What’d You Say?
US vs AU
Fries = Chips
Needles = Sharps
Restrooms = Toilets
Elevators = Lifts
Milk = Babycino
Apartment = Flat
Pitchers = Jugs
Sunglasses = Sunnies
Bathroom stall = Cubicle
May I help you? = Are you alright?
You’re welcome = No worries
NZ
I’ve noticed the Kiwi accent is quite different than the Australian accent. Much stronger and they speak more quietly and more quickly.
As examples:
the word text is pronounced teext
six is pronounced seex
seven is seeven
cents are ceents
everything is eeverrything
It is almost like the first syllable of each word takes on the long E sound (eee).
I just learned that cheers and left are different. Cheers is almost like chez and left is like lift.
My favorite is the number eighteen. It is pronounced ay-deen.
And rugby and Australian Rules Football both seem to be called “footy”. And the ball is called “the footy”. And the field is called “the footy”. Everything that is a sport that involves a ball and feet is called “footy”. Oh, and when you go to see a rugby match you “go to *the* rugby”. Or you “watch *the* rugby” on tv.
Conversions:
I was describing Mike’s apartment to Ferg and I told him it was about 1,000 square feet and that it was just tiny. Especially with three adults and two children living there. His face got all scrunched up and he got this very strange look.
“Small??”, he asked.
“Yes!”, I exclaimed.
This went back and forth for about a minute. Finally he said, “Oh, I thought you meant square meters.”
1,000 square meters is about 10,764 square feet. And that is NOT small.
K. Dana Morris 