True to
form, we again have a Kiwi Quiz for you this year.
Good luck and we hope you enjoy it – you may even learn something.
What was a TV announcer talking about
when he said “Dig the holes”?
He really
was saying “Deck the halls” and was talking about early sales of Christmas
decorations. We have gotten pretty good
at understanding Kiwi English, but some things still baffle us. And we still can't get over having Christmas in summer here.
Christmas ornaments and tinsel in a store |
What is the meaning of “tickety-boo”?
a) Your ticket is missing.
b) Ticket prices have
risen.
c) Fine
The answer is fine, or in good order, as in “everything is
tickety-boo.”
What is a tiki tour?
a) A tour of the Kon Tiki raft at a museum outside of Oslo
b) Taking the scenic route
c) A tour with very little information
The answer is b) - a tiki tour is using a roundabout way to get somewhere. When someone in Cindy's tramping group was bringing us home one day and ended up getting temporarily lost, she said "I'm giving you the tiki tour."
What is a chippy?
a) Small mammal
b) Carpenter
c) Small
bag of potato chips
d) Chocolate chip cookie
A chippy is a builder or carpenter. Though recently we saw an ad for chippie cookies.
A chippy is a builder or carpenter. Though recently we saw an ad for chippie cookies.
Which words are used when talking about the
weather?
a) brelly
b) fine
c) thickening
d) rug up
e) the
odd spot of rain
All five choices are used when talking about the weather. The weather woman said “Take your brelly”
when rain was forecast. Fine is any day
that isn’t raining, no matter how cold it is – we’ve often heard a day
described as fine and frosty when temps drop below freezing. Thickening is used to relate that cloud cover
will become more dense. A weatherman
advised it was “time to rug up” when he predicted a cold night. And the odd spot of rain is just that – maybe
a sprinkle here and there.
What are flatties?
Flatties is short for flatmates (your housemates).
What was advertised as
being so strong a child could stand on it?
We saw an ad for a laptop computer that mentioned this in the specifications – we don’t advise
testing this one out.
Scrummy, niggle and
left behinds are all used to describe things.
Do you know what they describe?
Scrummy means delicious, as
in scrummy pies (and remember that pies can be savoury.)
Niggle: we heard a sport announcer talk about a rugby
player having a hamstring niggle (a trivial discomfort)
Left behinds: “No
left behinds in here” is a sign on a refrigerator behind a grocery store
service desk. Our first reaction
was: “Are right behinds okay?”, but then
realized they were talking about leftovers.
What is a ute?
A tray-back utility vehicle, often a pickup truck with
an open flat-bed in back.
Do you know these two
symbols?
The first image is the New Zealand Post emblem. The second image is the symbol for Google mail (Gmail). We don’t know which came first.
What is a Lime?
A battery operated scooter you can rent by the minute using
your cell phone. Christchurch has 500 Limes
that were set up around the city as a trial.
And a related
question: What is a juicer?
A juicer is a person hired to pick up the Limes at night and
charge them. We haven't seen any juicers, but the Limes keep getting charged.
True or False: Maori and English
are the only two official languages of New Zealand.
False – there are 3 official
languages: Maori, English and New
Zealand Sign Language.
What is Skippy?
a) a type of peanut butter
b) an Australian TV show
c) a breakfast cereal
The answer is all
three. Skippy is a peanut butter (in the United States, not here); Skippy is a kids TV show in Australia featuring Skippy, the bush
kangaroo (think of a kangaroo Lassie); and Skippy is a breakfast cereal made in Christchurch
by the Sanitarium food company.
Does Cookie Monster
have a cousin in New Zealand?
Not
officially, but the Cookie Time Culture character, named Cookie Muncher, looks like
he could be related. Cookie Time
cookies have been made in Christchurch since 1983.
What is a billsticker?
a) a bird found only on the South Island of New Zealand
b) adhesive bandages used by veterinarians for mouth problems on ducks
c) someone who puts up advertisements on billboards and walls
The answer is c), someone who puts up advertisements on billboards and walls. In Christchurch, we see many poster frames on the streets with posters advertising everything from breakfast cereals to upcoming concerts. Phantom Billstickers says that they have 6500 poster frames in New Zealand just waiting for your ads.
a) a bird found only on the South Island of New Zealand
b) adhesive bandages used by veterinarians for mouth problems on ducks
c) someone who puts up advertisements on billboards and walls
The answer is c), someone who puts up advertisements on billboards and walls. In Christchurch, we see many poster frames on the streets with posters advertising everything from breakfast cereals to upcoming concerts. Phantom Billstickers says that they have 6500 poster frames in New Zealand just waiting for your ads.
![]() |
(photo from Phantom Billstickers website) |
When can a Kiwi hold a
kiwi?
When one of them
is made of chocolate.
What is the standard tip in a New Zealand restaurant?
a) 0-5% of
the bill
b) 8-10% of
the bill
c) 12-20% of
the bill
Trick question - the answer is that no one tips in any restaurant, as all workers are
paid a reasonable base wage. We really
like this.
Identify these poo (Cindy takes full responsibility for this question.)
If you guessed a) sea
lion poo; b) red-billed gull poo; c) penguin poo; and d) kiwi poo, you get extra
credit. The red billed gull poo is
colorful because they dine on krill.
And a bonus is viewing
some New Zealand animal tracks.
The first tracks are from a sea lion, and the second set of tracks are from a little blue penguin.
And that’s all for now.
You are done and dusted. Good on
ya if you got a few correct.
Cheers!
Cindy & Paul
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