New Zealand β or should I say, Nu Zild β is a nation filled with humble, down-to-earth people who love nothing more than relaxing in our exquisite natural environment. New Zealand slang reveals a people eager to please others and keep our conversations casual. Read on for some quintessential New Zealand English phrases that will help you understand the locals next time you find yourself at the bottom of the world enjoying a barbecue, a beach or a tramp which is not as rude as it sounds, I promise!
The key to nailing this Kiwi phrase is to appear to have no problem with the sentence ending right there. Slip this New Zealand slang into almost any informal conversation and instantly endear yourself to your Kiwi hosts.
New Zealanders and Australians use this phrase when we want to be reassuring, but in a cool, unemotional way. We Kiwis are complicated creatures. But something that unites us is our wish for everything to be OK and for that to be possible without anyone making a fuss.
Note: This phrase does not refer solely to women, but can be used about virtually any negative situation. Desperate not to offend anyone, New Zealanders will use this when they are warming up to disagree β even slightly β with the other person, or when they want to downplay the severity of a situation.
Inhabiting a tiny nation at the bottom of the globe that is regularly left off of world maps has given us New Zealanders a deflated sense of ourselves. That lack of confidence is vocalized in our use of this spoken tag particle, tacked on to the ends of pretty much any sentence we utter. Furthermore, using this one correctly will put you in the fast lane to achieving fluency in New Zealand English.
