T.A.F.L.A

Three and four letter acronyms - also occasionally used as F.A.F.L.A - four and five letter acronyms! These are incredibly common here and everyone uses them with gay abandon - assuming that everyone else actually knows what the hell they are talking about!
For example - most of the important things in life (when you are settling into New Zealand) are linked in some way or another with an acronym or two, so newies like us have to understand what they want from us!
We have had to sort out the IRD then a WOF and are at present busy with the EOI so that we can apply for our PR - once the NZQA has been done and they complete the IQA then they will see that Jo's work falls within both the LTSSL and the ASSL so we should be able to have the EOI appoved and will apply for PR - and THAT is the one that we want to sort out as soon as we can! Fortunately, we don't think we have to go the whole IQA route and we know for sure that we don't need to have an IELTS done before INZ approves most things!
People GENUINELY talk to you like this! You can imagine how stupid you feel when you don't know even one of the acronyms and haven't the foggiest notion what they are talking about and even less what they want you to DO!
Translation:
We have had to sort out the Internal Revenue Department number (tax) and the Warrant Of Fitness for the car and are at present busy with the Expression Of Interest so that we can apply for our Permanent Residence - Once the New Zealand Qualifications Assessment has been done and they complete the International Qualifications Assessment then they will see that Jo's work falls within both the Long Term Skills Shortage List and the Absolute Skills Shortage List so we should be able to have the Expression of Interest approved and will apply for Permanent Residence - and THAT is the one that we want to sort out as soon as we can! Fortunately, we don't think we have to go the whole International Qualifications Assessment route and we know for sure that we don't need to have an International English Language Testing System done before Immigration New Zealand approves most things!
The everyday kiwi speak can be quite confusing too - the way words are pronounced sometimes gets us befuddled but then there are also words that we just didn't know - like:
chilly bin - cooler box
ute - bakkie
jandles - slip slops
tea - light supper
brillo - umbrella
opp shop - opportunity shop - second hand shop for charity
The other evening one of our new South African acquaintences mentioned that her grandson was asked by a friend at school to 'speak some South African' - he said he was! (since he is English speaking) and they said - ' aw, gowahn - some REAL South African' and the kid realised they wanted him to speak some Afrikaans!
Here are some words which take some getting used to in kiwi pronunciation -
mare - mayor
fawah - four
pie - pay
mawah - (simple really just like four) more
frey - free
bedda - better
cahd - card
geeah - gear
owah - or
modifoid - modified
resowts - results
drawring - drawing
lawah - law
lorr - law
kay - key
Whykaddo - Waikato (the area Hamilton falls into)
Madda madda - matamata (a little town near Hamilton)
kee kee - kihikihi (another little town)
And so on and so on! Great fun!
Dis al!