New Zealand English/Talk

However, this American is going to remain unconvinced until you lazy .au and .nz sods get off your duffs and document them here.

OK, smartarse (or smartass, if you can't cope with alternate spellings), I've made a start . . . Seriously, though, it's not that hard to pick. It's as least as distinctive as, say, Californian and New York accents. --Robert Merkel

I think people have done a good job on this page. I would add some borrowed Maori words myself but it is a bit of challenge for a Brit to turn a list of borrowed words from a page like this into something that does not invalidate the author's copyright. -- Artistole

I've added a description of the pronunciation of "dance". Someone should check whether my description matches the samples I've uploaded to "Pronunciation" at http://briefcase.yahoo.com/careyevans/. --Carey Evans

There's lots more material here now. Still to add is some mention of non-Maori New Zealand words, like bach and crib, though this is more difficult for me since I don't have the perspective to know which are actually unique to NZ. If someone adds the words, I'll define them. --Carey Evans

'Port' is only used for schoolbag in some Australian states (e.g. I think Queensland.) In NSW and Victoria (Hey! -and Tassie!!! - MB) people say schoolbag, same as Kiwis do. -- SJK