Max Cryer - Hear Our Voices, We Entreat: The Extraordinary Story of New Zealands National Anthems

For several hundred years, only the Maori language was spoken in New Zealand. During the 19th century, a strong link with Britain was forged, which remains to this day, influencing many organisations, administrative systems, social structures and language. Various languages, in fact, since Britain engendered many versions of English, and all of them found their way here. Later came interchange with Australia, and then powerful influences from the United States, by way of television and movies.

But by a process of selection capricious rather than Darwinian New Zealand retains those words it regards as fitting, and rejects those it does not, so that a distinctive national language style has emerged.

The selection process does not involve only words and expressions from the English language. When contact between New Zealand and the rest of the world began in the late 1700s, it was clear from the start that some aspects of life in this country could be expressed only in Maori words. And the number of these in general use continues to grow. Since the publication of my 2002 collection, Curious Kiwi Words, the number of Maori words now considered an everyday part of New Zealands vocabulary has doubled: many are included here.

Strong local speech idiosyncrasies have also developed. One is the interrogative rise in pitch at the end of any narrative statement, be it only a single word. Strangely prevalent also is the New Zealand liking for hypocorism retaining baby-talk into adulthood. When an adult television weather reporter tells his viewers that the day has seen fine beach weather and we have pickies to show you, nobody even blinks. It is the same with drinkies, ta-ta, barbie, rellies, Chrissy, drinkies and a dozen others.

In New Zealand, too, metathesis means many words have their component elements reversed so etc. becomes eck-setera, a dais becomes a dias, anemones are reborn as anenomes, vulnerable is vunlerable, and so on. One television host had to be told that artists were giving a performance, not a preformance.

This collection comprises words and terms whose usage is in general confined within New Zealand. Some were created here; others may have originated, and been forgotten, elsewhere, but they remain in currency here.

A dialect can be defined as a form of speech particular to a district, a variety of language with a non-standard vocabulary 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.

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.

aeMaori 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. The name apparently refers to the dark colour.

afternoon tea A mid-afternoon break, either from work duties or as a purely social occasion, usually including snacks of varying levels of elegance, and some kind of non-alcoholic drink.

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 couldnt 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 Arse into gear, either describing ones own burst of activity, or sometimes an instruction to someone else, to get started and become active. Hell never finish painting the house by Easter unless he gets his a into g very soon.

ake, akeMaori Signifies eternity, for ever. Maori language intensifies or enlarges a description by doubling the word, so ake, ake is forever and ever, as in the Maori Battalion Marching Song: Ake, ake, kia kaha e! Forever and ever, be strong!

All Blacks New Zealands official representative rugby team. They wore blue at their first outing in 1884, but changed to black in 1893. There has been no clear evidence confirming why they became known as All Blacks, apart from the simple fact that their uniforms were that colour. The first known printing of the name 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. A belief that the name came from a British provincial newspapers typographical error blacks rather than backs has never been proven.

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 New Zealand mens international soccer team (Association Football).

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.