While in New Zealand, I was invited to coffee at the local Starbucks. As I was paying for a gift mug for my wife, the young guy behind the counter comments to me after the transaction is finished - 'sweet as'. Now, the written word doesn't quite capture the Kiwi accent here, for the phrase 'sweet as' sounded like 'sweet a$$' to me! I almost grabbed the guy by the collar and asked - 'what did you say?!?!'. At the very least, I wanted to 'invite' him outside for a more private 'talk'!
Well, it turns out that the Kiwis say 'sweet as' like we would say 'sweeeet' or 'right on' - kinda like a positive affirmation or comment in the local vernacular. In other words, it's a Kiwi (maybe Ozzie too) idiom. And I think it probably stems from a phrase like 'sweet as sugar/honey, etc. Or maybe not. Who knows - all I know is that some kid at Starbucks in NZ almost got his clock cleaned. ;-)
Sunday, 13 September 2009
Sweeeeet...
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5 comments:
lol that was good. it's so fun how one language can differ so much! living in England makes me laugh out loud sometimes too...
hey luca,
good to hear from you. yeah, i had some fun there in nz. very interesting. so hong you been in england? i thought you were just on vacation. but i realized now that you have been there for a while!
Hi David,
So funny, no this is purely a kiwi thing...aussies just say 'ta' (for thank you) One of our american friends once thought the sales person was saying 'duh' so that was a potentially upsetting interpretation too. So excited you guys are coming closer!!! yeahhh!!!!!!xxoo
kim corey and kinya
hey kim, yeah, we're excited too. still testing - god can close the doors, but we're taking this as an open door at the moment. we'll have to hook up once we're down under! say hi to corey and kinya for us
Don't worry Pastor David, you'll master these idioms in no time... and so will your kids!
Gisela from Calvary Chapel WLG
(I'm the German lady you met on your visit there)
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