# The New Zealand Accent **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 16, 2013, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-zealand-accent/676449 "2013-12-16T09:52:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Ben-wynyard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2acd7d/32.png) [@Ben-wynyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ben-wynyard)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2013, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-zealand-accent/676449/141 "2013-12-18T09:09:13Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I don’t much like the Kiwi accent either, and I had one! And probably still do, though it’s muted somewhat (I suffer from that affliction of disliking the sound of one’s own voice, so I can’t really comment objectively). I certainly hear it in [my own family](http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=hAfVGr1JjWE#t=233), who still live in NZ. > > But some parts of the country have stronger accents than others, and it’s those places that bother me the most. [Alan Brough](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1kdspFFNHI) has a very strong NZ accent that he long should’ve lost or been mellowed by now, but it’s still confrontationally prevalent. [Richard Taylor](http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=wj7R5ml09Qk#t=86)’s accent really gets on my nerves, but that’s because it’s so weird and seems to be mixed in with something else. Whereas I don’t have any problem with [Philippa Boyens](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLKd7hXU0No)’s or [Karl Urban](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_waSa5bgYD4)’s accents. So I don’t know what that’s about, really. I have detected several accents and some regional accents like Auckland and Otago. There is the Maori Accent, which comes across quite strong and has a very South African sound, however not all Maori speak that way, I know many maori who actually speak better english than pakeha. Especially the older generation, their english was close to Queens English. So there is the SOuth African NZ ACCENT, The BBC NZ ACCENT, The General NZ ACCENT and The Australian sound ACCENT and then there is the British Sounding Accent - which if you listen to the Air New Zealand safety ads on the plane, you will hear the distinct upper class English accent. However, in New Zealand your accent has no connection to your class. New Zealand accent has changed alot within 50 years, we no longer attempt to speak the standard BBC accent. ---
**Author:** ![Ben-wynyard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2acd7d/32.png) [@Ben-wynyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ben-wynyard)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2013, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-zealand-accent/676449/142 "2013-12-18T09:12:43Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > When I lived in Berlin, a good friend was from Christchurch, NZ. > I even introduced her to her future (German) husband. > We had a grand old time and would hang out and have great conversations. > > They moved to NZ and have been there many years. > > Whenever I call them now, I can barely understand a word she says anymore! Her accent is thicker than glue. I even have problems speaking English with her husband, and often we just lapse into German - far easier. > > Most of my side of the conversation is, “What?” “Huh?” “Come again?” > > I have only had this problem a few times with “native English” speakers - where I don’t understand a damned word. Once was trying to communicate with a guy from some village in Scotland, and the other was a woman from Ghana. In both cases, you would have thought they were speaking Klingon for all I understood. > > Yet oddly, the Scottish guy, Ghana girl and my friend in NZ could/can all understand my accent perfectly and never once need(ed) to ask me to repeat anything. Very weird to have one-sided conversations like that. We understand you clearer because it is your second language. People who speak English as a second language, there pronunciation is clearer because its taught, where we learn it from birth so become lazy and everyone within the country follows suit. Its lazy english ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2013, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-zealand-accent/676449/143 "2013-12-18T09:22:54Z")
> [@Ben-wynyard](#): > > We understand you clearer because it is your second language. Actually, no. I am American and speak 'merican. I learned German as my second language. ---
**Author:** ![Ben-wynyard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2acd7d/32.png) [@Ben-wynyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ben-wynyard)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2013, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-zealand-accent/676449/144 "2013-12-18T09:28:20Z")
> [@stui\_magpie](#): > > The Maoris of NZ are originally Polynesian. They populated the whole south pacific down as far as East Bondi. Hawaii, Fiji, Tonga, NZ, same diff. Thats wrong!! East Bondi?? you mean in Sydney?? if so you are WRONG! nor did we stop in Fiji, Fijians are of the Malanesian race. Bondi is in Australia, the aboriginals occupy Australia. Once again, Where we originate from is unclear, not even the Maori are 100% sure. So no point trying to tell us where we are from if the its own people dont even know ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2013, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-zealand-accent/676449/145 "2013-12-18T09:31:04Z")
> [@Ben-wynyard](#): > > but the Australian accent is just to broad! That would be the Sydney accent. Don’t worry, many people from Sydney make the same mistake. ---
**Author:** ![Ben-wynyard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2acd7d/32.png) [@Ben-wynyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ben-wynyard)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2013, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-zealand-accent/676449/146 "2013-12-18T09:34:23Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > One thing I do know (or have been led to believe) as an American is that New Zealand has some major cultural ties to Hawaii and that the Maori language is actually related to Hawaiian. Some what true, The Maori royal family have close ties with the Hawaiian Royals, and much of our language is very much the same. Our stories are very much the same. Wahine in NZ means woman and Wahine in Hawaii means woman too. They believe we Maori come from a place called Hawaiki pamamoa or Rangiatea , well this could have been over the centuries pronounced wrong and were actually meaning Hawaii and Panama which if you look at the features of the natives of these countries, Maori carry a strong resemblence. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2013, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-zealand-accent/676449/147 "2013-12-18T09:43:19Z")
> [@Ben-wynyard](#): > > Thats wrong!! East Bondi?? j **oke** _noun_ a thing that someone says to cause amusement or laughter. ---
**Author:** ![Ben-wynyard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2acd7d/32.png) [@Ben-wynyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ben-wynyard)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2013, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-zealand-accent/676449/148 "2013-12-18T09:46:16Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > j **oke** > _noun_ > a thing that someone says to cause amusement or laughter. ohhh lol i must of missed the punch line lol ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2013, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-zealand-accent/676449/149 "2013-12-18T09:46:21Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > j **oke** > _noun_ > a thing that someone says to cause amusement or laughter. You probably lost him at noun. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2013, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-zealand-accent/676449/150 "2013-12-18T10:08:55Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > … Once was trying to communicate with a guy from some village in Scotland … I have encountered people from different parts of Scotland who couldn’t understand each other. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2013, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-zealand-accent/676449/151 "2013-12-18T10:36:52Z")
I don’t claim to be some Accent Lord who can tell every single accent apart, but I can certainly pick different varieties of British and American accents without too much trouble, at least for the major ones (Someone from California sounds very different from someone from Texas, who sounds different again to someone from New England, and someone from the Home Counties sounds totally different to someone from Liverpool). I can understand why the Australian and New Zealand accents sound alike to pretty much anyone not from Australia or New Zealand, though. It’s also worth noting both countries have at least two sub-accents, a “Received Pronunciation” one (the one that sounds fairly Queen’s English), and a broader one (“Strine” in Australia, the “Fush und Chups” one in New Zealand). ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2013, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-zealand-accent/676449/152 "2013-12-18T12:43:33Z")
> [@Floater](#): > > I have encountered people from different parts of Scotland who couldn’t understand each other. It’s true - they DO drink a lot there. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2013, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-zealand-accent/676449/153 "2013-12-18T13:07:29Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > It’s true - they DO drink a lot there. When I think of it, it did happen in a pub. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2013, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-zealand-accent/676449/154 "2013-12-18T15:43:29Z")
One time in Nepal, I, an American native speaker of English, could not understand the English of a local park guide very well. But my Thai wife could understand his English and so acted as an interpreter. Something there about odd accents, but I don’t know what. ---
**Author:** ![vontsira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/51bf81/32.png) [@vontsira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vontsira)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2013, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-zealand-accent/676449/155 "2013-12-18T21:21:30Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > “Boston” - I understand that the original Boston is a small village in Lincolnshire. > [@Claverhouse](#): > > **[Boston](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston,_Lincolnshire)** is a medium, and historically important, town, about a third of the population of the city of **[Lincoln](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln,_England)**. > Not that English people care a lot about either place. I’m one who does: I was born in Lincolnshire and spent my first decade there – I have strong nostalgic feelings for the place. IMO Lincolnshire is England’s most undeservedly underrated county: right off the tourist beat, but it holds many treasures as regards architecture, and wildlife, and quietly undramatic but very pleasant scenery. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2013, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-zealand-accent/676449/156 "2013-12-18T21:51:15Z")
> [@vontsira](#): > > … it holds many treasures as regards architecture, and wildlife … Yet it’s said that poachers are celebrated there. ---
**Author:** ![stui\_magpie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stui_magpie/32/11010_2.png) [@stui\_magpie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stui_magpie)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2013, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-zealand-accent/676449/157 "2013-12-18T22:39:23Z")
> [@Ben-wynyard](#): > > Thats wrong!! East Bondi?? you mean in Sydney?? if so you are WRONG! nor did we stop in Fiji, Fijians are of the Malanesian race. Bondi is in Australia, the aboriginals occupy Australia. Once again, Where we originate from is unclear, not even the Maori are 100% sure. So no point trying to tell us where we are from if the its own people dont even know There’s plenty of work being done with DNA that confirms lots of oral history that shows the Polynesian migration throughout the south pacific. And “East Bondi” is what a number of Aussies colloquially call New Zealand.😉 ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-zealand-accent/676449/158 "2013-12-19T00:14:52Z")
> [@Floater](#): > > > [@Dmark](#): > > > > … Once was trying to communicate with a guy from some village in Scotland … > > I have encountered people from different parts of Scotland who couldn’t understand each other. When I lived in the Scots Borders, where like most March folk they used to adopt either nationality at will, according to temporary advantage, I was informed in Hawick that there were villages each with their own unintelligible accent. Which didn’t fully understand each other. I believed them. Hawick is pronounced ‘_HOI_-ck’. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-zealand-accent/676449/159 "2013-12-19T00:23:30Z")
> [@stui\_magpie](#): > > And “East Bondi” is what a number of Aussies colloquially call New Zealand.😉 We have a number of Kiwis where I work. I might use that expression and see if I get a bite 😃 ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-zealand-accent/676449/160 "2013-12-19T01:09:35Z")
> [@stui\_magpie](#): > > There’s plenty of work being done with DNA that confirms lots of oral history that shows the Polynesian migration throughout the south pacific. > > And “East Bondi” is what a number of Aussies colloquially call New Zealand.😉 Well if you’re going there - it should also be noted that New Zealand is principally made up of four islands, North, South, West and Stuart. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-zealand-accent/676449.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-zealand-accent/676449.md?page=9)