As I mentioned in my Education post, language was one of the big adjustments we've all had to make, especially the girls as they've had to learn to 'listen' to their teachers for more than just what is being taught. The kiwis have a wonderful accent! And yes, it is different from Australians! I would compare it to how we as Canadians know that we sound different from Americans, but to other nationalities we all sound the same. It was the same for me before we moved here. To me Aussies and Kiwis all sounded the same....but they don't!
We often get asked if we're Americans. People love to hear us say 'house' and 'about'.... I still don't hear how we say it any different! lol. The girls get more requests to say words at school as their friends like to hear how they say things. So yes, people here definitely think we have accents. At work I've been asked once or twice if I'm Scottish!?! Never thought the Canadian accent sounded Scottish, but whatever.... :o)
But with people here from all over the world, you become very adept at learning to understand accents and I've also become very aware of speaking slowly to people who aren't Canadians and who struggle to understand what I'm saying. We have fun with the girls' friends and all of their accents from around the world, and with Devon with his South African accent and Alex with his English accent, we are always hearing English spoken in different ways around here. It's fun and something I would definitely miss if we ever moved back to a more one-nationality area.
Below are some of the new words we've learned since moving here....or new meanings to old words!
Pedantic: this is used quite a bit to describe someone who is quite fussy about things... (the dictionary meaning refers to someone who is overly concerned about the use of language)
Nous: when I first started working at the school, Ginny kept saying I had 'nous'. I'd hoped it wasn't something bad! lol.... I looked it up and it means 'common sense'. Good thing to have! (and no, it's not pronounced as we pronounce 'nous' in french)
Shocking: used a lot by the british here. 'That's shocking!' (we like that one)
Heaps: used instead of 'lots'.
Bench: the kitchen countertop
Toilet: instead of bathroom or washroom...'I'm going toilet'.... sounds weird, but we're getting used to it.
Tea: there's morning tea, afternoon tea, and tea. The latter means the meal you eat at the end of the day, or dinner as we call it.
Supper: this is a bedtime snack....or the snack after an evening function..... as in: "After the awards ceremony supper will be served." Don't expect steak and potatoes....it's cookies and a cup of tea.
Milo: a favorite kiwi beverage, very much like hot chocolate but they've added vitamins and such to it
Petrol: instead of gas
Nappy: instead of diaper
Rubber: haha...this one always gets me.... I'll have a little six year old boy come to the office at school and ask for a rubber... it always takes me a second to realize he means he wants an eraser (and not a condom, which rubber is the slang for in Canada)
Dag: someone referred to a lady as a dag and a few days later someone used it again....so we had to find out what it really meant. When they refer to someone as a dag it means they're quirky or a bit odd. However, the actual word dag, means the gunk that hangs off a sheep's bottom, the poop, dirt, etc that is tangled around their wool... yuk!
Spat the dummy or spat the dummy from the cot: my principal said this one day in conversation and I said 'stop, what in the world does that mean?'.... It is like 'threw a fit'. A dummy is a soother, a cot is a crib, and when a baby is upset they will spit their soother out of their crib
Uni: short for university...I couldn't understand why they needed to shorten the word university when we first moved here, but now we all do it! lol... .when in Rome do as the Romans do...
Lounge: living room
Flat white/Long black: types of coffee.... took me a long time to figure out what to order at coffee shops...now I order an Americano...that's a 'normal' brewed coffee. Flat white is a shot of coffee with hot water and milk, a long black is a shot or two of coffee with hot water. (or something like that, I'd have to ask the baristas in the house to be certain!)
Courgette: zuchinni
Rock melon: cantalope
Capsicum: green pepper or red pepper
Boot: car trunk
Bonnet: car hood
Penultimate: another favorite word here that I'd never heard before! It means second to last. Who ever uses that word?! But they do, and often! lol
Fortnightly: every second week
That's about all I can think of off-hand.... if/when I think of more, I'll add them... it's always fun to learn new words and terms....and then figure out how to incorporate them into your own daily language without sounding/feeling weird! lol.
ttfn....
We often get asked if we're Americans. People love to hear us say 'house' and 'about'.... I still don't hear how we say it any different! lol. The girls get more requests to say words at school as their friends like to hear how they say things. So yes, people here definitely think we have accents. At work I've been asked once or twice if I'm Scottish!?! Never thought the Canadian accent sounded Scottish, but whatever.... :o)
But with people here from all over the world, you become very adept at learning to understand accents and I've also become very aware of speaking slowly to people who aren't Canadians and who struggle to understand what I'm saying. We have fun with the girls' friends and all of their accents from around the world, and with Devon with his South African accent and Alex with his English accent, we are always hearing English spoken in different ways around here. It's fun and something I would definitely miss if we ever moved back to a more one-nationality area.
Below are some of the new words we've learned since moving here....or new meanings to old words!
Pedantic: this is used quite a bit to describe someone who is quite fussy about things... (the dictionary meaning refers to someone who is overly concerned about the use of language)
Nous: when I first started working at the school, Ginny kept saying I had 'nous'. I'd hoped it wasn't something bad! lol.... I looked it up and it means 'common sense'. Good thing to have! (and no, it's not pronounced as we pronounce 'nous' in french)
Shocking: used a lot by the british here. 'That's shocking!' (we like that one)
Heaps: used instead of 'lots'.
Bench: the kitchen countertop
Toilet: instead of bathroom or washroom...'I'm going toilet'.... sounds weird, but we're getting used to it.
Tea: there's morning tea, afternoon tea, and tea. The latter means the meal you eat at the end of the day, or dinner as we call it.
Supper: this is a bedtime snack....or the snack after an evening function..... as in: "After the awards ceremony supper will be served." Don't expect steak and potatoes....it's cookies and a cup of tea.
Milo: a favorite kiwi beverage, very much like hot chocolate but they've added vitamins and such to it
Petrol: instead of gas
Nappy: instead of diaper
Rubber: haha...this one always gets me.... I'll have a little six year old boy come to the office at school and ask for a rubber... it always takes me a second to realize he means he wants an eraser (and not a condom, which rubber is the slang for in Canada)
Dag: someone referred to a lady as a dag and a few days later someone used it again....so we had to find out what it really meant. When they refer to someone as a dag it means they're quirky or a bit odd. However, the actual word dag, means the gunk that hangs off a sheep's bottom, the poop, dirt, etc that is tangled around their wool... yuk!
Spat the dummy or spat the dummy from the cot: my principal said this one day in conversation and I said 'stop, what in the world does that mean?'.... It is like 'threw a fit'. A dummy is a soother, a cot is a crib, and when a baby is upset they will spit their soother out of their crib
Uni: short for university...I couldn't understand why they needed to shorten the word university when we first moved here, but now we all do it! lol... .when in Rome do as the Romans do...
Lounge: living room
Flat white/Long black: types of coffee.... took me a long time to figure out what to order at coffee shops...now I order an Americano...that's a 'normal' brewed coffee. Flat white is a shot of coffee with hot water and milk, a long black is a shot or two of coffee with hot water. (or something like that, I'd have to ask the baristas in the house to be certain!)
Courgette: zuchinni
Rock melon: cantalope
Capsicum: green pepper or red pepper
Boot: car trunk
Bonnet: car hood
Penultimate: another favorite word here that I'd never heard before! It means second to last. Who ever uses that word?! But they do, and often! lol
Fortnightly: every second week
That's about all I can think of off-hand.... if/when I think of more, I'll add them... it's always fun to learn new words and terms....and then figure out how to incorporate them into your own daily language without sounding/feeling weird! lol.
ttfn....
Comments
For instance - most Kiwis call the sidewalk or pavement, a footpath. But most also know and occaisionally use these other terms. Maybe it is because we are so exposed to the North American cultures through TV, movies, celebrities and books.
Or maybe it is just because I have a lot of multicultural friends :)
I often translate for them.. :)