Gumboots
Rubber boots. Rural NZ's national footwear; Taihape holds an annual gumboot-throwing festival.
"Chuck your gumboots on, the paddock's muddy."
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Gummon
'C'mon!' with a hard G — protest at a weak excuse or soft effort. Born from NZ reality TV.
"I can't come, I'm washing my hair." "Aww gummon!"
Gutted
Deeply disappointed, deflated. Also shortened: 'guts to be you'.
"Gutted I missed the game."
Haere mai
Welcome, come here - te reo greeting of welcome.
"Haere mai, come in, come in."
Haere ra
Goodbye (to someone leaving), from te reo. The farewell counterpart to haere mai.
"Haere ra, safe travels."
Hakas
The ceremonial challenge/dance, most famously the All Blacks' pre-match haka. Spine-tingling.
"The haka gives me chills every time."
Handle
A pint-ish glass of beer with a handle, the standard pub pour in much of NZ.
"Two handles of lager, thanks."
Hangi pants
Someone who gets around romantically. A hangi feeds everyone; you can finish the metaphor.
"Watch out for that one, proper hangi pants."
Hard case
A funny, eccentric character; someone who cracks you up.
"Your nan's a hard case, telling yarns all night."
Hard yakka
Hard work, real graft. From an Aboriginal-derived word, common trans-Tasman.
"Fencing all day is hard yakka."
Hard yakka merchant
Someone who does the hard graft without complaint. High praise on a worksite.
"He's a hard yakka merchant, that one."
Hard yakka today
A day of real graft. Worksite report.
"Hard yakka today, I'm buggered."
Harden up
Toughen up, stop complaining. Traditionally paired with 'take some concrete pills'.
"It's just a cold shower, harden up."
Hardout
Extremely (hardout cold), enthusiastic agreement (hardout!), or a hard worker (he's a hardout).
"Lucky I brough my woollen socks, it's hardout freezing today!"
Have a yarn
To have a conversation. NZ's default social verb.
"Let's have a yarn about it Monday."
Heaps
Lots, very, a large amount. Kiwis say it heaps.
"Thanks heaps for the hand."
Hoha
Annoyed, bothered, or a nuisance. From te reo. 'I'm getting hoha with this.'
"Traffic's making me hoha."
Hokey pokey
Honeycomb toffee, and the beloved NZ ice cream flavour built around it. National treasure.
"Two scoops of hokey pokey, please."
Honest to who
'Really?' — with the traditional reply 'honest to G', escalating to full spelling for emphasis.
"I won $500 on Lotto." "Honest to who?" "Honest to G!"
Hoon around
To drive recklessly or muck about loudly, especially in a car. 'Hooning' is the noun.
"Kids hooning around the car park again."