Chur, Russell Crowe Educates Vanity Fair Readers

From “bugger all” to “jandals”, Wellington-born actor Russell Crowe, 56, star of Unhinged, takes Vanity Fair readers through some “sweet as” phrases from New Zealand and Australia – two cultures he is “very, very familiar with”.

Crowe begins the video with “carked it”.

“Oh my lord, carked it. Not very nice. Carked it means you’re dead.”

Then: “This word, which you might think refers to a composer of some note, as Bach. In New Zealand, it’s actually bach, and bach means a cottage, potentially by the sea, but it’s a holiday home. Not necessarily very special. It’s a roof, and maybe running water, maybe power, maybe not necessarily, but it’s a cool place to go and sleep in the summer months, and if you are near water, an extra benefit.

“ … Knackered … means tired,” Crowe explains. “It’s bigger than tired. If you’re knackered you’re completely tired, you’re bereft of all energy.

“Chook is simply a chicken … Drongo. This is a very old fashioned word, that doesn’t really get used that much anymore … but it means an idiot.

“Up yourself. That is what I am. Confident … Anyway this has been Russell Crowe, talking to you about Australian and New Zealand slang, for Vanity Fair.”

Original article by Vanity Fair, June 24, 2020.