Save as...

There's something here, in the Kiwi vernacular, that is going to be tough to explain, and though we'll sound stupid using it at home, we'll probably take it to the States anyway, because everyone does it, here.

What happens is, basically, 2/3 of a simile. If something is going really well, they'll throw down an adjective, followed by the word "as", and then... nothing. A typical exchange might go like this:

Baby G: So, a 'touchdown' is a 'try', and a 'field goal' is a 'conversion', right?

Andrew: Right. Want some pavlova?

Baby G: Sweet as!

"Sweet as" (Like, "Sweet as sugar!", but without the noun. NEVER the noun.) is by far the most common example of this, and it's used all over... sometimes even in place of "You're welcome" (though "No worries" fits there, too). To us, it sounded a little like, "Sweet ass", which our friend Scott used to say all the time anyway, so that's a little strange on several levels.

That said, "Sweet" is not the only adjective used. Over the course of our time on the vineyard, we heard the following:

Keen as!

Smooth as!

Slick as!

Cool as!

Tight as!

And it's not just when something is "sweet" (like, "awesome" not necessarily 'sugary', you dig?). In the case of that last example, the nets (remember the vine nets? Scroll down) were literally laced together within the aisle in such a way that is was, in fact, "Tight as." Tight as what, exactly, we don't know, a drum?

Interestingly, you never hear "Bad as", which is the one phrase with which Dizz could've fit in, as "Badass" is common for him*. Alas (al as).

Now, it should be noted that the emphasis of all of these is on "as", not the adjective preceding it. So it comes out almost all in one word, with the second syllable always being 'as' and always being stressed.

Now, there's more. Differently than the Canadian stereotype (Not Fred nor Kreeson, however), people here end sentences with something that sounds remarkably like "ay" - like a rhetorical question. This is another toughie to explain, because it sounds infinitely cooler than the Canadian version, but will be almost impossible to convey in type. You should all know that we have started to pick up both, and we are sorry for how that's going to sound upon our return. Things like this could be typical at first:

Rev. J: How was your flight, Dizzle?

Dizzle: Fast as, ay?

Rev J: You're adopted, by the way.



Ready to play along? Well, we've included something interactive for all of you. It'll be a little like school, but you won't be graded (only ridiculed). You can check your answers by clicking "Comments" for this post. Ready? Here we go.



To a Kiwi, which comment about the above picture would be most accurate?

a. The lambs are cute.
b. The lambs are cute as, ay.
c. The lambs in a hot curry would be sweet as, ay.






The dog is

a. furry.
b. furry as.
c. furry as, ay.
d. Rex.
e. all of the above




On the above table is a pair of candles, a paua shell, a jug of sun tea, a white clay pitcher, and a red tin. Which one is decidedly un-Kiwi and why?




In the above photo, Chris is

a. constipated.
b. contemplating the 'ifs' of life.
c. meditating.
d. sweet as. No worries. F***in' awesome!


So next time you're at your computer, and you need to save something on your desktop, or someplace accessible, when you click "Save as", think of us. We're laughing a little, too. After all, it's funny as, ay?

* "Supid as" a.k.a. "Stupidass" also doesn't happen, here, though the seas can be "rough as" or one can feel "sick as" - so it's not always a positive thing.