The Godzone Dictionary

Godzone gets its own dictionary
10.00am Tuesday June 13, 2006

The distinctive phrases and language New Zealanders take for granted will be published in a new dictionary next month.

The Godzone New Zealand dictionary will be published full of the slang words and expressions which puzzle visitors.

Author Max Cryer says it highlights the strong idiosyncrasies of local speech and features slang words and expressions.

He said New Zealanders are particularly bad at retaining baby-talk, with words like drinkies (alcoholic drinks), ta-ta (bye-bye), barbie (barbecue), rellies (relatives) and Chrissy (Christmas).

The dictionary will be comprised of words where the usage is generally confined to New Zealand, such as 'Rotovegas' (Rotorua) and 'the Naki' (Taranaki).

- NEWSTALK ZB

'Rotovegas' made me smile. We refer to the largest city in New Hampshire, Manchester, as "Manch-vegas." Until about 10-15 years ago it was very out of step with the rest of the state's rural, small-town character. Sadly, there are now many towns with the generic 'strips' that gave Manchester its moniker.

TTFN ... or 'ta ta' for now! :)

The Oxford New Zealand Dictionary came out in 2004. I had to stop myself from buying it, because we were only on holiday. But I love words, and dictionaries are full of them.