Godzone gets its own dictionary

The distinctive phrases and language New Zealanders take for granted will be published in a new dictionary next month.

The Godzone New Zealand dictionary will be published full of the slang words and expressions which puzzle visitors.

Author Max Cryer says it highlights the strong idiosyncrasies of local speech and features slang words and expressions.

He said New Zealanders are particularly bad at retaining baby-talk, with words like drinkies (alcoholic drinks), ta-ta (bye-bye), barbie (barbecue), rellies (relatives) and Chrissy (Christmas).

The dictionary will be comprised of words where the usage is generally confined to New Zealand, such as "Rotovegas" (Rotorua) and "the Naki" (Taranaki).

- NEWSTALK ZB