A Kiwi Communicating In The US

"If you want to avoid language problems visit another English-speaking country." So says the travel guide. For sure in the US there aren’t major problems in communicating, but there are a lot of minor traps for the New Zealand visitor.

I’ve just returned from a trip to the Seattle area – not my first – and I was struck again by the number of language differences. I got a lot of guidance from my six year old American grandson, Peter, who was quick to pick up differences in my use of English.

Vehicles It started when I asked if I could help to put the luggage in the boot of the car. "Nana, do you mean the trunk?"

I also had it explained that the front window of the car was the windshield, not the windscreen, From conversation luckily, not from experience, I found that minor accidents can be termed fender benders. If your car needs repairing after an accident you take it to a body shop, not a panel beater.

I also learnt that in the dark I must use a flashlight, not a torch.

I learnt so many words that I want to share with readers that I’m putting the New Zealand equivalents in italics.

There were a lot of holiday makers on the road, many recreational vehicles (not a common term in NZ). These included campers (campervans) and trailers (caravans), and trailers can also mean the same as in New Zealand – as in boat trailer. Many of the recreational vehicles were heading towards camp grounds (camping grounds) or RV parks – for Recreational Vehicles (caravan parks).

Where the traffic needed to be slowed we went over speed bumps, (judder bars). It’s the driver’s skill, not the different country, that decides whether it’s just a bump or a horrible judder!

Mail Collecting the letters was different too. We went to the mail box (letter box) , but it wasn’t at the gate of the house as in New Zealand. Several mailboxes to serve adjacent properties were placed under a roofed structure on the sidewalk (footpath) across the road from the house.

Letters could be mailed (posted) at Post Offices or from your own mailbox if you put the flag up. The mail carrier (postie) or for rural deliveries mailman or no doubt if you are politically correct (mailperson) picks up the mail, drops the flag and takes the letter to the post office. A similar system operates with New Zealand rural mail deliveries.

Telephoning When I decided to use the telephone instead of writing a letter, Peter was puzzled to hear me say that I would ring my friend back in New Zealand. He explained that he would say he would call or phone his friend.

Garbage On Thursdays we put out the garbage (rubbish). The garbage disposal (wastemaster) in the pipe below the sink coped with the vegetable peelings and soft food garbage. The rest of the trash (rubbish) was divided into various containers for plastic, glass and paper, according to whether or not it was recyclable, and taken to the gate for collection. This sort of system now operates in some New Zealand cities too.

Baby gear The twin babies wore diapers (nappies) and were put down each day in the crib (cot) for a nap (in NZ more often sleep) . If they are unhappy they are given a pacifier or binky, not a dummy.

In the USA the term napkin is used only for a serviette. My American friend Patti (Read her story on coming to NZ) pointed out that in NZ some years ago she would not have dared to say "Please pass me a napkin," but now with NZ adopting more and more American words it would be understood without difficulty.

The babies were taken for a walk in the twin stroller (pushchair).. Now I could accept that term easily because with a baby in the stroller people tend to stroll rather than rush along the sidewalk.

But imagine my surprise when I came across the "jogging stroller". This seemed to me to be contradiction in terms. It is a lightweight, but strong, pushchair, invented so that mothers can go jogging without employing a sitter. I have always thought that one baby, once mobile, provides its mother with more than ample exercise, and that life with mobile twin babies is spent in constant movement. I couldn’t cope with the idea of using a twin jogging stroller to get exercise. However since my return to NZ I have noticed the increasing popularity of these strollers here.

In the area we were visiting there were certainly many parks and trails (tracks)for jogging or cycling which would be an encouragement for using the jogging stroller. Other inviting trails take you through pleasant forests ( bush). As we strolled Peter found a ladybug, (ladybird).

Shopping and food In America shopping is done at the mall or the store. In New Zealand we shop at the mall, the supermarket, the butcher’s or sometimes the greengrocer where among many other vegetables we can buy Swiss chard, (silver beet). We also buy pumpkin and eat it as a vegetable or in soup rather than making pumpkin pie.

At the American supermarket I learnt that we must join the line, not the queue. We bought ground beef, (mince),cornstarch (cornflour),and confectioners sugar(icing sugar). Some people in the US say ‘icing sugar”, but use it to make frosting (icing).

Cookies, crackers, biscuits and scones were very confusing! Cookies looked like what we Kiwis call biscuits,, but most of them were soft, not crisp. Biscuits were called crackers, but were not necessarily savoury biscuits as is usual in New Zealand. Honey Graham Crackers were crisp, sweet biscuits, rather like NZ maltmeal wafers. US biscuits are more like NZ scones , – little cooked breads that are served with the main course at dinner.

Scones in New Zealand have traditionally been made with flour, baking powder, milk, and a little butter and salt, and sometimes cheese or dried fruit. They are served hot or cold spread with butter or margarine and sometimes jelly jam and cream. In America scones, (pronounced to rhyme with ‘owns’) are more like a plain cake, and sometimes frosted (iced). In New Zealand if you order a Devonshire Tea you will be served scones with butter, jam and cream and a pot of tea.

As I made sandwiches for Peter’s lunch I soon learned (learnt) to make them with peanut butter and jelly (jam).

If we decided not to cook we could go to a wide choice of restaurants or places offering "food to go" or a "takeout" (takeaways). "Food to go" is gaining in popularity in New Zealand now. When we went to a restaurant at first I got rather confused by the terms ‘appetizer’ (NZ entrée) and entrée (NZ main). In New Zealand an appetiser is any food or drink served before the meal to stimulate the appetite.

At the end of the meal it is not impolite in America to say, "Wow, I’m stuffed!" In NZ this could mean just that you were exhausted or that you had had sex!

When choosing items in a shop in NZ I would ask the shop assistant to give me three of those ones. I now know that this marks me as a Kiwi because American speakers would just say, "three of those".

Purchasing lozenges for a sore throat was done at the pharmacy or the drugstore (chemist or pharmacy) but the drugstore sold a wide range of other goods as well as pharmaceuticals.

My friend Patti pointed out that Kiwis can buy pot plants which are perfectly legal – just decorative plants to brighten our homes and offices, whereas in the US having pot plants would be illegal. However pot can mean drugs in NZ too.

To pay for my purchases I used travellers checks (cheques) or a bankcard, but if I wanted to write checks (cheques) I would have had to open a checking account (cheque account). I carried my money and travellers checks in my fannypack (bumbag).

Describing time I learned(learnt) to say that we were making a plan for "a week from Sunday" (Sunday week) or going away on the weekend, (at the weekend). I also noticed that if I used the word fortnight for a period of two weeks most people looked puzzled.

Electrical fittings Americans flip the switches up for ON and down for OFF, the reverse of the NZ pattern. Americans put their heating blankets over them and here in New Zealand we put our electric blankets underneath us.

Manners American children are taught that when someone says ‘Thank you’ it is polite to say ‘You’re welcome’, and use of that phrase is becoming increasingly common in NZ.

Saying farewell I think I have boasted (skited) enough about my language discoveries so it is time to use one of the phrases we have picked up from Americans – Byee, Bye, See ya, Bye now, Catch ya later, orToodle oo, Tata , or maybe the Maori Haere ra.

Have a nice day. (Kiwis now say that too.)