OK. So i realize that English is different everywhere you go and there are different words for things and sometimes certain words are more or less common. this is a fact I knew and was prepared for. This does not make me more comfortable with the C-word.
The C-word? yes, the C-word. I will not write it out. I refuse to. I do not like this word. And I have a pretty un-ladylike mouth. My mother will be the first to tell you that. She will also be the first to tell you that I did not get it from her. But that is besides the point. The C- word absolutely disgusts me. it is vile. And Kiwis absolutely love it.
I cannot tell you how often I hear it and I shudder every time. This reaction has resulted not only in it being used more and more often, specifically by my flatmate Rowan and my boss, Jeremy, but also, they are both determined to get me to say it before I leave. As Rowan was explaining to me, there are good C's and bad C's. And being a bad C, as in, "you tell Rowan that he is a dime-store C-word", is bad. But you want to be a good C, as in "there are some good C-words up at Highfield, eh?". I've been told that it's the equivalent of the word 'dick' in the states. maybe so, i will still not say it. The good news though is that it has inspired a blog about the wonderful new words and pronunciations I am learning. Because why call a tank top a tank top when you can call it a singlet?
cilantro: referred to as coriander here. Much to my dismay, this is actually the proper term for this wonderful herb. Which brings me to my next word...
herb: pronounced her-bb. like the name. no silent h. weird.
as a side note, this also makes me this of Jody's mom's friend Herb, who has an awesome, sweet silver camper van that was parked outside of our house during college graduation.
fillet: pronounced fill-it. not fill-eh. I have looked this one up and am at a loss. it's very weird to hear people say things about a "fill-it" of fish. it just does not sound as appetizing.
oregano: by far the most irritating and I don't know why. we say: or-AYY-ga-no. they say: or-ay-GAAA-no. WTF.
punch downs: I'm sorry, this is a wine term, but it needed to be included. we say punch down, because you punch INTO a take with the punch down tool. they PLUNGE a tank. So every morning I go find my plunger and do my plunges. Which makes me feel like a plumber. As opposed to a boxer, or some kind of other ferocious athlete, which i way cooler.
ah, the
cooler: which kiwis call a chilly bin. haha, a chilly bin.
truck: Here, we call this a "ute". As in, "Brian put a dent in my ute when he jack-knifed the trailer". cute, eh?
french press: this drives me bananas and would probably bother me even more if they used french presses more often and therefore I was subjected to this term more often. But thank god there is espresso and they have not renamed it and it's actually very good. Plunger Coffee. This is what a french press is. I WISH i were kidding. Again with the f-ing plunger. ya, that's what they call the french press. a plunger. there are french people rolling in their graves every time I write that word. plunger, plunger, plunger.
flat white: so this is actually a new word/thing that I have learned and it's quite neat to learn new coffee things I think. A flat white is a bit like a latte, but not. it's typically a double shot, with milk poured from the bottom of the steaming pitcher into a much smaller cup, typically 5 oz. so kind of between a latte and a cappuccino because it has just a bit of foam. they're quite good and the perfect amount of milk in my opinion. although I am a sucker for the foamy stuff. Ann, this one was for you.
So needless to say, i am learning many things. I've already found myself throwing words like "reckon" into my sentences and saying "how you going" instead of "how are you". I hear it's a slippery slope. Who knows, with enough practice maybe i will come back with a cool accent instead of what has been called, "my silly American accent." Which, when mimicked, sounds North Dakotan. Do I sound like a North Dakotan?
oh, and here is an awesome picture I took of kiwi phrases that is framed on the wall of the Cork and Keg. Enjoy!
