Kiwi Quiz 2018

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.

 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.

(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