Kiwi On The Loose

My wife who is an American, (and I love that connection) recently pointed out how kiwis are in the habit of saying, ‘yeah, yeah yeah”, in quick succession when in conversation. And just like when you buy a new vehicle,  and suddenly everywhere you look you see one like yours, as I have listened to kiwis talk, suddenly we are all doing it. Yeah, yeah, yeh. It is really really true. I just smile in wonder at my wife’s observant nature to notice this phenomenon.
It had been pointed out to me (not by Susan) as well the verbal habit of the vascilating kiwi to include all options in discussing a decision or answering a question involving wanting to do something.
Yeah, well nah, ahh maybe……..
I am amazed at number of times I have heard this said.
A kid did it to me at school today and I just laughed and said arh well which one of those is the answer.

Another habit not just limited to kiwis is the saying of ‘anyway’ when we are in conversation. I am writing this in Mc Donalds and the lady in the cubicle next to me just did it.
Anyway…………….like what does that mean……..anyway
Now that I am a year older and tougher skinned, it don’t bother me but before I used to think am I going on, umm is this subject boring, or do you need to go somewhere……………
or like …………before the anyway………….nothing made any sense…

anyway

What do you think?

This saying is more perhaps an Australian saying, but since such a close we love to hate you bond exists between the Australian and the Kiwi, kiwis affectionately use it too.
“She’ll be right mate” is a turn of phrase that means just what it says. It has a twang of its own, it’s own accent even. R2D2 in Starwars could never really carry this off, or John Wayne for that matter. It has to have the drawl of down under folks.
Just like ‘don’t worry be happy’ has a Jamaican voice inherent.
So what does it mean?
Simply that, don’t worry, it will all be okay.
It can mean ‘ I don’t need any help’ when used to reply to an offer of help.
In fact here’s a song written by Fred Dagg (another post in himself) that will give you the idea.

When you’re hunting in the mountains and your dog’s put up a chase,
And a porker’s coming at you and he doesn’t like your face.
And you’re running and he’s running and he’s pounding on the pace,
Well, don’t worry mate, she’ll be right.

She’ll be right, mate, she’ll be right.
Don’t worry mate, she’ll be right.
You can get your feed of pork when he slows down to a walk
So don’t worry mate she’ll be right.

When you’re logging in the ranges and you’re riding down the bluff,
With forty feet of timber riding right behind your chuff.
Your clutch has started slipping and your brakes are worse than rough.
Well, …She’ll be right, mate, she’ll be right.
Don’t worry mate, she’ll be right.
Just give her all you can give her, and she’ll just fly into the river.
So don’t worry mate she’ll be right.

When they’ve finished off your forwards, and your backs are wearing thin,
The second half’s near over and you’re forty points to win,
And a hulking wing three quarter’s got his teeth stuck in your shin
Well, …She’ll be right, mate, she’ll be right.
Don’t worry mate, she’ll be right.
You won’t worry who’s the loser when you meet them down the boozer.
So don’t worry mate she’ll be right.

When you’re boiling up the copper and you’re brewing up the hops
You’ve made a hundred dozen and you’ve hammered down the tops.
The missus comes and asks you where you’ve put your footy sox.
Well, …She’ll be right, mate, she’ll be right.
Don’t worry mate, she’ll be right.
Shove a shot of metho in, and you’ll swear you’re drinking gin.
So don’t worry mate she’ll be right.

So she’ll be right, can be added to a huge variety of situations and applications.

A friend alerted me to the term ‘dag’ being great for this blog category. AND to be honest it was my next term to add. I don’t use it much BUT its such a ‘kiwi’ term, it evokes so many things ‘kiwi’.

What is a DAG?

In is most down to earth sense and rawest use, a DAG is the poohs of a sheep that colects on the wool around a sheeps backside as it exits and falls to the ground. It builds up and collects on the wool around that area of the sheeps anatomy.NOW remember sheep like humans have poohs that arrives in the outer world in differing consistencies. Sometimes it get VERY runny and this is termed as the sheep having ’scours” (please dad help me here with the spelling)

SO the collective build up of sheep droppings collect on the wool and it dries in hot weather or stays moist, BUT a build up it is nonetheless.

That is a DAG, and such terms as ‘rattle your dags’ comes from them looking like rattles hanging around the sheeps bum.

Before the sheep is shorn FARMERS remove the dags for the shearers. This process is called ‘crutching’.

Heres what ‘wiki’ says about dags.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DAG

I will try and find a photo soon.

One of the reasons sheep are ‘crutched’ is to stop flies doing annoying things at that end of the sheep because of the attractive morsels there..

There are offshots to this term ‘DAG’, which I will explore in other posts. PERHAPS others could add to it.

They include such terms as ‘a bit of a dag!’, FRED DAG himself, rattle your dags etc.

The term kiwi in America to most means a small hairy fruit, known as a kiwi.

You find it in fruit stands, on signs..etc reinforcing this veiw of kiwi being a fruit.

Personally I don’t want to be a fruit, like I am on Queer Nation or something.

A KIWI is a person from the country known as New Zealand/Aotearoa.

Some Americans are aware of this country and often comment on its beauty.

In New Zealand what Americans call a kiwi we call a ‘Kiwifruit’.

This writer remembers a time when the ‘kiwifruit’ was called a ‘Chinese Gooseberry’.

Just to add to the confusion. ………..

BUt Sir Edmund Hillary the first man to climb the highest mountain in the world (Mt Everest) was a ‘kiwi’. He was certainly no fruit.

Hi, I thought it would be fun to start a glossary for Americans on kiwi speak, to promote understanding. Yes sometimes the response to a brilliant cross cultural statement might be, "I beg your pardon?" This is accompanied by a blank look, eyes kind of glazed……the non comprehende, non stoned glaze. So here we go………I think if we stick to one word per post it might catalogue better. Maybe a plugin will collate it all.