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New Zealand has its own language, as well as a distinctive accent. Language expert and author Max Cryer talks to Jennifer Colwill about the origins and meanings of some of our favourite words and shares a few of his own most-loved gems.
Language expert Max Cryer loves all New Zealand words and phrases, but when pressed for a favourite, "gumboots" won.
"I think gumboots is a nice, solid, rural word," he tells NZPA.
Does he own any?
"Oh, yes, oh heavens yes, heavens!"
Cryer had a similarly enthusiastic tone about his new book, The Godzone Dictionary of favourite New Zealand words and phrases.
He describes our language as colourful and our use of words as eccentric.
"Sometimes we'll pick up an American word very quickly and other times we stick religiously to the good old New Zealand word."
Rural and Maori groups have been most influential on creating New Zealand words and phrases, he says.
In the last five to six years there has been a marked increase in the number of Maori words in general usage.
He noted words such as powhiri and mana are no longer used in italics in the media.
While nobody disputed the number of Maori words Cryer included as "everyday", people were surprised at the volume, he says.
Even Maori expert Henare te Ua, who helped Cryer and checked the definitions, was alarmed at how many words had slipped into English that he hadn't really noticed, Cryer says.
Cryer is also intrigued by words or phrases that are a combination of English and Maori, such as `half pai'.
"Half means half and pai is Maori for good so when a thing is not well done New Zealanders say `oh, it's only a half pai job' - they don't seem to realise they are combining - people seem to think it has to do with meat pies."
As for rural expressions, even city folks like these because they reflect the heartland image that we have - the clean, green, wonderful farming country, he said.
Cryer says he gets a kick out of rural expressions that move into the urban arena.
"Like `get in behind' which of course would bamboozle any non-New Zealander who came here, or `rattle your dags'."
Some of the words that are extremely popular here came from elsewhere, but can still be classified as favourite New Zealand expressions.
He tried to note the origin of such words wherever possible.
Many words that came over with colonists in the 1800s are still in use here, but no longer in use in their country of origin.
"Blatherskite", meaning boastful, has been reduced to "skite" in New Zealand, but the original is no longer used in Britain.
Exclamation of surprise "by hokey", made famous by broadcaster Selwyn Toogood, came from "be the hokey", an Irish term introduced into New Zealand in the 1870s by writer Thomas Bracken.
People like to know why a word is used and where it comes from and that is the difficult bit, Cryer says.
Some of the words in the book are recent, such as "boy racers", and "the Naki" for Taranaki.
Some words have been around for years, such as scroggin. The name of this tramping snack is thought to have come from the initial letters of its ingredients: sultanas, chocolate, raisins, orange peel, ginger, glucose barley sugar, imagination and nuts.
Several New Zealand words, such as jandals and cheerios are copyrighted in New Zealand but used generically.
"Grouse" is another personal favourite of Cryer's.
He also finds cuz and cuzzie amusing, as they come from William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet.
"When Maori people talk about a cuz, they mean exactly the same as Romeo meant. It doesn't necessarily mean your first blood cousin, it means a relative member of the group, somebody near to you."
Cryer says some Rotorua people were upset by his inclusion of the term Rotovegas, defined as an amusing and affectionate nickname for the town. The term combines the town's name with Las Vegas, in reference to the tourist and Maori entertainment industry.
"They seem to fail to realise that a dictionary is not a book of morals, it's a mirror. A dictionary reflects what people are saying, explains what it means, and if possible gives the derivation.
"There's no way you can leave something out because someone doesn't like it."
That also explains the inclusion of some mild swear words and the grammatically incorrect "youse", which Cryer admits he personally balks a t.
The book clarifies popular names for sports teams and includes a list of common acronyms, partly because Cryer is not good with these himself.
Cryer decided on the title Godzone Dictionary because it "said it all in two words' '.
He devotes the first page of the dictionary to explaining the origin of "Godzone".
It first appeared in New Zealand literature in an 1893 poem by Bracken after a trip to Melbourne.
The Godzone Dictionary of favourite New Zealand words and phrases, by Max Cryer, published by Exisle Publishing, RRP $29.99
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