How to speak Kiwi

Following on from "British to Australian dictionary" - a blog post I did around this time last year, I've now been living in New Zealand for a month and a half, and have definitely noticed some differences between British English, Aussie English, and Kiwi English, and the accent! My list doesn't include Maori, which is a completely different language that is still widely used in New Zealand - as I haven't got round to learning it yet.

Choice - Good/Nice one
Eh - (Ay) Used at the end of pretty much every sentence
Sweet as - Cool
Chur - Thanks
She'll be right - It'll be OK
Heaps - Loads
Wop-wops - Middle of nowhere
All Blacks - The only sports team that matters, the NZ rugby team
Jandals - Flip flops
Togs - Swimming costume
Chilly bin - Cooler box
Hokey-pokey - A popular and tasty ice cream flavour
Electric jug - Kettle
Kumara - Sweet potato
Tramping - Hiking
Dairy - Convenience store
Skull - To down a drink
Bogan - Chav/White trash
Pom - British person
Op shop - Charity shop
Smoko - Work break
Capsicum - Pepper
Manchester - Bed linen
Fush and Chups - Fish and Chips
Seven - Seevin
Yeah - Year

If, like I was before I got here, you are naive and not used to Aussie or Kiwi, you may think the accents and dialogue are pretty much the same. I've come to learn this is definitely not the case. Mostly with the differences in words, New Zealanders more often take the British form, and Aussies just make something up completely. Examples:

Duvet (in NZ) - Doona (in Aus)
Aubergine (in NZ) - Eggplant (in Aus)

Like the last few on my list, the New Zealand accent is very defined, and usually easier to make out different words than in Australia, where they tend to mumble all their words into one "sound". Having said that, it's not always easy to understand what that word is. Forming the accent is all in the harsh vowel sounds. Just imagine pretty much every vowel is an "i" or "ee"

Ten minutes = teen meenuts
Jindals = jandals

That's my quick guide on how to speak Kiwi. It's actually a beautiful accent to match their beautiful country!