Still learning new words, aye?

Well, after 10ish months in NZ, you might be starting to think that I've learned most of the Kiwi lingo. But no. They keep throwing new things at me. Or, perhaps to be more honest, I keep picking up on things that I might have subconsciously tuned out at first. For example, "aye." I believe I actually wrote "hey" as the Kiwi version of the Canadian "eh." But, thanks to friends who enjoy texting enough to insert unnecessary words like "aye" or "eh" into their messages, I have learned that they are saying "aye." As in "aye or nay," which I firmly believed died out a hundred million years ago with the dinosaurs. In reality, however, the "nay" is extinct, but the "aye" is thriving in this part of the world. Now we know.

Anyway, I thought it was about time for an update on Kiwi-isms, so here goes:

~ Heaps (Lots) - Eg. "We have heaps of glue sticks, so don't worry about using them up."

~ Reckon (Figure/Think) - Eg.1 "I reckon it will turn into a fine (sunny) day." Eg.2 "I reckon so."

~ Stroppy (Grumpy/Irritable) - Eg. "I wanted to take him to the park, but he was a bit stroppy, so I reckoned it wasn't worth it."

~ Hard Case (Funny in an un-PC kind of way) - Eg. "He's our hard-case teacher, so be prepared."

~ Sussed (Figured Out/Accomplished) - Eg. "I think some of your paperwork might be missing, but don't worry, we'll get it sussed." (Note: This is one of my favourites. Not sure why, but I love it.)

~ Choice (Excellent/The Best) - Eg.1 "Seeing as I'm a really choice guy, I'm going to make you a deal."  Eg.2 "It wasn't a great party, but the food was choice!" (Note: This is slang, and not used that much by people I'm around."

~ Pop (Used for all sorts of movement-related words) - Eg.1 "Just pop over to the dairy and buy some." Eg.2 "Pop it in the oven for half an hour."

~ Hop (Get - Used for getting on and off things) - Eg.1 "Hop off the bike and we'll get you a helmet." Eg.2 "Hop up next to her and we'll take a picture."

~ Bits and Pieces - I really think this means the same thing as in the States, but it applied much more liberally here. I feel like I hear it all the time. Eg.1 "I'm not ready to leave yet, I have a lot of bits and pieces to finish." Eg.2 "Yeah, I know my car is dirty. I just fills up with bits and pieces."

~ Known, Grown, Shown - These are (obviously) not new words, but they are pronounced very differently than I am used to. Basically, they pronounce the "w" here. So it sounds like "no-when," "gro-when," "sho-when." Unfortunately, my gut reaction to this pronunciation is something like when people say "libary," which is to subconsciously downgrade my opinion of their education. Which I know is wrong, because they are just speaking the way they have heard the people around them speak. And in this case, actually, they are pronouncing a "w" that is in the word (rather than leaving out the "r" in "library"). So I am working hard to modify my reaction to this pronunciation, and making excellent headway.

I'm sure I will keep noticing more lovely colloquialisms, but those are the ones I have for now.