Singular Scene

So Singular in Each Particular

Kiwi to English Dictionary

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Once upon a time there was a blogger called Morphess who curated this rather brilliant collection of Kiwi language idiosyncrasies. She quit blogging years ago, the blog languished in the vapour of the interweb and also in my archives as I was the technologist who looked after the site and kept it online for a while there.  She quit out of the blue, things went a bit tits up, I think, but her archives are still here (Caro, if you want them back, all you gotta do is email me)…

As a dedicated Kiwi myself I have decided that this list is far too good to be kept off the internet and as a consequence I’m posting it here.

Caroline, we miss your blogging, and if by some strange quirk you’re reading this and want me to take it down get in touch!!

Kiwinese.     English.

Sport.

Football     Rugby.

Soccer     Football.

Sport     Sacrosanct.

Half back     scrum half

First five-eighth     fly half

Sprigs     studs
Fat mans track     notional path up the centre of rugby pitch

Gumby    complete lack of coordination.

Miscellaneous.

Rumpus room    playroom

Wagging    missing school or work

Joker     bloke

Piker    someone who throws in the towel

Pit shop     Pet shop

Fairy     ferry

She’s a hard road    difficult

Judder bar    speed bump

Bach     holiday home, pronounced batch

Crib     holiday home in Southland and Otago

Sicktion     plot of land

Coaster     person from the West Coast of the South Island

Westie     person from West Auckland, associated with having a mullet.

A shocker    mildly disappointing

Woop woops    out in the sticks

Waikikamookau     fictional town way, way out in the Wop Wops.

Toyota     bugger. Long story to do with television advert.

Airgun?     How are you going? Greeting

Cocky    Farmer

Cow cocky     Dairy Farmer

Manchester     Linen.

Box of birds    O.K.

Box of fluffies    O.K.

Choice     O.K.

Sweet as    O.K.

Good as gold     O.K.

Stink     not O.K.

Onya     good for you!

Bro’     I’ve forgotten your name

Pun     Pin

Pin     Pen

Dairy     Corner Shop

Metal     Gravel
Yeah, yeah     Possibly

Paddock     Field

Dam     Pond

Number Eight Wire     Used for everything
Awesome     Average

Beer     bear (teddy)

O.E.     Get drunk in London pub with your Kiwi mates.

Glad wrap     cling film

Joker     man, not necessarily a funny one

Queer cattle     strange folk

JAFA     Just Another F*%&ing Aucklander.

Bush    Forest
Tramp    Walk
Rattle Ya Dags    Hurry Up

Hard Yakka    Hard Work

Turn To Custard     Go pear shaped

Grouse!     very cool indeed

Great Big Dick     Large Verandah

Sook     cry baby

She’ll be right.     I’ve just cut off my arm with a chain saw.

Apparel.

Togs     bathers

Skivvy     roll neck shirt

Swanndri     big coat/dress like thing. Much favoured for hunting and killing things in.
Gumboots     Wellies

Jandals     Flip Flops

Pants     Trousers

Food & Drink.

Trum mook    low fat milk

Hokey Pokey Ice cream    disgusting/delicious (depending on your tastes) vanilla ice cream with bits of Crunchie.

Bring a plate    ….with some food on it.

Chilly Bin     Cooler

Smoko     Tea break. And it’s illegal to smoke.

Supper     Late night snack

Lollies     Sweets
Chips     Crisps

Hot Chips     Chips

Pattie     Burger

Our Mate     marmite

Rice Bubbles     Rice Crispies

Weetbix     WeetAbix

Smokers     tiny, pink aniseed-flavoured sweets.

Colonial goose     stuffed leg of mutton.

Lemmincktons    lamingtons (vile cake)

Flet White     Cup of Coffee

Ice block     frozen juice on stick.

Do You Want A Wine?     Alcoholic beverage, not an excuse to talk about your mother.

Things not to say at a dinner party.
I met a really nice Australian the other day.

So, the English won the rugby.

Paul Holmes seems like a nice bloke.

I live in Auckland.

Did you see the cricket?
I’m so glad Michael Barrymore lives here now.

What’s all this about the foreshore?

With thanks to Jessie, Mike, Lil, Martin, Llew, Martha, Clods, Deirdre, Jono, Antipo, Flying Kiwi, HotnSpicy Kiwi, Duh-Mension, Fi and Deeleea.

From Room to Room

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The whole business of quietly withdrawing from one congregation in favour of attending another is an introspective one.  To do such a thing invites speculation about why one might make such a choice, invites gossip and judgment as someone who (for all intents and purposes) has got lost along the way, so it’s impolitic for one’s own mental health to make a big deal about it.

Which isn’t to say it’s no big deal.

The last time I blogged about it I hadn’t actually made any kind of commitment to doing such a thing, I was a dual citizen of two churches.  In many ways I still am, I worship with one congregation on weekends but the majority of my close friendships are still back at the ‘mother ship’ and I’m still up there teaching and contributing.  So for many people who weren’t accustomed to seeing me on weekends anyway things may not have changed.

In the grand scheme of the situation the choice to make that leap came after one particularly astute (prophetic actually) friend asked me this question… in fact she phrased it as follows.

“Dee, all I can hear God asking you is, What do YOU want??”

It took me 4 days to come up with an answer… I mean, if in fact you believe God is asking you a question like this you take time to answer… what do I want?? Money? Fame? A Relationship??  While I was mulling the question over prayerfully I finally concluded the following and while I’m sure God could have been asking the question in any of the other contexts this was the answer I absolutely couldn’t get away from in the end.

What I want is this… to love going to church on a Sunday. 

The truth was I hadn’t done so for a very long time.

With that answer in mind it was really easy to make the choice to commit to my new faith community and having done so I’m really thrilled to be part of a church family for whom the people are more important than the community itself, for whom God is more important than anything and whose relationship with God is real, earthy, intellectual as WELL as spiritual.  It’s a place whose people are accepting, real, and who are in the best possible sense a body of Christ.  (Which before you leap to any kind of conclusion isn’t to say that the opposite is true of the former.)

I have no wish to speak ill of one place or the other, I have no wish to look back in anger or sadness, or to have expectations on this new place to be anything other than a collection of people doing their best to follow God and make an impact in the world around them…  God is bigger than both, both have their good and bad points, we’re human after all,  and all IN all I’m a small part of a very big picture.

And in the grand scheme of things, was it church that changed?

No. Not at all. 

It was me.

To be continued

It’s not Flesh and Blood…

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—It is not [only] flesh and blood but the heart which makes us fathers and sons [and aunties and nieces]*.  ~Johann Schiller

I am blessed. 

I live in a fantastic place, surrounded by ocean and sky and the hum of the city.  I have a life that some may call crazy and others a dream, and I love it.  I have a tidy brain and a messy home, a faith in a God who is as real to me as the cat here on my lap.  I have a family whom I love who are clever and funny, a little bit nuts but who all in all are utterly marvelous people who I am thrilled to call mine. 

However.  They live an ocean away.

THAT is the price I have paid for this life.

I have friends in Sydney and a network of people in a faith community commonly called ‘the church.’ This community extends far beyond any building and includes people all over who call my God theirs on whom I could call at any time.  So, while I may be isolate from my blood, I am no island. 

In fact, I am doubly blessed.  For I, have been adopted.

It is at this point where I could trip over into dangerously sappy territory so I’m going to use this picture to speak its 1000 very own words (click to embiggen).

Like I said, blessed.

I have two families.

*parentheses mine…

You’re Going Where?

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Canberra, the nation’s capital seems to have a bit of a bad rep as the bottom drawer of holiday destinations.  I understand this, I mean, it ain’t exactly the Gold Coast of beaches and bodies in the sub tropics.  But Canberra has its charms.  I mean it, it really does!!

My mate Coldie has come into possession of a new VW Golf. It is a sweeeeet ride, and she wanted to take it for a ‘run’ so we decided we’d go for a mini-break out of Sydney.  Canberra’s a choice because it’s far enough out of town to not feel like Sydney and close enough that you can do it for a day if you REALLY want to…  We opted for an overnighter and as we were sharing expenses we went out on a limb and booked a room here.

[image by superciliousness via flickr]


This art deco styled hotel is the premier hotel in Canberra, and didn’t we feel flash rocking up in the Golf (and me, ever the classy chick.  with my Gap backpack rather than the overnight case as it had been lent out and not returned… *bangs head*).

There are so many things to see and do in Canberra, and as I’m supposed to be working right now rather than blogging, here’s a brief precis of what we got up to.

The National Gallery
The National Portrait Gallery and the exhibition of Vanity Fair photos.  Loved it!
Dinner at the Hyatt, not brilliant, as restaurant/cafe was booked out and they only have one!! Bizarre.
Movies – Coco Avant Chanel.  Seems I’m getting quite a fill of French cinema lately, Coco, Hunting and Gathering, The Chorus are all recent watches and I loved them all!
Sleeping in the delicious beds. There are few pleasures I love more than clean sheets.  Bliss.
Having room service for breakfast. Cost a bomb but all part of the experience!!
The Film and Sound Archive
The National Museum of Australia

The National Museum is a day’s worth of a visit. I could have spent so much longer there than we did but by the end of the weekend were were feeling a fair bit of information overload.

But for all those people who roll their eyes when you say you’re going to Canberra, give them a slap from me… it may not be the ideal destination for a splashy, exotic holiday, however, it is a great place to visit and the fact that all these museums are provided by the people for the people (the only exhibit we paid to see was Vanity Fair) and as they’re all done so well it really is worth the trip.

Next time I really need to get in a visit to Parliament as I’ve been to Canberra many times and haven’t managed to get there… usually because I’m on a time budget and I want to give it full attention!

Of course it has its limitations… coffee was one, pajamas the other… As I have done when visiting Canberra before I left my sleep wear at home… So, had to do a mad late Sat PM trip to the shops to find some… and do you think we could find a thing at Myer or David Jones???  Seemed like it was mid season or something because even to find a cheap pair of flannelette pajamas for a comfortably upholstered individual was impossible.    I ended up with a delightful (and expensive) silk nightie because I couldn’t find anything else before the shops closed.  Turns out it was a big ‘sale day’ and all the good stuff had been put out the back so the retailers didn’t have to discount ‘everything in store’… How rude!!  Still, a silk nightie seemed appropriate for the Hyatt Canberra so I’m not complaining!!

In the next little while I’ll update my Nextstop Page with Canberra recommendations.

Have you got places you love to go that make other people raise their eyebrows??  Spill in the comments so we can all have a shot at trying them out!!