Backstory

I don’t usually like ads, but there are some masterpieces I can’t skip. This specific one is educational and Christmassy, and it makes you forget, at least for a couple of minutes, that there’s a war and not everyone will make it until Christmas. Personally, I re-watch it every now and then.

About Kiwi Accent

It’s no secret that New Zealanders speak English, but their version, known as the ‘Kiwi accent,’ is a unique twist. It can be hard for speakers of other English dialects to understand, mainly due to its unusual vowel sounds.

It made headlines when Apple’s Siri adopted the Kiwi accent, tweaking its vowel recognition in an effort to understand it better.

How Do You Spot a New Zealander?

So how do you recognize a Kiwi accent? Just ask someone from New Zealand to say, "Can I get some fish and chips for six tonight?" When they say “six,” it often sounds like “sex,” so the phrase ends up sounding like, "Can I get some fish and chips for sex tonight?"

Another funny example is the phrase, “Do you like sitting outside on a deck?” In a Kiwi accent, it can sound like, “Do you like sitting outside on a dick?”

There’s more: what many of us call “clothes pegs” for hanging laundry, Kiwis pronounce as “clothes pigs.” And I’ve even heard they pronounce Netflix as "Netflux,” which sounds like “net diarrhea.”

One ad that highlights the Kiwi accent is a Christmas commercial where Santa takes calls from all over the world. The most challenging ones, according to the ad, come from New Zealand because he just can’t understand their accent.

The Ad

A Very Merry Mistake

Here are some useful vowel twists from the ad that you should take a close look at if you want to sound like a New Zealander. Santa asks a boy who’s calling him: “What would you like for Christmas?” The boy responds: “I’d like a new bed,” which sounds like “beard.” The other examples are:

Puggy bank - Piggy bank
Bisquitball - Basketball
Ear plane - Airplane
A bug screen TV - A big screen TV
Book of magic trucks - Book of magic tricks

BTW, you can notice that the elf is speaking with a thick Irish accent.

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