Have you ever wondered where an especially Kiwi word or phrase came from, or how it became a part of everyday conversation?
Well-known writer and broadcaster Max Cryer discussed some of New Zealand's most common lingual gaffes, turned accepted slang, on TVNZ1's Breakfast today while promoting his new book, The Godzone Dictionary: Of New Zealand Words and Phrases.
He called out some of Kiwis’ favourite words - including footy, prezzie, barbie and drinkies - as "baby talk", otherwise known as hypocorism.
"New Zealanders are quite big on baby talk and they talk like footy … and prezzies at Christmas time, the rellies come to visit, don't they? And quite often, in the good weather, you have a barbie … baby talk by adults," Mr Cryer said.
The wordsmith developed his love for words while producing TVNZ's Mastermind.
"We dealt with words all day, every day for nine years, 70 episodes, and so you became immersed in 'what do words actually mean?' and 'how can you put them in a condensed form so that a man can answer as many questions as possible in a short time?' It grew from there."
He said we "use [words] in an odd way in New Zealand", explaining that we "say things back-to-front in the middle".
"You would hardly hear anyone say 'et cetera'. They’ll say 'ec cetera', which is called metaphysis because you've changed the middle of the word – not the beginning and the end, but the middle of the word – and you'll hear children, before they learn, will say 'aks'. 'I aksed him where to go', which is, again, metaphysis – it's the changing around of the middle."
Breakfast presenter Hayley Holt revealed she also has a habit of saying 'ec cetera', to which Mr Cryer responded, "I wouldn't say it's terrible – it's a New Zealand characteristic."
He also revealed one word he dislikes is "when a word changes its meaning in a non-diplomatic way", such as replacing the word "problem" with "issue".
"Currently, in New Zealand, the word 'problem' is disappearing and is being replaced by the word 'issue'. Now, they're two different entire things. 'Issue' simply means an outcome, 'problem' means that there is a difficulty, but you'll find that the Government, the city council do no longer have any problems, they have an 'issue' and I find that irritating."
The Godzone Dictionary: Of New Zealand Words and Phrases is now in stores.
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