell.


love heart

love hearts (plural)
loveheart (alternative)
love-heart (alternative)

There were no exclamation points in Miranda's messages. No emojis. No love hearts. Win wasn't surprised; there hadn't been much love between them since the argument over her daughter's sudden pregnancy.

2021, Christina Dalcher, Femlandia, page 168:

(UK, Australia, New Zealand) The symbol ♥, used informally to convey the idea of (usually romantic) love.

'Here's your lollies,' she says holding out the grubby packet of lovehearts, Maura's share of the two shillings' worth they had bought with the money from the Barnardos box.

2001, Fiona Farrell, The Skinny Louie Book:

(UK, Australia, New Zealand) A sweet or candy in the shape of a heart.


swag it

en-verb

swag it (third-person singular simple present swags it, present participle swagging it, simple past and past participle swagged it)

swags it (present singular third-person)
swagging it (participle present)
swagged it (participle past)
swagged it (past)

...for of late many a man travelling on horseback has, after spending three times the worth of his horses in feeding them, seen them die, leaving him to throw his saddles away and swag it with the footmen.

1885, Chambers's Journal - Volume 62, Issue 1, page 287:

Why not come with me, an' we 'll swag it outer this into Queensland ?

1915, Nicholas Freydon, The Record of Nicholas Freydon: An Autobiography, page 87:

Took a few mates out and swagged it and had a good time.

2011, Evan McHugh, Birdsville: My Year in the Back of Beyond, →ISBN, page 240:

(Australia, New Zealand) To travel on foot, carrying one's possessions.


New Zealand yam

en-noun

New Zealand yam (usually uncountable, plural New Zealand yams)

(New Zealand) The oca, Oxalis tuberosa, a root vegetable introduced from South America.


little house

(UK dialect, Australia, New Zealand) An outhouse: an outbuilding used as a lavatory.


cow cocky

Three months in hospital being poked and prodded like a preize heifer and then it's the long way home for me when the last damn thing I want to do is be a cow cocky like my dad or a flamin' sheep farmer like the old man.

2018, Ngaio Marsh, Stella Duffy, Money in the Morgue, →ISBN, page 135:

(Australia, New Zealand, informal) A small-scale dairy farmer.


preservatize

en-verb

preservatize (third-person singular simple present preservatizes, present participle preservatizing, simple past and past participle preservatized)

preservatizes (present singular third-person)
preservatizing (participle present)
preservatized (participle past)
preservatized (past)
preservatise (alternative)

Mr. Law states:— "The writer of the paragraph endeavors to give the impression that most of the fish being sold in Perth is preservatised, and as it is spoken of as reeking of preservatives, it is assumed that chemical preservatives are suggested. […]"

1927 September 4, Sunday Times, Perth, Western Australia:

In such a climate the use of preservatives in brewing was imperative, but Joe Ballest would use none but O.P. rum; he belonged to that backward school of drinkers which regards scientifically preservatised liquors as All Chemicals and therefore harmful; hence his beer always turned out to be all clots and ropes and bacteria.

1938, Xavier Herbert, chapter VI, in Capricornia, page 87:

1960, FAO, Unasylva, Vol. 14, No. 4, http://www.fao.org/docrep/x5397e/x5397e0b.htm
According to an official report to FAO, New Zealand is now by far the world's largest producer per head of population of preservatized timber for building purposes.

Strains of the bacteria Serratia marcescens and a Pseudomonas sp. […] were shown to be active in alcohol degradation in preservatised blood […]

1987, Forensic Science International 34(1-2), G.L. Dick & H.M. Stone, "Alcohol loss arising from microbial contamination of drivers' specimens." http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3297952

(transitive, chiefly Australia, New Zealand) To treat with a preservative.


go bush

go bush (third-person singular simple present goes bush, present participle going bush, simple past went bush, past participle gone bush)

goes bush (present singular third-person)
going bush (participle present)
went bush (past)
gone bush (participle past)

Taika Waititi and Sam Neill talk about going bush in the director’s latest childhood adventure, The Hunt for the Wilderpeople.

Groote riot: Police fear those responsible for deaths may have gone bush and be difficult to locate

2015, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, news headline, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-08/groote-riot-police-fear-those-responsible-may-have-gone-bush/6922496

Kitty was now living at Pan Quee's station in Humpty Doo with her Aboriginal husband Lukana and her father Yuliera. During the war they had all gone bush so as to avoid compulsory evacuation.

2006, Regina Ganter, Mixed Relations: Asian-Aboriginal Contact in Northern Australia, University of Western Australia Press, page 175:

I can't come to you. I'm too weak to ride. I'd have to ride, because for one thing the white-ants have eaten the wheels of my buckboard, and my one cart-horse has gone bush with the brumbies.

1938, Xavier Herbert, chapter VIII, in Capricornia, page 125:

(Australia, New Zealand) To abandon one's normal surroundings and live in the bush; to flee into the bush; to revert to a feral nature


quarter-caste

So ignorant of her job was she that one quarter-caste kiddie I pointed out she said was a halfcaste, and to prove it called the child out and asked her, as one'd speak to a prisoner in jail, wasn't her mother a lubra.

1938, Xavier Herbert, chapter VII, in Capricornia, page 107:

The issue of race discrimination in sport has been before the New Zealand public continuously for nearly four years. […] In 1959, the amateur golf champion, a boy just turned seventeen, described as a ' quarter-caste Maori,' withdrew from the New Zealand team to play in the Commonwealth championships in South Africa.

1962 October, The Crisis, volume 69, number 8, page 472:

2000, Anna Haebich, Broken Circles: Fragmenting Indigenous Families, 1800-2000, North Fremantle, WA: Fremantle Arts Centre Press, p. 280, https://books.google.ca/books?id=jF69BwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
Sister Kate's Quarter Caste Children's Home, opened in 1933, was the site for implementing the first stages of grooming young, 'nearly-white' children for 'ultimate absorption' into the white community.

(Australia, New Zealand, derogatory) Having one "half-caste" parent; especially, having three Caucasian and one non-Caucasian grandparents


quarter-caste

2007, Ken Colbung in Sally Morgan, Tjalaminu Mia and Blaze Kwaymullina (eds), Speaking from the Heart: Stories of Life, Family and Country, North Fremantle, WA: Fremantle Arts Centre Press, p. 67, https://books.google.ca/books?id=izfgb7WGC7oC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
I guess the sort of thing that happened to my mum has happened constantly to Aboriginal people over the years. That's why the whitefellas talk so much about which of us is full blood, half-caste, quarter-caste, and all that other rubbish. I reckon those kinds of images make people think that we are like that doll Pinocchio's father made out of a lot of different things. Who is going to come out with a long nose? Who is going to come out a dark colour, a light colour? Who is going to have curly, black, brown or blond hair? How are we supposed to answer when someone asks, 'But are you really an Aboriginal?' Of course we bloody are! Or when they say, 'Are you a quarter-caste or a half-caste?' Who cares? Why should I have to talk about which bit of me is black and which is white—it's all red when I cut myself.

(Australia, New Zealand, derogatory) A person with one "half-caste" parent and one Caucasian parent


elastic sides

But Mary preferred to sit quietly on the beach. "The dressing and undressing is such a trouble," said she. As it was, one of her elastic-sides was full of sand.

1917, Henry Handel Richardson, Australia Felix, Raleigh, NC: Hayes Barton Press, Part IV, Chapter I, p. 247:

Brilliant Lace [was] decked out for the solemnization in bright blue shirt and spotless yellow corduroys and bright tan elastic-sides and velour wideawake.

1938, Xavier Herbert, chapter XI, in Capricornia, New York: D. Appleton-Century, published 1943, page 177:

I was wearing a pair of elastic sides so, being a mug, slipped them off and put one on each of his horns. We all stood around for the photo.

2006, Brian Taylor, The Moonlight Stallion and Other Yarns from the Australian Outback, Australia: Hachette, published 2012:

(Australia, New Zealand) Slip-on boots similar to riding boots with a piece of elastic set into the ankles.


JAFA

(New Zealand, slang, chiefly derogatory) Initialism of just another fucking Aucklander.


tiki tour

tiki tours (plural)
tiki-tour (alternative)
Tiki tour (alternative)
Tiki Tour (alternative)

From Tiki Tours, the brand name of a sight-seeing company.

No-one ventured to the Bluff or Toronui, but a van resembling a sardine tin went on a tiki tour of the huge Waipoura kauris.

1990, Tane: The Journal of the Auckland University Field Club - Volume 32 (1967-90), page 185:

He crossed the street to investigate further. The soldiers looked up at him, with friendly grins and said things like, “Takin' the tiki tour, mate?

2008, Allan Cole, Lucky in Cyprus, →ISBN:

The aim was to fly down, run the half, do a quick tiki tour of the company's salmon fishery and then fly home.

2010, Gareth Brown, Kerre Woodham, Short Fat Chick to Marathon Runner, →ISBN:

(New Zealand) A tour that visits the attractions or points of interest in an area.


bottle store

(New Zealand, South Africa) A liquor store


pakihi

“You will then own 796 acres of pakihi and private sea beaches.”

1983, Keri Hulme, The Bone People, Penguin, published 1986, page 376:

(New Zealand) An area of open land (chiefly in western parts of the South Island), especially when waterlogged.


fair dinks

(Australia, New Zealand, slang) Synonym of fair dinkum.


milk-bar cowboy

en-noun

milk-bar cowboy (plural milk-bar cowboys)

(New Zealand, historical) A member of the bodgie subculture who rode a motorcycle.


donnybrookian

en-adj

donnybrookian (comparative more donnybrookian, superlative most donnybrookian)

more donnybrookian (comparative)
most donnybrookian (superlative)

Hereupon Ted drew forth his cudgel, hit the Turk a donnybrookian whack over the skull that laid him flat on the ground, and took to his heels.

2012, R.M. Ballantyne, The Pirate City: A Tale of the Pirates of the City of Algiers, and Their Defeat by the British Navy, The Floating Press, page 256

The favourite device of one of the Indian desert foxes here is of a donnybrookian flavour.

2016, Arthur Morrison, The Complete Works of Arthur Morrison, Delphi Classics - Series 6, (unpaginated)

All at once we find the irrepressible Count of Poitou in the thick of the fray, for no reason whatever that I can discover, except, may be, a general donnybrookian tendency to take part in any fight that is going!

1878, George Murray Smith, William Makepeace Thackeray, The Cornhill Magazine - Volume 37, Periodical Publication, page 87

(chiefly US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand) Of or pertaining to a donnybrook; bellicose; disconcerted; raucous; clashing.


long-bonneted

Whilst they sat they heard the whirr of a motor car, and a long-bonneted limousine came into view and stopped opposite the gates, and a lady got out.

1927, Edgar Wallace, chapter 11, in The Man Who Was Nobody:

This is from the same school—it’s a long bonneted, rear drive coupe after all—but here the masses are more centralised and better controlled.

2015 April 16, Ollie Marriage, “First Drive: Mercedes-Benz AMG GT GT S Premium 2dr Auto”, in Top Gear:

(UK, Australia, New Zealand) (of a motor vehicle) Having a long bonnet.


West Island

west+island; From its location.
* (New Zealand): by analogy with the North Island and South Island that make up New Zealand.

Since then she has had a luminary career as writer, mentor, writing teacher and political activist in West Island. She has even gone so far as to take dual New Zealand/Australian citizenship, which I like to rib her about […]

2016, Stephanie Johnson, Playing for Both Sides: Love Across the Tasman, page 16:

(New Zealand, humorous) Australia; an island lying to the west of New Zealand.


pipfruit

It was noted that direct monetary benefits from the biological control programme would accrue to pipfruit growers and the pipfruit industry.

2006, Franz Bigler, Dirk Babendreier, Ulli Kuhlmann, Environmental Impact of Invertebrates for Biological Control of Arthropods, →ISBN:

Pipfruits differ from other plant models used to study bud dormancy, such as peach and poplar, at the physiological level because the most important environmental trigger for dormancy induction is low-temperature exposure (Heide and Prestrud 2005), instead of photoperiodic changes.

2015, James V. Anderson, Advances in Plant Dormancy, →ISBN, page 115:

It has been an important pest of pipfruit (the term “pipfruit” refers to apples and pears, because of the small hard seeds (pips) in the centre of the fruit) in Hawke's Bay for at least 50 years (Charles 1989).

2016, M. Mani, C. Shivaraju, Mealybugs and their Management in Agricultural and Horticultural crops, →ISBN:


tikanga

en-noun

tikanga (countable and uncountable, plural tikangas or tikanga)

Male primogeniture was still the concept most often ratified by tikanga.

2003, Michael King, The Penguin History of Aotearoa New Zealand, Penguin, published 2023, page 236:

(New Zealand) A custom, value or principle, especially of the Maori people.


pull a sickie

en-verb

pull a sickie (third-person singular simple present pulls a sickie, present participle pulling a sickie, simple past and past participle pulled a sickie)

pulls a sickie (present singular third-person)
pulling a sickie (participle present)
pulled a sickie (participle past)
pulled a sickie (past)

But not all excuses for pulling a sickie are equal, it seems.

2015 November 7, Lucy White, “The most acceptable reasons to take a sick day revealed”, in The Independent:

We decided to check exactly what your boss can - and can't - do to employees who bunk off, tune in at work, slide off to the pub or pull a sickie.

2016 June 16, James Andrews, Julia Rampen, “Can you be sacked for watching England-Wales at work? These are your rights”, in Daily Mirror:

(slang, UK, Australia, New Zealand) To skip work or school or avoid an obligation by pretending to be sick.


registered post

No packet marked on the outside with the declared value of the contents, as required in the case of insurance, may be sent to a country of the Postal Union by registered post, and Postmasters are instructed to refuse packets so marked which are presented for Registration.

1920, Great Britain Post Office, Post Office Guide, page 71:

(UK, Australia, New Zealand) Alternative form of registered mail.


monocolour

Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, and UK standard spelling of monocolor.


grandparented

Also raised were the potential challenges long-standing practitioners might face in collecting documentation of their training for the grandparented registration process: Asking for transcripts or study reports may [create] great difficulties for those old practitioners, for these schools, or professors may not exist anymore [sic]. [CM] A small number of respondents opposed the grandparented registration process outright, arguing that all registrants should be required to [W]rite an exam in order to have a legal license!…no Grandfather law. [CM] However, Chinese medicine practitioners’ most pronounced concern around grandparented registration pertained to the issue of language.

2015 September 7, Nadine Ijaz et al., “Supportive but “worried”: perceptions of naturopaths, homeopaths and Chinese medicine practitioners through a regulatory transition in Ontario, Canada”, in BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, volume 15, →DOI:

(Canada, New Zealand) That satisfies older, but not current, rules or regulations


mungaree

Borrowed from Italian mangiare (“to eat”). Doublet of mangarie.

(slang, dated, UK, Australia, New Zealand) food


sheep station

(Australia, New Zealand) A very large sheep farm, usually situated in the back country.


wool classing

(Australia, New Zealand) The work of a wool classer, sorting and assigning grades to wool according to its quality.


chuddy

(UK, New Zealand, youth slang) chewing gum


slicka pad

(New Zealand) An ice pack that can be cooled in a freezer and then used in a chilly bin (a cool box or cooler).


Henry VIII clause

en-noun

Henry VIII clause (plural Henry VIII clauses)

Named after English king Henry VIII, who passed the Statute of Proclamations in 1539 that empowered him to legislate by proclamation.

secondary legislation
secondary legislation

(Australia, India, New Zealand, UK) A provision in a bill before Parliament, that if enacted as an Act, would enable the Government to amend (including repeal) the Act or other primary legislation by secondary legislation.

Henry VIII clause
National Security Act 2023
Statute of Proclamations


it's the truth, Ruth

(Australia, New Zealand, informal) What I am telling you is true.


tyre chain

(UK, Australia, New Zealand) Alternative spelling of tire chain.


grass grub

(New Zealand) A grub, of species Costelytra zealandica, that attacks the roots of grass causing pasture damage, regarded as an agricultural pest.


come a gutser

en-verb

come a gutser (third-person singular simple present comes a gutser, present participle coming a gutser, simple past came a gutser, past participle come a gutser)

comes a gutser (present singular third-person)
coming a gutser (participle present)
came a gutser (past)
come a gutser (participle past)

Slippery as a butcher's apron it is, and I comes a gutser twice before I gets down to the stag.

You took off up Main Street past the church, jumped the gutter, two cars and a four-foot fence, and finally come a gutser in the gully below the cop station.

2001, Anita Bell, Crystal Coffin, →ISBN, page 33:

“Come off it, skipper. There's nobody to miss us if this scow comes a gutser. We're expendable, even more so than the average Rim Runner officer. And that's saying plenty.”

2012, A. Bertram Chandler, Ride the Star Winds, →ISBN:

Until he tripped again and came a gutser. This time he stayed down.

(Australia, New Zealand, slang) To do a belly flop; to fall flat on one's face.

Ole Fritz keeps on tryin' ter feel our possies at night with small patrols, an' they tried ter raid us two nights ago, but came a gutser, 'coz we hopped out an' met 'em, an' they put their 'ands up.

1919, C. Hampton Thorp, A Handful of Ausseys, page 288:

The Government has come a gutser there, and it will come a gutser in the health area when it tries to put the user-pays principle in operation.

1982, New Zealand Parliament House of Representatives, Parliamentary Debates - Volume 443, page 439:

Well, where you all come a gutser is, over here, we think we're born to rule YOU.

2011, Alan Ramsay, A Matter of Opinion, →ISBN, page 90:

Unless we come a gutser, we won't get near them.

2016, Art Collins, In The Outback, →ISBN:

(Australia, New Zealand, slang) To fail miserably; to make a huge mistake; to fall flat on one's face.


gearknob

gearknobs (plural)
gear knob (alternative)

And, anyway, you need to have some money left in the kitty to spend on some of the bewildering but often rather appealing options. Racing stripes. A red gearknob. Plastic wheel arch extensions.cars; a wooden wheel and walnut gearknob were available as dealer options.

2011, Jeremy Clarkson, Round the Bend, →ISBN:

The other day, l was driving along in my old Mini when the gearknob came off in my hand.

2012, James May, May on Motors, →ISBN, page 61:

Old plastic control switches, gearknobs and steering column levers sometimes end up in very poor condition, or are missing altogether.

2017, Enthusiast's Restauration Manual Series, How to Restore Classic Car Interiors: Repair • Restoration • Maintenance, →ISBN, page 128:

(UK, Australia, New Zealand) A knob that forms the handle for the gear lever on a car with manual transmission.


thickshake

He looked up at Gestas and said, “Get me a Carvel vanilla thickshake.” “Sir?” “You heard me. A vanilla thickshake. And not one of those watered down things they pass off in the cafeteria. I want the real thing.”

2009, George R. Hopkins, Collateral Consequences: A Mystery/Suspense Novel, →ISBN:

Again—we stopped to get something to eat. I got a thickshake and some hot chips but only managed to eat one chip and was lucky if I took a sip of the thickshake —I was beginning to feel worse and worse.

2011, Lisa Wisemantel, Smiling on the Inside, →ISBN:

All Johnny really had on his schedule was a plan to order a thickshake, which to him represented the ultimate American experience.

2013, Jeff Apter, Johnny O'Keefe: Rocker. Legend. Wild One, →ISBN, page 1923:

The idea was to win her heart by getting really close and really pointedly ignoring her, only this time – and here was the genius of it – at McDonalds.^([sic]) I ordered a thickshake and some fries and as I walked nonchalantly past her table, my attention fixed on a Hamburgler^([sic]) poster in the middle distance, a tiny rift opened in the space-time continuum.

2002, Craig Bolland, I Knit Water, →ISBN, page 132:

Edek sipped his chocolate thickshake. She and Edek were the oldest people in McDonald's.

(Australia, New Zealand) A beverage consisting of milk and ice cream mixed together, often with other flavorings as well.


gumboot tea

(New Zealand, informal) ordinary or cheap black tea (as opposed to more exotic varieties such as Earl Grey or herbal tea)


wind-grass

Any of a number of grasses:
(New Zealand) Anemanthele lessoniana

Any of a number of grasses:
Anemanthele lessoniana

(New Zealand) Several species of Lachnagrostis

Any of a number of grasses:
Several species of Lachnagrostis


rock wren

(New Zealand) A small wrenlike acanthisittid bird native to New Zealand (Xenicus gilviventris).


Dally

Contraction of "Dalmatian Coast", from where many Croatian emigrants originated. Also spelt "Dallie"

The New Zealand wine industry and those who consume the wine it produces owe a huge debt of gratitude to the "Dallies" – the Croatians, and others from that part of eastern Europe who came here in the early 1900s and brought with them a passion for growing, making and drinking wine.

2003, Warren Barton, Saluting Selaks: Let's drink to the 'Dallies':

(colloquial New Zealand) A New Zealand person of Croatian or other Balkan descent.


box of fluffy ducks

box of birds (alternative)
box of fluffies (alternative)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-box of fluffy ducks.wav

Even the big houses are shifting, here today and gone tomorrow, cut in half, jacked up on a truck (the speculators happy as a box of fluffy ducks) and carted off to the country.

2004, Bernadette Hall, The Merino Princess: Selected Poems, →ISBN, page 59:

He thought he was doing well until Ice looked up from his inspection of the Leyland 680 engine and said casually, “Everything okay? You seem edgy.” “Box of fluffy ducks.”

2013, Karina Bliss, Jeannie Watt, A Prior Engagement/Once A Champion, →ISBN:

Oh, good, lad, just a box of fluffy ducks. What brings you in here today?

2014, Colin Belk, Heads I Win Tails You Loose, →ISBN, page 110:

Roddy hugged her and told her not to worry, he was “a box of fluffy ducks,” as he liked to say to mean he was fine.

2016, Ariel Teal Toombs, Colt Baird Toombs, Rowdy: The Roddy Piper Story, →ISBN:

(New Zealand) Used to express that everything is good.


box of birds

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-box of birds.wav

They were “all a box of birds etc” – and there was news of how the All Blacks were doing in the Tri Nations.

"And how are things with you today?” Sue asked as she rearranged Moira's cape. “A box of birds thanks,”

2014, Sandra Knight, Fringe Benefits, →ISBN, page 45:

box of fluffy ducks
box of fluffy ducks#English

(New Zealand, dated) Alternative form of box of fluffy ducks.


box of fluffies

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-box of fluffies.wav

Box of fluffies. I better go and round the boys up before they set fire to the church. Old Wal gets a bit match-happy now and again, you know?

2010, Mike Riddell, The Insatiable Moon, →ISBN, page 220:

Ben, Tamati and I were the last home and we got a text from Ian asking how we were going, saying, 'I am a box of fluffies, bit sore, otherwise all sweet.


kitset

He had already purchased a small fleet of diggers and earth movers to carry out the excavation, along with a few RVs and kitset mobile offices to accommodate the crew;

2023, Eleanor Catton, Birnam Wood, page 80:

(New Zealand) A kit; a set of components to be assembled into a structure.


dick togs

She dove back into the pool And he whipped off his budgee-stuffed dick togs and leapt out of the pool.

There must be some kind of time warp that all public pools are stuck in. Red and yellow umbrellas poke through plastic tables. Old men in dick-togs sit on white plastic chairs and lick peppermint choc-chip ice-creams.

2011, A. J. Betts, Wavelength, →ISBN, page 63:

The body in a blue and white striped one piece and I'm about to drop my shorts to my multi-coloured Christmas-present dick togs.

She didn't care how hot the body, grown men with any sense of human decency did not wear dick togs in public.

2017, L Maree Apps, ONE Weekend Away, →ISBN:

(Australia (Queensland), New Zealand, slang, vulgar) A tight-fitting men's swimsuit that reveals the outline of the genitals.


day dot

I've always said right from day dot that New Zealand and Perth are going to be the teams to beat, because they have been there and done that.

2017, “Basketball: Beware the Breakers in ANBL playoffs”, in New Zealand Herald:

From day dot, Walsh has had a master plan.

2016, John Bailey, “Is art really just about bonking? MONA's David Walsh ruffles feathers (again)”, in The Sydney Morning Herald:

(slang, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand) A very long time ago; as far back as one can remember.


Boston bun

(Australia, New Zealand) a large spiced bun with a thick layer of coconut icing


shitcunt

(chiefly Australia, New Zealand, UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, slang, vulgar, derogatory, offensive) A term of abuse.


runholding

en-noun

runholding (usually uncountable, plural runholdings)

(Australia, New Zealand) The lease of a run, generally a sheep farm.

(Australia, New Zealand) The run itself.


status zero

"She was unconscious, we thought we were going to be dealing with a status zero (death), but she managed to regain consciousness," Ms Shadbolt said.

2014 November 29, Sam Hurley, “Dramatic crash outside popular Bay cafe”, in Hawke's Bay Today:

They said I was status one. There's only one below that — status zero, which is dead.

2017 December 5, Timothy Brown, “Shot policeman loves his work”, in Otago Daily Times:

A status at the lowest point of a ranking system. In particular:


Pom

(Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, mildly derogatory slang) Alternative letter-case form of pom, an Englishman or Briton.


dog roll

There are different types of dog rolls: some are mostly chopped organ meats; others are chopped muscle meats. Some breeders do not like the dog rolls, so they purchase fresh "pet meat" for their dogs.

1992, Pure-bred Dogs, American Kennel Gazette - Volume 109, page 117:

Along with a high-quality dry dog food, I feed 1⁄2 cup (20%) of a high-quality dog roll made from 100% fresh ingredients containing NO by-products, or nasty preservatives. Butch Black Label dog roll uses only fresh ingredients and contains beef that the dry dog food does not have due to importing laws in New Zealand.

2008, Sy Guth, How to Make a Puppy!, →ISBN:

The food that best suits a given dog or cat with megaesophagus may be a liquid gruel, meat or dog roll chunks, or even kibble (Davenport, Remillard et al. 2010; van Geffen, Saunders et al. 2006; Guilford and Strombeck 1996).

2011, Andrea J. Fascetti, Sean J. Delaney, Applied Veterinary Clinical Nutrition, →ISBN, page 192:

Changing a dog from a diet of mainly tinned or cooked meat, processed 'dog roll' or dried dog food, to a natural diet of primarily raw meat and raw bones, maybe also with fasting and random feeding, should be carried out over a three to four week period.

2016, Dr. Clare Middle, Real Food for Dogs & Cats, →ISBN:

(New Zealand) Processed meat shaped into a large sausage and used for dog food.


magslip

magslips (plural)
mag-slip (alternative)
mag slip (alternative)

From "magnetic slip ring", because these replace electrical slip-rings that rely on direct contact.

Provision should be made as in GL 1 for entry of electrical supplies and for connection of telephone and magslip cables.

1981, W E K Middleton, Radar Development in Canada, →ISBN, page 130:

There are two gyroscopes. One is a vertical keeping gyroscope whose signal goes through two selective transmitter magslips to a follow through magslip which is similarly operated by a rolling velocity gyroscope. The combined selected signal is transmitted to the hunter magslip of the oil motor and pump. The mechanical movement of a gyroscope alters the rotor position of the transmitter magslip and the current flow moves the rotor of the hunter magslip to a corresponding positon (just as transmitter and receiver telemotors).

2013, Paul Anthony Russell, Leslie Jackson, Thomas D. Morton, Reeds Vol 8 General Engineering Knowledge for Marine Engineers, →ISBN:

With a single magslip as the transmitter and another as the receiver, the error of alignment is of the order of 1°.

2017, A. M. P. Brookes, P. Hammond, Basic Instrumentation for Engineers and Physicists, →ISBN:

(UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada) Any of a variety of devices that rely on magnetic slip rings to drive a transmitter and receiver that rotate in unison.


WOF

WOF (countable and uncountable, plural WOFs)

Many panelists find it difficult to differentiate between rancidity and WOF.

1991, Henk Maarse, Volatile Compounds in Foods and Beverages, →ISBN, page 702:

WOFs are carried out and issued by specified garages and testing stations, and last for six months.

2002, Laura Harper, Tony Mudd, Paul Whitfield, New Zealand, →ISBN, page 35:

If you are buying a car it will need to have a WOF (Warrant of Fitness) certificate, which shows that safety standards have been met. If the car doesn't have a WOF you will need to get the car inspected at one of 3,500 WOF agents throughout New Zealand. If you are buying a car with a WOF, you will need to have this renewed when it expires (every six months).

2005, Tim Uden, BUG New Zealand: The Backpackers Ultimate Guide, →ISBN, page 43:

Older cars must pass a WOF inspection every six months (new cars must pass annually).

2011, Bette Flagler, New Zealand's North Island, →ISBN:

warrant of fitness
warrant of fitness#English

(New Zealand) Initialism of warrant of fitness.


warrant of fitness

warrant of fitness (plural warrants of fitness)

(New Zealand) A certification that a motor vehicle is roadworthy, based on an annual or semiannual inspection.

(New Zealand, by extension) An assurance that something is in good working order.


EWDC

A set up business in NZ as insurance company — Market conditions led to A's intended withdrawal from NZ — Ongoing genuine dispute with EWDC as to liability for premiums — Likely A not to continue to hold funds in NZ — If no injunction, real risk any judgment obtained by plaintiff would be unsatisfied.

1989, Martin Fine, Butterworths Current Law Digest, page 555:

The case has further interest in that it is a sequel to earlier litigation concerning the liability to Bay Milk of both FMI as insurer of Bay Milk and of the Earthquake and War Damage Commission (EWDC), following a major earthquake on 2 March 1987 which destroyed Bay Milk's dairy manufacturing complex at Edgecumbe.

1993, The New Zealand Law Reports - Volume 3, page 307:

The costs of damage and the insured values were derived from the claims on the EWDC.

2001, Bulletin of the New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering:

(New Zealand) Initialism of Earthquake and War Damage Commission.


hapuka

Follows the hapuka in its time of arrival and departure, and it is occasionally got when fishing for hapuka in deep water. Excepting during the spawning time of the hapuka I have never caught the Scyllium in shallow water.

1888, F.S. Sandager, “List of fishes found at Mokohinou”, in Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand, page 132:

The hapuka is a very large deep-water species of groper, highly esteemed in New Zealand as a fish with a rich flavour.

1963, Florence Keene, O Te Raki: Maori Legends of the North, page 36:

(New Zealand) Alternative form of hapuku.


boofish

en-adj

boofish (comparative more boofish, superlative most boofish)

more boofish (comparative)
most boofish (superlative)

In New Zealand, those drinking beer are no longer just the stereotypical, boofish young male, but include the discerning specialist and the female household shopper.

2000 May 29, J2jurado, “beer bits”, in rec.food.drink.beer (Usenet):

And, possibly, public displays of boofish behaviour with your mates — but maybe that's only Australian billionaires.

2014 May 10, Rod Chester, “How many hours does Mark Zuckerberg really work at Facebook?”, in News Corp Australia:

To call upon Aung San Suu Kyi’s adult sons to renounce their British citizenship, as U Ye Htut did, so that their Mother can become President is as unjust as the 2008 Constitution, which fails the test of good design and good process. Because of the circumstances of the country, her sons had their Burmese citizenship removed. These are innocent sons provoked to consider an invidious scenario by the boofish behaviour of a few.

2016 February 24, Janelle Saffin, “USDP Government & Presidential spokesperson’s silly and shocking statement on Section 59(f)”, in Mizzima:

(Australia, New Zealand) Synonym of daft.


Gypsy Day

(New Zealand) The day, traditionally 1 June, when sharemilkers move their cattle from one farm to another.


working bee

(New Zealand, Australia) A group of volunteers doing charitable work.

ohu

a voluntary group doing a job for charity


tasty cheese

(Australia, New Zealand) A kind of aged cheddar cheese.


pakirikiri

(New Zealand) blue cod (Parapercis colias)


big-note

en-verb

big-note (third-person singular simple present big-notes, present participle big-noting, simple past and past participle big-noted)

big-notes (present singular third-person)
big-noting (participle present)
big-noted (participle past)
big-noted (past)

(informal, ambitransitive, Australia, New Zealand) To brag or boast (about).


gooly

Probably from Hindi गोली (golī, “ball; pill; bullet”) or a cognate in other Indian languages, from Sanskrit गोल (gola, “round; round thing”) + इका (-ikā)

der

(Australia and New Zealand, slang) A pebble, a small rock.


sea-tree

Any of a number of branching corals that look like underwater trees

(New Zealand) A coral in the genus Aphanipathes


thermette

(New Zealand) A portable device for efficiently boiling water outdoors using small combustible materials such as twigs.


Benghazi boiler

en-noun

Benghazi boiler (plural Benghazi boilers)

(New Zealand, military, slang) A thermette.


breakwind

breakwinds (plural)
break-wind (alternative)

He bent and disappeared out of the sheltering circle of the fir-fronds, returning in a moment with an armful of boughs. He went back, foraging, and she heard him snapping off others. Presently he was beside her again, and began to construct the break-wind, interweaving from the ground up to the fir-fronds a wall of boughs. Abruptly the wind ceased to blow upon Clair's back.

1932, Lewis Grassic Gibbon, Three Go Back:

The rows of breakwind trees should be planted at right angles to the prevailing wind, and there should be at least thirty feet between the first row of fruit trees and the breakwind trees.

1971, Duncan Brown, Better Fruit Growing for Australian Gardeners, page 15:


horopito

(New Zealand) Either of two plant species in the Pseudowintera genus.


hospo

In reality there are only around 24 MWs in Australia, so the chances of me coming across someone who's just attained theirs, and is applying for a hospo job, is rather low.

2017, Chris Morrison, This Is Not a Wine Guide:

(Australia, New Zealand, slang) The hospitality industry.


wowserism

(Australia, New Zealand) moral crusading against alcohol, gambling, pornography, etc.


runanga

Borrowed from Maori runanga (“assembly, council”).

bor+

Ngāi Tahu with education and some familiarity with the Pākehā world exerted pressure on their rangatira and on tribal rūnanga to seek compensation from the Crown for these grievances.

2003, Michael King, The Penguin History of Aotearoa New Zealand, Penguin, published 2023, page 317:

(New Zealand) A traditional Māori assembly or tribal council.


boneseed

en-noun

boneseed (countable and uncountable, plural boneseeds)

From bone + seed, either directly as a description of the hard surface of the seeds, or indirectly as a calque of the name of its former genus, Osteospermum, from Ancient Greek ὀστέον (ostéon, “bone”) + Ancient Greek σπέρμα (spérma, “seed”).

(New Zealand) An upright shrub in the sunflower family, Chrysanthemoides monilifera, which is native to South Africa but is an invasive pest in Australia and New Zealand.


postal note

In 1893 an inland and intercolonial parcels post was established and the postal-note system introduced [to New South Wales].

1926, Australian Encyclopedia, volume II, page 318:

(Australia, New Zealand) Synonym of postal order.


raupo

raupo (countable and uncountable, plural raupos)

(New Zealand) A species of reed, Typha orientalis; bulrush; cumbungi.


pukana

(New Zealand) A contorted face made by a haka performer


whitebaiter

On the Waiatoto River, it was common for the first whitebaiter to sight the fisheries officer to shout "Cup 'a tea", and this would pass on down the river from whitebaiter to whitebaiter until it reached the river mouth.

1984, R. M. McDowall, The New Zealand Whitebait Book, page 138:

(New Zealand) One who fishes for whitebait.


ramarama

The ramarama is the largest and most attractive of the New Zealand myrtles: it varies from a dwarf shrub to a small tree 30ft. in height, but is easily distinguished from all other indigenous plants by its reddish-brown leaves, the spaces between the veins of which are tumid or inflated, presenting a singular appearance, as if blistered.

1889, Thomas Kirk, “Myrtus bullata, Banks and Solander”, in The Forest Flora of New Zealand, page 267:

L. bullata (ramarama) is a beautiful shrub or small tree growing to about 5m.

1987, John Brack Mortimer, Trees for the New Zealand Countryside: A Planter's Guide, page 241:

He mentioned a ramarama tree - this, he explained, was not the ramarama, or pepper-tree, of Murihiku, but was a tree like the rohutu, bearing black berries like the konini (fuchsia).

1994, James Herries beattie, Traditional Lifeways of the Southern Maori:

When John-Paul Oliver reported his myrtle rust-infected ramarama tree to authorities, they sent him plastics bags and a wool fadge and told him to remove it himself.

2018 April 14, Elton Rikihana Smallman, “Property owner copes with myrtle rust on his own”, in Stuff NZ:

(New Zealand) A species of evergreen myrtle tree, Lophomyrtus bullata.


dog tucker

(New Zealand) sheep meat used as dog food


go down like a cup of cold sick

en-verb

go<goes,,went,gone> down like a cup of cold sick

go down like a cup of cold sick (third-person singular simple present goes down like a cup of cold sick, present participle going down like a cup of cold sick, simple past went down like a cup of cold sick, past participle gone down like a cup of cold sick)

goes down like a cup of cold sick (present singular third-person)
going down like a cup of cold sick (participle present)
went down like a cup of cold sick (past)
gone down like a cup of cold sick (participle past)
go down like a cup of sick (alternative)

Refers to sick in the Commonwealth sense of vomit.

Need I tell you that this last analysis went down like a cup of cold sick, waterworks turned on, hanky out, male sex maligned, wailing and gnashing of teeth, all culminating in yours truly agreeing to jump on the first Laker standby to Timbuctoo in search of Prodigal Son.

1997, Carol Thatcher, Below the Parapet, page 185:

It wasn't quite the same in Uzbekistan. Washington muttered something about all sides in Uzbekistan showing restraint. This must have gone down like a cup of cold sick with the families of the 750 or so dead in Uzbekistan.

2006, Neil Mackay, The War on Truth, page 426:

'It went down like a cup of cold sick,' he said to me, almost gleefully, tapping on his computer keyboard to try to locate a copy of the newsletter.

2019, Michelle Duff, Jacinda Ardern: The Story Behind an Extraordinary Leader:

(slang, UK, Australia, New Zealand) To be received very poorly; to be highly unpopular.


cargon

Each traverser carries two flat trays known as "cargons". These have wheels set into their undersides, and two cargons — each roughly 16 ft. long and holding some three tons of miscellaneous freight — together fill the hold of a Bristol Freighter.

1952, “New Zealand Air Ferry”, in Air Pictorial and Air Reserve Gazette, volume 14, Air League of the British Empire, page 358:

Freight shippers are being urged to use trucks without trays, so that the cargon itself provides a combined tray and load that can be replaced by one withdrawn from an incoming aircraft.

1954 April, “Belt on Wheels Loads Air Cargo”, in Popular Mechanics, volume 101, number 4, page 147:

For all SAFE'S freight-carrying, the basic equipment is the cargon (for New Zealand Railways) and the cargonette (for NAC). Both are made of lightweight aluminium, the cargonette being one quarter the size of the cargon.

The load is made up in the freight depot and stowed and tied down on flooring with rollers underneath, known as cargons. The complete load on its linked set of cargons is then transported to the aerodrome by road.

1968, Ronald Trevor Alexander, High Adventure: From Balloons to Boeings in New Zealand, New Zealand National Airways Corporation, page 72:

An unusual feature of the dairy is the use of 'cargons' — wheeled metal pallets that hold a stack of crates and enable them to be handled both in the dairy and at the depots without having to use fork lift trucks.

1984, Dairy Industries International, volume 49, United Trade Press, page 17:

Engineers from New Zealand Government Railways then worked with SAFE to create the cargon system, a pallet and transfer system to speed up the loading and unloading process.

2012, Keith McCloskey, Airwork: A History, The History Press:

(New Zealand, transport) A type of wheeled pallet used for movement of goods without the need of a forklift.


across the ditch

By analogy with across the pond, and the fact that the Tasman Sea is much smaller than the Atlantic Ocean.

The rate of arrivals fluctuates with the relative economic fortunes of each country, but since the late 1960s, faster growth, higher wages, greater job opportunities and a stronger dollar have been an economic magnet drawing New Zealanders across the ditch.

2016, Peter Mares, Not Quite Australian: How Temporary Migration Is Changing the Nation, →ISBN:

(informal, Australia, New Zealand) On or to the other side of the Tasman Sea.