Some Odds & Ends From New Zealand

July 16, 2007

Expressions I quite like:

• wee dash -

• Winjing - not sure how it’s spelled, but this means whining, but with a legitimate complaint and a more dignified air.

• Fanny = not what we mean! Just don’t use it.

• Pavolova - actually, a desert I quite like. It's got merinque and whipped cream. Bit of debate over who invented it, Australians or kiwis half pai - pai is Maori word for good, so half pie means sort of good. More like half-assed, I think.

• knackered - “I’m or he’s knackered” means he’s exhausted. The knacker house is the glue factory so you can say, “Take me to the knacker hosue” Unfortunately it also means testicles, so the expression can mean “castrated.” It sounds like, “naked,” to the American ear!

• dodgy - not sure, hazardous? not up to par? screwed up?

• judder bar = speed bumps

• “Gutted” - for a long time I thought they were saying “guttered” love the R that gets injected at random times, like AustraliaR and NoR . Anyway, means devastated.

• Better get head down, bum up (get to work)

• quite like (sort of enjoy)

• peckish (a little hungry)

• good on ya (way to go)

• cheerio love (see you later – actually heard in the SW halls)

• Ta (thanks)

• Brilliant (great)

• My Shout (I’ll pay)

• Rattle your dags (dags are the little bits of sheep dung that stick to their wool... rattle your gads means hurry up)

• Gobsmacked! (blown away)

• A bit blokey (overly masculine) - also “a bloke's bloke”

• Stodgey (under dispute - some say it’s got to do with high carb content in a dessert, adding “stodge” as a noun)

• Treacley (I have no idea)

• Hadjie-Badjie (drama)

• Billie - that nifty device above the sink that delivers boiling water instantly.

• Brolly - an umbrella

Spelling complications:

• ageing

• programme

• labour

Things people have said about high table ritual:

• “It’s a matter of good breeding actually.” (Rachel)

• “In my people good breeding means able to hunt and fish.” (Shane)

• “It gives them something to look up to.” (Richard)

Moments I like:

• Prayer before dinner

• Offering to get someone a drink “Would you like me to…?”

• Handing someone a drink

• Running downhill when I’m a little bit late

• Any time in the shower

• On carpet my new scale subtracts 12 pounds

• Anytime doing yoga

• Getting a message from someone back home

July 27, 2007

Today’s headlines:

1. Waitaki District Council is worried about cows “fouling” the district roads. This is “particularly problematic” when herds are being transferred from the mountains to the dairies, and will become worse as more dairies are moving into the region. Meetings will be held to discuss possible solutions. I think I’ll write in and suggest that cow owners, like dog owners, should be required to “immediately pick up their messes.”

2. Janet Frame was given the Montana Award for a post-humously published collection of poems. Her niece is thrilled (pictured in front of her blue home holding the volume).

3. Wanaka Mayor is prepared to receive any complaints regarding the city’s police who, some charge, have been “heavy-handed and not to be trusted.”

Oh what a gentle land!

October 3, 2007

At the bank today an older man approached the teller, who did her routine “How are you today?” His response: “Standing up under the strain. How about you?”