New Zealand, Australia, Britain and the US separated by a common language

As George Bernard Shaw once said (although there is some controversy of origin and many think it is misattributed to him) "England and America are two countries divided by a common language."   I think that phrase could be applied to almost any English speaking country to include New Zealand and Australia.

Just a small post this evening to talk about language differences.  K and I have been enjoying the vernacular, slang, and idioms in both New Zealand and Australia.  Some we had read about, and others we have learned along the way.  Here are some examples that we have heard first hand:

New Zealand:

jandals - flip flops
dairy- convenience store
boot (also used in Australia) - car trunk
brekkie  (also used a lot in Australia) - breakfast
bum (also used in Australia) - butt
mum (also used in Australia) - mom
chips (also used in Australia) - French fries
chemist (also used in Australia) - drug store
crisps (also used in Australia) - potato chips
entrée (also used in Australia) - appetizer
main (also used in Australia) - entrée
good on ya' - good for you, well done
gumboots - rubber boots
pokie  (also used in Australia) - slot machine
jersey or jumper (also used in Australia) - sweater or sweatshirt, jersey also refers to uniform when talking about a sport player or uniformed worker.
lemonade - 7Up
nappy (also used in Australia) - diaper
petrol (also used in Australia) - gasoline
munted - screwed up, messed up.  When referring to a person - drunk ("The Christchurch sewer system is all munted.")
punter - gambler, someone that plays a game.  "Some silly punter won the lottery last night."
take away  (also used in Australia) - take out food
loo - toilet
rubbish (also used in Australia) - trash
bloody (also used in Australia) - very (bloody awful, bloody good, bloody well).
cut lunch (also used in Australia) - sandwich
doco  (also used in Australia) - documentary
lollies  (also used in Australia) - candy/sweets

Australia:

thongs - flip flops
that's all right - you are welcome
G'day - most widely heard Aussie-ism heard in the US that identifies an Aussie
mate - multipurpose...sir, "hey mister", a person, a friend, "get out of the way mate"
cheers - multipurpose (hello, bye) but a little surprised to hear it used as a "you are welcome" phrase
prezzie - presents or gifts
cotton buds - q-tips
crikey - holy cow, wow, are-you-kidding-me
dunny - toilet
buggered - broken
rellies - relatives
smoko - smoke break
chook - chicken
bathers - bathing suit/swim trunks
tucker - food
footy - football
middy - small glass of beer or wine
mozzie - mosquito
snag - sausage

Australians (and to some extent Kiwis) like to abbreviate many words.  They use a lot of acronyms, but when that is not available, a shortened word gets used for almost everything.  Examples:  brekkie for breakfast, Chrissie for Christmas, Brizzie for Brisbane, etc.

In Australia, I think the phrase that threw K and I the most and one we did not see written up in any guide book is "How are you going?"  This is the equivalent of "How's it going?" or "How are you doing?" in the US.  The first time you hear it you think you have misheard.  We only hear it in Australia - not in New Zealand.  Based on what I have found on the internet, it is uniquely Australian, but it is more common than the widely attributed Aussie phrases of G'Day Mate or Crikey!

Well - that's my post for this evening.  Good on 'ya, off you go.