The Godzone Dictionary E-Book

Max Cryer

• Herausgeber: WS
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 323

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2019

Beschreibung

The Godzone Dictionary is a concise A – Z of the words and phrases that make our New Zealand language so distinctive and individual, from Aotearoa and Avondale spiders to Zambuck and Zespri.
Never stuffy or academic, Max Cryer brings his expert knowledge and sly wit to a book that is sure to be a reference for many years to come. Sweet as!

Leseprobe

THE

Godzone

DICTIONARY

of Favorite New ZealandWords and Pharses

MAX CRYER

MAX CRYER has been answering New Zealand radio listeners’ questions on English language for 22 years (Radio LIVE, Saturday nights). He holds an Honours degree in English Literature and Etymology, and his published books have three times been No.1 on New Zealand’s non-fiction bestsellers list. His parallel career as a singer has taken him from Sadler’s Wells Opera in London, to cabaret appearances in Las Vegas and Hollywood, several tours of America, and host of six television series in New Zealand.

Also by Max Cryer:

Hear Our Voices, We EntreatThe extraordinary story of New Zealand’s national anthems

Love Me TenderThe stories behind the world’s favourite songs

Who Said That First?The curious origins of common words and phrases

Preposterous ProverbsA wide selection from around the world

The Cat’s Out of the BagAn examination of all things feline

Every Dog has its DayA look at all things canine

Is It True…?Facts behind the things we’ve been told

SuperstitionsTheir origins and place in our lives

Curious English Words and PhrasesThe truth behind the expressions we use

Acknowledgements

The author thanks Emma Sloman, Steve Jennings, Geoffrey Pooch and Louise Callan for their assistance in the preparation of this book.

GODZONE

The first known version of the term ‘God’s own country’ was in 1718, by author Laurence Echard, apparently referring to the Holy Land during the Crusades. Then in 1809, author Edward du Bois used the same term to describe the Wicklow Mountains in Ireland.

Awareness of the description widened internationally. Thomas Bracken heard of a New Zealander then living in Melbourne who used the term about his former homeland. Bracken remembered this, and used the description in his poem first published in 1890:

Give me, give me God’s own country! there to live and there to die,

God’s own country! fairest region resting ’neath the southern sky.

Sixty years afterwards, acclaimed New Zealand writer Allen Curnow, writing in his New Zealand Herald ‘Whim Wham’ column, on 16 May 1953, created the abbreviation ‘Godzone’. It has remained in use, somehow combining irony with affection.

Introduction

For hundreds of years, only the Māori language was spoken in New Zealand. During the 1800s, when settlers from the British Isles began to arrive, a strong link with Britain was forged, influencing many organisations, administrative systems, social structures — and language.

But besides Britain, other influences gradually added to New Zealand’s language. In 1922 radio began, soon broadcasting overseas material and songs; in 1929 the first movie ‘with sound’ was seen in New Zealand; then television from 1960.

By a process of capricious selection, New Zealand retains words it regards as fitting and rejects those it does not, so that a distinctive national language style has emerged. From the start it was clear — and still is — that many aspects of life in this country could only be expressed in Māori words, and those included here are valid ingredients in the nation’s overall language.

A dialect can be defined as ‘a form of speech including a non-standard vocabulary, particular to a district, in relation to the language family to which it belongs’.

The Godzone Dictionary is a study of, and tribute to, the dialect of New Zealand.

Max Cryer

Aa

Adam — since Adam was a cowboy Referring to a time long ago or covering an extensive period. This version of the expression and another version referring to a well-known former premier, ‘Since Dick Seddon died’, are variations on a very old British expression: ‘When Adam was an oakum boy in Chatham dockyard’. Besides the adaptations indicated above, other variations exist, e.g. ‘Since God called the chickens home’ and ‘Since the Lord had measles’.

āeMāori Used in the same way as English ‘yes’, to indicate agreement.

afghan This crunchy chocolate biscuit, usually containing cornflakes, and topped with rich chocolate icing and a walnut, has been popular in New Zealand since the 1930s. Its name-history is obscure but apparently arises simply from its dark colour.

aggroabbrev. A combination of aggravation (made worse, intensified) and aggression (over-readiness to attack), this contracted abbreviation came into use in the 1960s to indicate annoyance and exasperation. The meaning of aggro has both widened and weakened: it can indicate either a potential street fight, or something as minor as a person being a few minutes late, thus causing aggro to the person waiting. Bernie couldn’t play rugby on Saturday — he damaged his hands after some aggro in the street on Friday night.

agribusiness A term referring to commercial land use as a business, interacting with service and supply organisations. It can also be heard as a recognition that farming of any kind, besides being a vocation, must also generate income and use the same techniques as other businesses.

a into gabbrev. informal of arse into gear. Either describing one’s own burst of activity, or sometimes an instruction to someone else, to get started and become active. He’ll never finish painting the house by Easter unless he gets his a into g very soon.

ake, akeMāori Signifies eternity — for ever. Māori language intensifies or enlarges a description by repeating the word, as in the ‘Māori Battalion Marching Song’: Ake, ake, kia kaha e! — Forever and ever, be strong!

All Blacks New Zealand’s official representative rugby team. They wore blue at their first outing in 1884 but changed to black in 1893. The first known and recognised international printing of the name All Blacks was in the Devon Express and Echo in September 1905: ‘The “All Blacks” as they are styled, by reason of their sable and unrelieved costume, were under the guidance of their captain (Mr Gallaher) and their fine physiques favourably impressed the spectators.’

all get out To a high degree, achieving total effectiveness. When Mum got dressed for the wedding, she was as glamorous as all get out.

All Whites The nickname of New Zealand men’s international Association Football team.

amber liquid A popular colloquialism for beer. Whether through some overhang of temperance puritanism or an uncharacteristic desire to make the language more colourful, beer is often referred to by other names. Rather than say the word itself, ‘suds’, ‘sauce’ and ‘turps’ were used as informal replacements — and often the noun was dropped altogether: to ‘have a few’ or ‘sink a few’ are common New Zealand expressions.

America’s Cup The cup, won by sailing prowess, was originally called the Hundred Guineas Cup when it was first raced for in 1851. That race was won by a schooner called America. In time, a popular usage grew of referring to the cup as America’s Cup, with an apostrophe designating that it belonged to the boat called America. Then popular usage inserted ‘the’ before the title and it became ‘The America’s Cup’. And that’s how the name has stayed. New Zealanders paid little attention to The America’s Cup until 1986 when KZ 7 (Kiwi Magic) contested for the cup in 1986, then won it in 1995, 2000 and 2017.

Anglican A Christian denomination, sometimes referred to as Church of England or, especially in the United States, Episcopalian.

ankle-biters Small children. The term is believed to be of New Zealand origin, but it was made prominent by Australian entertainer Barry Humphries. An equivalent is ‘rug rats’.

Antipodes Australia and New Zealand. Before the 1860s, British people used Antipodes (from Greek for ‘opposite the feet’) to mean the whole of the Southern Hemisphere (Shakespeare refers to ‘the Antipodes’ in The Merchant of Venice and Much Ado About Nothing). But with the growth of colonisation in Australia and New Zealand, the term seemed to become confined to those two countries. Curiously, this description is never used by the British when referring to South Africans or South Americans. It also blithely overlooks the fact that New Zealand is not ‘opposite the feet’ of Britain: on the globe, New Zealand is actually opposite Spain. The British also resist the term being used about them — not welcoming the image of being perceived as opposite anyone else’s feet. When a New Zealander appearing on a television show in London referred to ‘being here in Britain — in the Antipodes’, there was an uncomprehending silence.

Anzacabbrev. of Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. In 1914 Lieutenant-General Sir William Birdwood took command of the part of the British Army, including Australians and New Zealanders, who would land at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915. Birdwood is often credited with coining the acronym ANZAC, having seen the initials A&N Z A C stamped on boxes of supplies and documents pertaining to those forces. The beach on Gallipoli where the forces landed became known as Anzac Cove, and the landing area generally became known simply as Anzac. The term was soon applied to the men themselves, and later meant any Australian or New Zealand soldier of the First World War, and later all who served. (ANZAC in all capitals has become reserved for referring to the corps itself.)

The infamous Gallipoli campaign, in which the first Anzacs took part, killed 2779 New Zealanders and over 4500 were wounded.

(See Anzac Day, Gallipoli)

Anzac biscuits A recipe for ‘Anzac cakes’ was published in 1915 and six years later a recipe for Anzac Crispies united the ingredients and method which, by 1927, had become known as Anzac biscuits. The key ingredients are golden syrup and rolled oats; coconut and walnuts are optional extras and there have been occasional variations such as the chocolate-coated version created for the millennium celebrations in 2000.

Anzac Day This New Zealand public holiday on 25 April commemorates the Gallipoli landing in 1915. Soldiers from both sides of the Tasman marked Anzac Day with memorial services in 1916 and two years later the same idea surfaced in Sydney. In 1919 the Prince of Wales attended an Anzac Day march in London and the day was officially recognised in New Zealand legislation in 1920. The word Anzac cannot be used in any commercial activity without approval and its date must remain 25 April, regardless of which day of the week it falls on. Since the First World War the term Anzac has widened to include all who have given their lives for their country.

AorangiMāori Cloud in the sky, but freely translated as ‘cloud piercer’. It was the original name for New Zealand’s highest peak, Mt Cook, which is now officially known as Aoraki/Mount Cook. (South Island Māori words when represented in English customarily use the letter k where North Island Māori use ng.)

AotearoaMāori Although acknowledged today as the Māori name for New Zealand, it originally referred to the North Island. It is most unlikely that these islands together had any name at all in the early days of their habitation. Abel Tasman called the country Staten Land, but that lasted for only a year. The words Nieuw Zeeland and Zeelandia Nova had crept onto maps by the mid-1600s. The Māori transliteration, used in the Treaty of Waitangi, was Nu Tirani — which was little used afterwards and later slipped completely away. Aotearoa first appeared in about 1860 and though the meaning is generally given as ‘land of the long white cloud’, the exact meaning and origins of that phrase have never been clear.

A & P showabbrev. of Agricultural and Pastoral (Association) show, a regional festival event with a strongly rural and agrarian focus, which includes exhibitions of livestock, produce and machinery, trade displays, educational material and fairground activities. The first A & P Association was formed in 1843, to improve crops and agriculture and show livestock and machinery. By 1908, there were over 100 A & P Associations throughout the country. Actively involved in rural postal, telephone and schooling services, the associations were non-political and paid increasing attention to holding A & P shows, which can be a major event in many communities, often referred to simply as the Show, or, in Canterbury, Show Week.

Arbor Day 5 June on which date tree planting is encouraged. (Arbor is Latin for tree.) The idea of an annual tree-planting day originated in Nebraska in 1872. There were initially plenty of trees in 1800s New Zealand, but those who understood that the vegetation was being destroyed by settlement instigated an Arbor Day at Greytown in the Wairarapa in July 1890. Pine trees and spruces were planted, and Queen Victoria sent her good wishes. Two years later the government established an official annual Arbor Day, in August. Then in 1972, to align New Zealand with World Environment Day, the date was moved to 5 June.

arikiMāori Paramount chief, high chief, whose concern is the integrity and prosperity of the people, the land, the language and other cultural treasures.

arohaMāori Love. The term covers many shades of meaning — affection, sympathetic warmth, romantic love for a person, all-embracing love for a family, love of a wide group of people, of a nation, of a landscape.

arohanuiMāori Literally, great love, this is often used within a personal greeting or farewell, or to signify warm affection towards a large body of people or land.

artic.abbrev. of articulated truck, a long vehicle consisting of a driving unit, with one or more hinged sections behind it. Known variously elsewhere as a semi, a semi-trailer, an 18-wheeler and a big-rig.

arvoabbrev. of afternoon. Sometimes extended to s’arvo for ‘this afternoon’.

Asia There have been Chinese immigrants to New Zealand since the 1860s. Gaps have occurred (sometimes because of legal restraints), but the movement here by Chinese gradually grew and Indians came also. Both races became a familiar part of the New Zealand landscape — in business, education and socially. But for some unknown reason, towards the late 1900s media coverage of anything referring to Chinese in New Zealand ceased referring to them as such, and instead used ‘Asian’. This practice grew and became the norm. Asia is large — covering areas designated as Arctic, Temperate, Tropical and Desert. And besides China, it includes at least nine other nations: Indonesia, Pakistan, Japan, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar and South Korea, plus over 70 per cent of Russians (estimated at 33 million) live in the northern part of Asia. So ‘Asian’ is a somewhat illogical term to use rather than an ‘identity-specific’ term.

asphalt Semi-solid mineral mix of bitumen and inert matter used as waterproofing and also found in some fungicides and paints. Mixed with gravel, it is commonly used for road surfaces. (See metal and sealed road)

aue/auēMāori An exclamation in which the vocal colour used, and the context in which it is spoken, can encompass emotions as varied as surprise, affirmation, despair, congratulation, acceptance of inevitability and sometimes satisfaction.

auntie Besides its standard application as an affectionate version of the formal ‘aunt’, the term ‘auntie’ has a more general use within Māori social structure. Any adult female relative, connection, in-law or close family friend can be referred to as an auntie. Within Māori families, ‘auntie’ carries a certain cachet, denoting someone who is older and wiser than the younger family members. The Māori Television channel epitomised their position perfectly — a programme featuring a panel of mature women who gave advice in answer to viewers’ letters was named

Ask Your Auntie.

(See bro, cuzzie, rellies)

Australasia The combined areas of New Zealand and Australia. The word seems to have arisen from an error. In the late 1700s the French word Australasie was sometimes used to refer to Australia and Asia, and over time it came to signify Australia and its outlying islands, which included New Zealand. When New Zealand gained its own separate identity — in the 1800s — Australasia came to mean the distinct nations of Australia and New Zealand, plus their respective outlying islands (such as the Chathams or the Aucklands). But by the end of the 1900s the word was little used in New Zealand and very seldom in Australia.

Avondale spiders These large Australian huntsman spiders were imported accidentally during the 1920s, when butchers in the Auckland suburb of Avondale took delivery of a new commodity — a gas refrigerator. The spiders arrived in the packaging and were soon keeping themselves warm near the machinery that drove the fridge. Because they ate flies and bugs, the butchers encouraged the spiders by leaving out little bits of mince when their premises were closed. During the 1930s the butchery was pulled down, and the resident spiders had to move on, and have not spread far from Avondale. Avondale spiders, now a local curiosity, are not poisonous, but they make a curious spitting noise when upset.

away laughing To have a project (or problem) under control, to be on the way to success and winning. If we can get the new house roof on before the rains begin, we’ll be away laughing.

away with the fairies A state of living in fantasy and a dream world or not facing reality, being ‘away with the pixies’. It can describe a project which is being earnestly promoted but does not appear to be based on reality. Harry is keen on a dodgy investment company offering a 37 per cent profit — either Harry or the company is away with the fairies. Originating from Scots/ Irish Gaelic traditions of belief in folk myths and the existence of ‘the little people’.

Bb

bach A usually simple, even makeshift and often small, weekend or holiday house, often lacking such amenities as a garage or laundry. The word (pronounced ‘batch’), used in New Zealand since the early 1900s, is believed to have originated from the verb to ‘bach’ — meaning to live ‘like a bachelor’ — cooking and carrying out domestic tasks in a rudimentary way. Once an affordable commodity, coastal baches are becoming increasingly expensive and sophisticated as urban New Zealanders seek a place by the sea. In parts of the South Island a bach is often called a ‘crib’.

(See crib)

backblocks Anywhere that is a long way from a city, areas considered distant from mainstream or urban living. The word comes from formal surveying, which divides a potential housing or farming area into blocks. Since 1852 land far from the coast, a settlement or even a house, was referred to as ‘a back block’. Joined together as backblocks, the word was common throughout most of the 1900s and is even used rather derisively of anything clearly non-urban. Bernie and his wife have left their city flat and moved out of town. I wonder how they’ll like living in the backblocks.

(See sticks, the)

back-hander (1) In sports, a stroke effected from the reverse direction to that considered normal. (2) An illicit financial transaction: either an unofficial and unacknowledged so-called bonus provided for carrying out a project, or slight overcharging, so that a small portion of the profit can be slyly pocketed. The sale of his company showed only a small profit, but there were several back-handers to sweeten the deal.

bags that! Staking a claim before someone else. Thought to have been used by British poachers, the term arises from the notion of putting something securely in a sack and guarding it as one’s own. Although ‘I bag that’ is grammatically better, the expression is always ‘I bags that’. The term is often used in New Zealand especially by children — but is now rare in Britain.

bald as a badger Completely bald. There are no badgers in New Zealand, and badgers are never bald. The phrase is British in origin, where it was once widely thought that soft bristles for shaving brushes and artists’ brushes were plucked from around a badger’s bum, leaving that area quite bald. Hence the expression ‘bald as a badger’s bum’. In truth, brushes were not made out of hairs from that source, so another expression arose, ‘bald as a coot’, referring to a bird whose white-fronted head gives an impression of baldness. But the badger reference remains in use, abbreviated (leaving out the bum).

bang A brief way of intensifying a statement, e.g. He built the shed bang in the middle of the lawn. Or: The boss sacked the whole bang lot of them.

banger See sausages

barbecue Cooking food (especially meat) over direct fire, usually outdoors. The word has been in use with more or less its current meaning since the 1700s and there are two theories about its origin. One says that because an entire animal was often cooked over a fire, barbecue arises from the French phrase barbe à queue — from head to tail. Others believe that barbecue derives from the West Indian berbekot, describing the framework of strong green branches on which Haitian natives roasted or smoked meat. Spanish travellers and explorers borrowed this word, pronouncing it as barbacoa. Taken to North America, barbacoa became the word for the grid on which a whole ox was roasted, and gradually became barbecue. The word now refers not just to the structure on which the meat is cooked but also to the food and the social occasion of gathering to eat outdoors. New Zealanders often talk about a ‘barbie’ and advertisers often take the abbreviation further, to BBQ — perhaps why the word is widely misspelt as barbeque.

Barber The bitterly cold wind which sometimes blows around Greymouth on the West Coast of the South Island and is said to be sharp enough to shave a man.

barista ‘Barista’ is an Italian word meaning anyone who works in a bar making coffee. The word refers to all such employees and carries no indication of advanced skill or competence; it just refers to the role. In New Zealand for some unknown reason (perhaps because the word has the mystique of being foreign) ‘barista’ has been elevated into carrying some element of specially trained superior skill.

barney A fight or argument. It is derived from an ancient British and Irish dialect word meaning a lively journey, a lark. During the 1800s, the meaning shifted towards displaying anger and by the 1930s barney in New Zealand meant a fight, and more recently has also meant an argument, especially a noisy one. (Speculation that barney was Cockney rhyming slang, derived from Barney Rubble — trouble, or Barney Fife — strife, has no validity, since the word existed long before those two television characters appeared in 1960.)

(See stoush)

barrack To make noisy and public comment, often concerning the progress of a sports match or meeting. The term works two ways: it can describe either support for the situation or jeering condemnation, and both can sometimes occur simultaneously. The word has little to do with military quarters — those barracks are derived from a Spanish word meaning ‘tent’. But the new use of the word appears to have arisen in Irish dialect, referring to loud boasting and bragging. When meaning loud approval or loud criticism, it has been in use in New Zealand since 1900.

bash A spree, an active social occasion, often involving liberal use of alcohol and pursuing the pleasures of company and noise. The term is derived from the old Scottish expression ‘on the bash’, meaning a drinking marathon. When the neighbours won a bunch of cash in Lotto, you could hear the bash three blocks away.

bathroom A room with a bath, maybe a shower, and a washbasin. The word came into use when New Zealand lavatories were outside the main part of the house, and possibly had little or nothing to do with water. When the lavatory became an inside part of the house, it tended to be placed in a little room on its own, separate from the bathroom, and called the toilet, the lavatory or sometimes the loo. Later, the lavatory and the bath were often put in the same room. Americans have always been resistant to the words lavatory and toilet. The American custom of saying ‘bathroom’ to cover the words they didn’t want to say has caused occasional confusion in New Zealand. An international conference in Auckland arranged billets for visitors from overseas. An American woman, arriving from the airport at an Auckland house, after being greeted by the hostess, asked rather urgently, ‘Can I use your bathroom?’ She was directed by her New Zealand hostess: ‘Second door on the right down that passage.’ After a few moments the American woman reappeared — in a state of some tension — and said: ‘There’s no bathroom in your bathroom…’ It would appear that Americans have a 100 per cent resistance to saying toilet or lavatory. The same resistance now applies in some airlines, whose announcements decree that the ‘bathroom’ (a 1-square-metre toilet) must not be used during take-off and landing.

beaut/beautyabbrev. of beauty or beautiful. Expression of approval, indicating excellence, rather than traditional good looks. It can be used to describe an idea, a person who provides something necessary, or anything else that makes a good impression. Often preceded by ‘little’ which, in an eccentric contradiction, intensifies the beaut into ‘big’.

because it was there In 1924 a famous early mountaineer, Sir George Leigh Mallory, was asked why he climbed Mt Everest, and he replied: ‘Because it was there.’ In 1953 after Sir Edmund Hillary had climbed the highest peak, he was asked the same question — and gave Sir George’s answer. Surrounded by mountaineers, Hillary knew they would all recognise that he was deliberately using Sir George’s earlier reply. But the reporter did not and Hillary was credited with the line, until he later made it clear that he was quoting Sir George Mallory.

Beehive The now-official name for New Zealand’s Government Office Building in Wellington. Sir Basil Spence’s original design for the building was somewhat jokingly compared to the shape of a beehive and the name stuck.

bench The flat working area in a kitchen or DIY area. In other places this is known as a ‘counter’, but New Zealanders use that word only for the flat area in a shop where customers are served by staff.

berm The formal and official word (as used by city councils) for the strip of grass between the footpath and the road (or the boundary and the road, if there is no footpath). Berm is related to brim: both words come from an ancient Scandinavian word meaning ‘edge’. Berm, originally used to describe part of a castle, seems to have survived only in New Zealand, although many Kiwis say ‘grass verge’ instead.

bickies (1) A childish abbreviation for biscuits. (2) An informal term for money, usually large amounts. Sometimes heard in the negative — not having any bickies, i.e. having no money — but more usually as big bickies, of something like a major lottery win. The opposite — small bickies — is also possible, though less common. Other variants like stiff bickies and tough bickies mean bad luck or tough circumstances.

biddy-bid A creeping plant native to New Zealand, with burrs and many-seeded fruits with small hooked spines. The word is a corruption of the Māori name piripiri. Biddy-bids are a serious nuisance to farmers, since prickly burrs caught in sheep’s wool reduce the value of a fleece. Biddy-bids are also a nuisance when caught in clothing or the fur of domestic pets.

biff,sometimesbish To hit, or to throw. This is derived from an English word signifying an interruption or interjection.

big gun A person of notable skill or in a position of importance and authority. The term is often applied to an expert shearer but is also applicable to those carrying out activities where physical effort and dexterity are required and visible. It can (rarely) apply to more contemplative skills if the person being described is particularly successful and important.

The expression originated in the 1800s, when an impressive firearm — a great or big gun — was associated with the image of an important person. The related term ‘big shot’ arose much later, during the 1920s, when the imagery of urban gang warfare became widespread. In some contexts, the word ‘big’ has eroded, and just ‘gun’ is sufficient, whereas big has been retained in ‘big shot’ and in associated terms with the same meaning: big wheel, big cheese, big kahuna, big enchilada.

‘In the gun’ is slightly different. A descendant of the informal British term originally describing someone drunk, it now means being in trouble of any kind.

big-noter A person who consistently draws attention to their own success, wealth, high-ranking contacts and superior ideas. Since she got that top job in television, Amy has become a namedropper and a big-noter.

biker Devotee of either cycling or motorbiking.

bikie Motorbike devotee who probably belongs to a gang.

bill Document displaying the cost incurred. In a restaurant, the ‘bill’ is the written-down price of a meal. Americans often use the word ‘check’ in this context, which can cause confusion in New Zealand since it sounds like cheque.

(See docket)

bill of lading Document specifically describing goods being transported. The word ‘lading’ is derived from the ancient German word hladan, meaning a load or cargo.

billy A cylindrical metal utensil, usually with a lid, used for carrying food or liquid, and sometimes for outdoor cooking. The billy was sometimes the tin which once held a kind of meat called bouilli, which became ‘bully beef ’. New Zealand households once used billies to collect milk, gather fruit and boil water for making tea outside. As musterers, tampers and hikers know, basic bread, cakes and stew can also be made in a billy. Boiling the billy is an informal way of saying making tea, and ‘keeping the billy boiling’ is a way of saying that you are making sure every familiar activity keeps going.

birdcage Customarily used to describe the parade ring in which horses appear before a race. The term has been used here since the 1800s. It was formerly the name of the Saddling Paddock in Britain’s famous Newmarket racing venue. It no longer applies there to the saddling area, but Newmarket retains the name on the road that leads there: Birdcage Walk. The same word was used to name the observation carriage on early New Zealand trains (long after the racecourses were using it).

bitserabbrev. of bits of this and bits of that. The word is very often used as a jocular description of a dog whose ancestry is unknown but clearly colourful.

bivvyabbrev. of bivouac — a (temporary) position in which to settle. The term arose originally from the Swiss word bi-wacht, meaning extra watch — a citizen patrol in city areas. The term was adopted by the military for an all-night watch and came to mean a night encampment, usually without tents. The shortened version is used by New Zealand bush-walkers, trampers and mountaineers to signify a short-term resting place — either just the position itself, or the tent or hut built there.

Black Caps New Zealand’s national representative men’s cricket team.

Black Ferns New Zealand’s national representative team of women rugby union players. Teams of rugby-playing women first came under the jurisdiction of the New Zealand Rugby Union in 1989. The national side was originally known informally as the ‘Gal Blacks’, until the formal name Black Ferns was acquired from a previous owner who held the copyright, and it was registered in 2000. The first Women’s Rugby World Cup was an unofficial event in 1991, but subsequent events have been organised by the International Rugby Board. New Zealand has won the title five times to 2017.

Black Sox New Zealand’s representative men’s softball team.

Black Sticks New Zealand’s representative men’s and women’s hockey teams.

Bledisloe Cup Within the usual custom of British aristocrats, whose titles are familiar but not their actual names, Charles Bathurst was known as Lord Bledisloe. His title came from an area in Britain known as Bledisloe, which in earlier centuries had been the site of a Roman temple and even earlier had been an Iron Age hill-fort. Lord Bledisloe was appointed Governor-General of New Zealand in 1902. His personality and public utterances during a time of considerable social difficulty within the country were thoughtful and sympathetic. He even had his salary reduced by 30 per cent to match the cuts in public servants’ salaries — and used his own income to fill any gaps. As Governor-General he bought the Treaty House and grounds at Waitangi as a gift to the nation and donated the Bledisloe Cup — the trophy for rugby union hotly competed for between New Zealand and Australia since the 1930s.

block A person’s head, based on its shape and solidity compared with a similarly sized lump of wood. The image arises from the British use of ‘block’ since the 1600s, as informal reference to the head — along with bun, loaf and nut. All of these are understood in New Zealand, but by the start of the 1900s, block was being preferred.

(See do your block, knock someone’s block off, use your block)

bloke An ordinary man. The word comes from the Shelta language, spoken by itinerant tinkers travelling through Britain in the 1700s and 1800s. Little used in Britain, the word became popular in egalitarian Australia and New Zealand. Its feminine form, blokess, is believed to have been invented by witty New Zealand writer Jim Hopkins and was widely popularised by the late comedian Billy T. James.

blow (1) A stroke of the handpiece into a sheep’s wool, when being shorn. (2) abbrev. of fly-blown, indicating that food or a stock animal has suffered significant deposits of blowfly eggs. Other senses retain a connection to the literal meaning of blow — the forceful motion of a fast passage of air, e.g. in such combinations as blow off — to boast and brag; blow up — to show extreme annoyance, anger as destructive as a bursting volcano; blow out — either a burst tyre, or a bout of reckless activity (spending money, for instance, or eating); blow me down — expression of complete surprise, as if the information could push someone to the ground.

blow thatabbrev. of ‘blow that for a joke’, indicating vehement disagreement, disgust, exasperation or dismissal. It is sometimes considered a milder substitute for ‘damn that’, as damn is still considered a curse in some countries and very offensive. Blow that for a joke — I’m not taking the risk.

bludge Passively managing to benefit from other people’s efforts rather than one’s own, getting others to do or provide essential things. To bludge is to impose on, to shirk responsibility or hard work, or to borrow excessively, to sponge. The word’s ancestor is bludgeon, a heavy stick, wielded by a person called a bludgeoner. The word bludgeon is still occasionally sometimes used as a verb, describing an attack on someone with a blunt object. Gradually, bludgeoner became shortened to bludger, and the meaning softened. The word has been in use since about 1900. My brother never pays for a holiday — he contacts relatives in distant places, invites himself and bludges off them for several weeks.

(See cadge, dole)

blue/bluey (1) A mistake, believed to have arisen as an abbreviation of ‘bloomer’ (originally used to describe a mistake which became obvious, easy to see — like a flower in bloom). (2) Disagreement or a fight. Since trouble and argument can lead to fisticuffs and a resulting appearance in court, in Australia such a brawl became referred to by the colour of the court summons, which came on blue paper. The term later transferred to New Zealand.

bluff (1) To pretend, in order to confuse someone. This meaning originates from the Dutch bluffen — to boast (especially about one’s hand when playing poker). (2) To become lost or frustrated, as in the case of sheep musterers who accidentally drive their flock to a steep cliff beyond which they cannot proceed and must turn back.

bobby calves A calf which is older than four but younger than seven days and has been fed solely on whole milk. Its navel must be dry, and it must be able to stand on its own. The term was officially and strictly defined in New Zealand in 1982, and bobby calves can only be sold as such for slaughter (or for rennet, which comes from their stomach) when they meet these criteria. The word ‘calf ’ is generally used of a young cow or bull up to 12 months old. The ‘bobby’ part comes from a Cornish dialect word for a very young calf.

bobsy die A commotion, an upheaval, a confusion. The origin is an ancient English expression ‘Bob’s-a-dying’. By 1800 the meaning of commotion and grief surrounding death had changed and the term was used by naval men to describe a joyous, often drunken commotion. The original phrase has had several changes — Bobs-a-dial, Bobs-a-dilo — before emerging as bobsy die (or bobsidie), usually preceded by ‘kicking up’. When Marion heard that Frank was going to arrive an hour late for the wedding, she kicked up bobsy die.

bog Slang for lavatory.

bogan A contemptuous description applied to someone perceived as socially uncouth with misguided fashion sense. A bogan can be looked down on because of their manners, education, attitude or clothes. Although similar to the word vogon – the despised people in the 1979 novel Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy — there is no connection.

The word originates in Australia and its wider public use began in 1988. It’s the name of a river: the Bogan River in New South Wales. This last one is thought to be a possible source, but not definite, because city people were inclined to refer to the area unkindly as a source of very strange, uncivilised country folk (in somewhat the same way as Aucklanders used to refer to the settlement of Pūhoi, hence ‘up the booai’).

Whatever the origin, the word grew to become a pejorative simply for people who didn’t please you, like nerd, dork and geek. The big boost for the word came in 1988 when an Australian television character called Kylie Mole performed weekly monologues which were very widely watched. Kylie described anyone she didn’t like or didn’t approve of as a bogan. Even something as minor as their choice of socks could earn her stern criticism. So if you call someone a bogan, you’re indicating the person is to be looked down upon and you probably don’t like their choice of clothes. Nothing more precise than that. They’re just a bogan.

(See up the booai)

boil-up (1) Preparing hot water and making tea. The term usually applies to outdoor preparation, using a billy and a fire. (2) A popular meal among Māori, consisting of meat and vegetables cooked together in stock. The ingredients are basically similar to those of a traditional stew but often also include green leafy vegetables such as pūhā and, since the mixture is rarely thickened, the consistency is closer to heavy soup.

(See pūhā)

Bombay Hills A range of hills that forms a convenient geographic southern boundary to what is perceived as Greater Auckland. Fifty kilometres south of Auckland city, the area was named after the immigrant ship Bombay