- All Blacks — national Rugby Union team.
- Black Singlet — worn by many farmers, shearers as well as representative athletes.
- Buzzy Bee — wooden child's toy.
- Chocolate fish — confection of marshmallow covered in chocolate, in the shape of a fish.
- Claytons — originally a non alcoholic spirit, advertised as The drink you have when you're not having a drink, that did not gain market acceptance; now refers to any form of inferior substitute. This term is primarily used among those generations old enough to remember the original drink.
- Edmonds 'Sure to Rise' Baking Powder, the distinctive Edmonds factory (demolished in the late 1980s), and the Edmonds Cookbook.
- Footrot Flats — popular cartoon strip by Murray Ball.
- Gumboots, calf length rubber boots (also known as the Wellington boot or wellie.)
- Hei-tiki — Māori neck pendant. Tourist variety in green plastic are the definitively tasteless depths of kiwiana.
- Jandals — beach footwear with a bit of sole but very little else. AKA flip-flops (USA), thongs (Australia).
- Kiwi — native bird; its stylised image or shape frequently appears on things associated with New Zealand.
- Kiwifruit — fruit from a vine originating in China but selectively bred by New Zealand horticulturalists to obtain egg-sized fruit with green or gold flesh. In New Zealand it was originally called "Chinese gooseberry".
- L&P — Lemon & Paeroa, a popular soft drink.
- Marmite - a dark and salty spread made from yeast extract, similar to Vegemite. New Zealand Marmite is distinct from British Marmite, in taste and recipe. Marmite is made in New Zealand, as opposed to Vegemite, which is made in Australia.(Much Debated, the packaging shows it as the other way around)
- Paua — the polished shell of the native paua (abalone) shellfish, turned into jewelery and souvenirs. Once considered kitsch, it is starting to regain its popularity.
- Pavlova — a light and fluffy meringue dessert named after the ballet dancer, Anna Pavlova
- Silver fern — native plant; its stylised image or shape is displayed by many of the national sports teams.
- Stubbies — a particular brand of walk shorts that were popular in the 70's. Always seemed to be a size too small for the wearer but were beloved by men from many walks of life.
- Tip-Top ice cream.
- Watties tomato sauce.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Well known Kiwiana items
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3 comments:
Oh, this is wonderful!
I'm always so interested to learn about "local jargon"... I have an uncle and two cousins in Australia, and we often roar with laughter over the phone when we have trouble understanding each other's terms!!
I have had a jar of my parents' Marmite (English/Canadian version... very salty, black, yeasty stuff that makes me queasy just thinking about it) in my fridge for AGES... and whenever they visit, they fish it out and spread it thickly on toast... GAAA!!
Keep the Kiwiana items coming, Mrinz! And thank you for this.
xo CGF
I love Marmite! Hated it when younger though. It's yummy on a cheese toastie.
That's a slice of toast, spread with Marmite and then covered with cheddar cheese.mmmmm think I need to go make one.
We call then flip flops too by the way!
I love Marmite too! It is really funny watching people eat it for the first time.
I took a jar with me to America once and a number of American friends tried it. They were horrified that someone could eat it! General feeling was that it tastes like the burnt bits at the bottom of a roasting pan.
One of our favourite ways to eat it is on cheese toasties.
My daughter in law also uses it on bread to roll up, put in the microwave, and make hard 'rusks' for the babies to chew on.
On hot toast with lots of butter its yummy too. Also to put a teaspoon in a stew can improve the taste.
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