karanga: Maori song of welcome (done by a woman)
keeping his/your head down: working hard
kia ora: welcome (Maori, but used commonly)
kilojoules: like calories--measure of food energy
kindy: kindergarten (this is 3- and 4-year-olds)
kit, get your kit off: clothes, take off your clothes
Kiwi: New Zealander OR the bird. If the person, it’s capitalized. Not the fruit.
kiwifruit: the fruit. (never called simply a “kiwi.”)
knackered: exhausted
knockout rounds: playoff rounds (quarterfinals, semifinals, final)
koru: ubiquitous spiral Maori symbol of new beginnings, hope
kumara: Maori sweet potato.
ladder: standings (rugby)
littlies: young kids
lock: rugby position (forward)
lollies: candy
lolly: candy or money
lounge: living room
mad as a meat axe: crazy
maintenance: child support
major: “a major.” A big deal, a big event
mana: prestige, earned respect, spiritual power
Maori: native people of NZ—though even they arrived relatively recently from elsewhere in Polynesia
marae: Maori meeting house
Marmite: Savory Kiwi yeast-based spread for toast. An acquired taste.
mate: friend
metal road: gravel road
Milo: coffee substitute; hot drink mix
mind: take care of, babysit
moa: (extinct) Any of several species of huge flightless NZ birds. All eaten by the Maori before Europeans arrived.
moko: Maori tattoo
motorway: freeway
muesli: like granola, but unbaked
munted: broken
naff: stupid, unsuitable. “Did you get any naff Chrissy pressies this year?”
nappy: diaper
new caps: new All Blacks—those named to the side for the first time
New World: One of the two major NZ supermarket chains
nibbles: snacks
nick, in good nick: doing well
niggle, niggly: small injury, ache or soreness
no worries: no problem. The Kiwi mantra.
No. 8: rugby position. A forward
not very flash: not feeling well
nutted out: worked out
OE: Overseas Experience—young people taking a year or two overseas, before or after University.
offload: pass (rugby)
oldies: older people. (or for the elderly, “wrinklies!”)
on the front foot: Having the advantage. Vs. on the back foot—at a disadvantage. From rugby.
Op Shop: charity shop, secondhand shop
out on the razzle: out drinking too much, getting crazy
paddock: field (often used for rugby—“out on the paddock”)
Pakeha: European-ancestry people (as opposed to Polynesians)
Panadol: over-the-counter painkiller
partner: romantic partner, married or not
paua, paua shell: NZ abalone
pavement: sidewalk (generally on wider city streets)
penny dropped: light dawned (figured it out)
people mover: minivan
perve: stare sexually
piece of piss: easy
pike out: give up, wimp out
piss awful: very bad
piss up: drinking (noun) a piss-up
pissed: drunk
play up: act up
playing out of his skin: playing very well
PMT: PMS
Pom, Pommie: English person.
pop: pop over, pop back, pop into the oven, pop out, pop in
possie: position (rugby)
postie: mail carrier
poumanu: greenstone (jade)
pressie: present
puckaroo: broken (from Maori)
pudding: dessert
pull your head in: calm down, quit being rowdy
Pumas: Argentina's national rugby team
pushchair: baby stroller
put your hand up: volunteer
put your head down: work hard
rapt: thrilled
rattle your dags: hurry up. From the sound that dried excrement on a sheep's backside makes, when the sheep is running!
rellies: relatives
riding the pine: sitting on the bench (as a substitute in a match)
Rippa: junior rugby
root: have sex (you DON'T root for a team!)
ropeable: very angry
ropey: off, damaged (“a bit ropey”)
rort: ripoff
rough as guts: uncouth
rubbish bin: garbage can
rugby boots: rugby shoes with spikes (sprigs)
Rugby Championship: Contest played each year in the Southern Hemisphere by the national teams of NZ, Australia, South Africa, and Argentina
Rugby World Cup, RWC: World championship, played every four years amongst the top 20 teams in the world
rugged up: dressed warmly
ruru: native owl
Safa: South Africa. Abbreviation only used in NZ.
sammie: sandwich
second-five, second five-eights: rugby back
selectors: team of 3 (the head coach is one) who choose players for the All Blacks squad, for every series
serviette: napkin
shattered: exhausted
sheds: locker room (rugby)
she'll be right: See “no worries.” Everything will work out. The other Kiwi mantra.
shift house: move (house)
shonky: shady (person). “a bit shonky”
shout, your shout, my shout, shout somebody a coffee: buy a round, treat somebody
sickie, throw a sickie: call in sick
sin bin: players sitting out 15-minute penalty in rugby
sink the boot in: kick you when you're down
skint: broke (poor)
skipper: (team) captain. Also called “the Skip.”
bunk off: duck out, skip (bunk off school)
smack: spank. Smacking kids is illegal in NZ.
smoko: coffee break
sorted: taken care of
spa, spa pool: hot tub
speedo: Not the swimsuit! Speedometer. (the swimsuit is called a budgie smuggler—a budgie is a parakeet, LOL.)
spit the dummy: have a tantrum. (A dummy is a pacifier)
sportsman: athlete
sporty: liking sports
spot on: absolutely correct. “That’s spot on. You’re spot on.”
Springboks, Boks: South African national rugby team
squiz: look. “I was just having a squiz round.” “Giz a squiz.”
stickybeak: nosy person, busybody
stonkered: drunk—a bit stonkered—or exhausted
stoush: bar fight, fight
straightaway: right away
strength of it: the truth, the facts. “What's the strength of that?” = “What's the true story on that?”
stroppy: prickly, taking offense easily
stuffed up: messed up
Super 15: Top rugby competition: five teams each from NZ, Australia, South Africa
supporter: fan (Do NOT say “root for.” “To root” is to have (rude) sex!)
suss out: figure out
sweet: dessert
sweet as: great. (also: choice as, angry as, lame as . . . Meaning “very” whatever. “Mum was angry as that we ate up all the pudding before tea with Nana.”)
takahe: ground-dwelling native bird. Like a giant parrot.
takeaway: takeout (food)
tall poppy: arrogant person who puts himself forward or sets himself above others. It is every Kiwi's duty to cut down tall poppies, a job they undertake enthusiastically.
Tangata Whenua: Maori (people of the land)
tapu: sacred (Maori)
Te Papa: the Natio
nal Museum, in Wellington
tea: dinner (casual meal at home)
tea towel: dishtowel
test match: international rugby match (e.g., an All Blacks game)
throw a wobbly: have a tantrum
tick off: cross off (tick off a list)
ticker: heart. “The boys showed a lot of ticker out there today.”
togs: swimsuit (male or female)
torch: flashlight
touch wood: knock on wood (for luck)
track: trail
trainers: athletic shoes
tramping: hiking
transtasman: Australia/New Zealand (the Bledisloe Cup is a transtasman rivalry)
trolley: shopping cart
tucker: food
tui: Native bird
turn to custard: go south, deteriorate
turps, go on the turps: get drunk
Uni: University—or school uniform
up the duff: pregnant. A bit vulgar (like “knocked up”)
ute: pickup or SUV
vet: check out
waiata: Maori song
waka: canoe (Maori)
Wallabies: Australian national rugby team
Warrant of Fitness: certificate of a car's fitness to drive
Weet-Bix: ubiquitous breakfast cereal
whaddarya?: I am dubious about your masculinity (meaning “Whaddarya . . . pussy?”)
whakapapa: genealogy (Maori). A critical concept.
whanau: family (Maori). Big whanau: extended family. Small whanau: nuclear family.
wheelie bin: rubbish bin (garbage can) with wheels.
whinge: whine. Contemptuous! Kiwis dislike whingeing. Harden up!
White Ribbon: campaign against domestic violence
wind up: upset (perhaps purposefully). “Their comments were bound to wind him up.”
wing: rugby position (back)
Yank: American. Not pejorative.
yellow card: A penalty for dangerous play that sends a player off for 15 minutes to the sin bin. The team plays with 14 men during that time.
yonks: ages. “It's been going on for yonks.”
Links
Listen to the songs, explore the places, watch funny and fascinating Kiwi videos, and find out what’s new at the Rosalind James website.
The Escape to New Zealand series:
Hannah and Drew’s story: JUST THIS ONCE
Koti and Kate’s story: JUST GOOD FRIENDS
Jenna and Finn’s story: JUST FOR NOW
Emma and Nic’s story: JUST FOR FUN
Read on for an excerpt from
JUST FOR FUN
Cover design by Robin Ludwig Design Inc., http://www.gobookcoverdesign.com/
Just for Fun—Chapter 1
Nic Wilkinson wasn’t looking to change his life. He just wanted to go home. Instead, he quit watching where he was going, stepped in a puddle, and swore. It had rained the night before, and this part of the field was still muddy. The hundred or so boys gathered for the last day of Rob Euliss’s rugby camp weren’t helping a bit. They’d churned up the grass good and proper this week, Nic saw with disgust as he felt the water squelch inside his shoe. This wasn’t his idea of a fun way to spend a Sunday morning during a rare bye week. The kids were OK. He wasn’t always too keen on the parents, though.
But Rob was a neighbor, and a mate. Anyway, when a legendary former All Black asked a favor, you didn’t say no. So here he was, trying to avoid the rest of the muck around the edge of the huge field that made up the North Harbour Rugby Club, and preparing to do his duty.
Nic squinted around the clusters of boys, playing their final matches of the Easter-week camp under the watchful eyes of volunteer coaches and a sprinkling of dads who’d been pressed into service. He finally spotted the still-imposing figure of Rob, issuing impatient instructions to a hapless dad, and made his way toward the pair.
“Get them to stay onside,” Rob was barking at the harassed-looking volunteer, intimidating the poor bloke with his trademark volcanic frown. “They know better.”
Nic waited until the chastened dad took himself off, then offered, “Morning, Rob.”
“Nico. You took your time,” Rob grumbled. “I said ten.”
“Sorry. Claudia wasn’t rapt about my plan for the day. Where do you want me?” Nic could see a few of his Blues and All Black teammates, each surrounded by a little knot of starstruck boys, their parents hovering close. “I’ll help out here, if you like.”
“Don’t want to meet the mums, eh. Don’t blame you. Stay with me a minute, then. I’ll find a spot to pop you into.”
They fell silent, watching the boys in front of them play. “Second year?” Nic asked, watching as a pass fell uncaught at a small pair of feet.
“Yeh. Six,” Rob answered briefly.
“That one’s good,” Nic remarked as a boy from the opposing team picked up the ball, made two defenders miss with his abrupt changes of direction, then passed the ball accurately behind him to a teammate who ran in for the score.
“Yeh. Got a boot on him, too. Can’t use that in Rippa, of course. But he’ll be making his mark in a few years,” Rob said. “Hell of a kick.”
“Some talent there,” Nic agreed as the boy darted in, on defense now, and ripped an opposing player’s flag from his belt. “Fast-twitch fibers, I reckon. Reminds me of someone. Somebody’s kid?”
Rob looked at him oddly. “You. Who he reminds you of, I mean. Good pair of hands, reflexes. And a boot as well. They usually aren’t much chop at this age, but he’s different. Been watching you, I’d say. Got your moves. Even has a bit of a look of you. They’re about done here. Stay here and you can see for yourself, when you do your meet and greet.”
It was on them soon enough. The boys crowded around, offering up mud- and grass-stained backs for autographs. Nic signed jerseys with the Sharpie Rob wordlessly handed him, offered a bit of chat to the kids. The boy with the skills, he saw, hung back a bit, waiting for the crowd to thin, his eyes on Nic. A good-looking kid, straight dark blond hair getting a bit long over the forehead and at the back.
The boy came forward at last, turned his back. “Can you sign huge?” he asked. “I want yours to be the biggest.”
“Can’t turn that down, can I,” Nic answered good-humoredly. “There. Straight across. Nobody’ll miss that.”
“Thanks,” the boy said. He stood aside as Nic signed the jersey of a boy with a comical, mobile face and a mop of wild red curls.
“I saw you hurt your leg last week,” the blond boy offered as Nic finished. “Has it got any better? Will you be able to play in South Africa?”
“Not too bad,” Nic assured him. “Bit of a crocked thigh, that’s all. Be right as rain by Saturday.” Which wasn’t strictly true, but it was the kind of niggle you expected, midway through the season.
“Would you run, though, normally?” the boy asked hesitatingly. “When you have a bye like this, I mean? If you weren’t injured? On your days off?”
“Yeh, I would,” Nic answered.
“See, Graham. Told you,” the blond boy said triumphantly to his redheaded friend. “Graham said you just rested. But I said you have to keep training, if you really want to be good.”
“You’re right,” Nic said. “Plenty of blokes with talent. You have to have more than that, if you want to make it to Super level. Takes a fair bit of discipline. Do you do some training yourself, then? You’re pretty good.”
The boy flushed with embarrassed pride. “Yeh. I run before school, lots of days. With my mum. She likes to go too,” he hurried on to explain. “Not because she has to take me.”
“Good on ya,” Nic said. “You’ve got a pretty fair boot, too, Dan tells me. What’s your name?”
“Zack. Zack Martens,” the boy said.
“Good to meet you.” Nic shook the offered hand. Manners, he saw. “And who’s this?”
“Graham MacNeil,” the redhead said, offering his own hand and turning a violent shade that clashed with his hair.
“Well, Graham, your mate’s right. Do all the running you can. You boys better get off and get some more signatures on those jerseys, though. Ben over there looks like he’s about to pack it in.”
“C’mon, Zack,” Graham urged.
“Thank you for signing,” Zack said politely. Dark brown eyes fringed with long, thick lashes looked shyly up at Nic’s own before the boy turned to run off with his friend.
“Nice kid, that Zack,” Nic told Rob a bit later from the middle of another group of kids.
“Got a nice mum, too,” Rob said, nodding toward a group of parents on the sideline. “Quite pretty. Think she’s single, too. Most of them don’t show up without a dad, the last day.”
“You old goat,” Nic chided him. “Lucky I don’t tell Rebecca.”
“Still got a pair of eyes, haven’t I,” Rob countered. “That one there, see? Kind of blonde. The small one. Tell me I’m wrong.”
Nic looked where Rob was gesturing. Suddenly his sodden feet seemed to be sending a chill straight through his entire body. He saw Zack again, excitedly showing off his newly collected autographs to the slim, graceful figure bending towards him. The honey-blonde hair was shorter now, but her curls still fell around her face in the way he remembered. She straightened, turned. And stood stock-still at the sight of him.
He wasn’t more than twenty meters away, but she moved fast. With a quick word to Zack, she’d melted behind the group of parents and was lost in the taller crowd within moments.
Nic stood, poleaxed. He recovered his wits as another group of boys crowded around him, signed jerseys and rugby balls mechanically, offered encouraging words. But kept an eye out for that slight figure. He didn’t see her again, though. And to his frustration, by the time he could look for her properly amidst the thinning crowd, she was gone.
Rob was issuing more instructions to the volunteers who were helping to round up equipment. He turned, though, at a hand on his elbow. “Still here, mate?” he asked in surprise. “Thought you’d left with the rest of them.”
“Need to ask you a question,” Nic said. “I need to know something about that kid. Zack.”
“Rightyo, then.” Rob was surprised, but agreeable. “Hang on a tick whilst I finish up here. Or better yet, give us a hand.”
“Now,” he said fifteen minutes later, packing file folders into a carrier bag inside the Rugby Club’s office. “What did you need? Are the Blues scouting them that young now?”