What Is Kia Ora

Kia ora can be used to greet someone, show appreciation, offer love, and establish a connection.

The native Mori language is the source of the friendly and welcoming greeting known as “kia ora,” which is used often throughout New Zealand.

What does kia ora mean?

Kia ora, in its most basic form, says greeting. But because it makes a reference to life and health, “kia ora” is more than just a simple greeting.

More than merely a passing greeting, these two words have deeper meanings. The word “ora” literally means “to live” or “to be alive.” By adding “kia,” it is transformed from a noun to a verb, becoming “living” instead of “alive”. As a result, when you say “kia ora” to someone, you are wishing them life itself.

When should you say kia ora?

In New Zealand, the informal greeting kia ora is used. Everyone uses it in everyday discourse, from the prime minister to the neighborhood shopkeeper.

Use kia ora as a greeting or farewell, to express gratitude, to express support, or to convey a warm “cheers.” Kia ora can be used to start an email or answer the phone.

It’s crucial to express gratitude to others. By saying “Kia Ora,” we acknowledge not only them but also everything about them, including who and from where they are.

The kia ora reaction is what?

Ngahiwi Apanui, the company’s chief executive, explains that “it’s actually more of a ‘gidday’; I wouldn’t say it to elders or if I was meeting someone for the first time.”

The expression can be used to end an email, wish someone well, or express gratitude.

Apanui explains, “It also signifies to wish someone life and health.” Kia is a future tense particle that, technically speaking, means something will happen. Together, ora and kia mean life.

We say “kia ora r” when someone corrects us or helps us, according to Apanui. R can refer to the sun or day, but in this case, it denotes a separation from the speaker, much like the phrase “by that.”

Apanui thinks that the expression is quite adaptable. It’s being thrown around everywhere, and he thinks that’s fantastic.

“Even if kia ora is the only term people use to communicate in te reo Mori, that is still preferable to saying nothing. However, it’s far better if everyone understands what that brief passage implies.”

Kia ora: Is it offensive?

In June of last year, we introduced Stuff’s redesigned site, which opened with the salutation “Kia ora, Aotearoa!” It’s a welcoming phrase for all New Zealanders in our eyes. But it’s extremely offensive to a vociferous minority of the complainants.

Exists kia ora still?

Ireland-based retailers of Kia-Ora beverages and one of the most suspicious adverts (Images: Provided)

Although the offending advertisements may have been sent to history’s dustbin (i.e., YouTube), the almost a century-old cordial is still in use and continues to be incorrect on numerous levels.

Isn’t the word kia ora lovely? It makes me think of Suzy Cato, my hometown, and the cheery flight attendants from Air New Zealand. I was a little taken aback to find it written on a bottle of colorful goo in a little town store in rural Ireland because it is informal but sounds more nicer than “g’day mate” and is a word you’re only likely to hear 4.000 kilometers south of the equator.

As it turns out, kia ora is a brand of cordial (or squash, as it’s known here) owned by a small company you may have heard of called Coca-Cola, not just a Mori greeting and declaration of friendship. There are two flavors available: blackcurrant and orange. I had to take a bottle of the orange flavor home so I could try it. Without truly tasting like any particular fruit, it was overly sweet and vaguely like to fruit. Alarmingly, it included something called glycerol esters of wood rosins.

I was curious as to why Coca-Cola was marketing juice with New Zealand holiday greetings. But first, some background.

Kia-Ora, a lemon cordial that was established in 1903 by a man by the name of Arthur Gasquoine. He seemed to be motivated by the literal meaning of the phrase, “kia orato,” which means “wish someone good health and wellness,” and, in keeping with the customs of white people, had no qualms about appropriating parts of Mori culture and using them for his personal gain.

The Dixon family of Victoria purchased the Kia-Ora brand from Australian Arthur G not long after it was founded, but Kia-Ora didn’t really take off until it was introduced in the UK. Starting off as a lemon squash, Kia-Ora grew to encompass a variety of drink flavors before diversifying in the 1940s to include canned soup, spaghetti, and baked beans. Unfortunately, Anne Dixon’s vile spaghetti and baked bean recipes were the unquestionable high point of the latter action. By the 1960s, Campbell’s had acquired Kia-Australian Ora’s division, and the company’s spaghetti nest Easter eggs, which were suitable for Lent, tragically disappeared.

But in the meantime, Kia-reputation Ora’s in the UK was growing. White children smiling at the beach and tennis club secretaries praising the “healthful goodness of the drink” were depicted on posters. When the subjects of the posters were black or brown, the corporation also seized the chance to be extremely prejudiced.

Then there were the television commercials produced between the early and late 1980s that continued to run well into the 1990s, despite the fact that everyone should have known better at the time. A black boy wearing a straw hat and leading a group of crows that represented such blatant stereotypes appeared to be lifted directly from Disney’s racist farce Dumbo in the advertisements.

Kia-karma Ora’s seems to have caught up with her. With the exception of the two sugar-free Kia-Ora cordialsorange and blackcurrantCoca-Cola no longer appears to promote on TV, online, or anywhere else. An English Labour MP recently faced repercussions for sharing one of the infamously terrible vintage television commercials in a WhatsApp group. The majority of people appear to recall Kia-Ora as “that juice with the messed up advertisements,” with the exception of a few nostalgic boomers in the hidden corners of internet message boards.

In 1903, the same year a white man was permitted to use the phrase to promote a beverage, mori children were forcibly forbidden from saying kia ora (and any other te reo) in classrooms across the country.

Black stereotypes played a significant role in Kia-advertising Ora’s history, all because the phrase appeared faintly strange to a London-based executive.

Everyone who grew up in Ireland or England in the 1980s believes that Don Brash would pronounce kia ora differently if he weren’t so intimidated by the Mori language.

Unbelievably, Kia-Ora, a brand that is barely hanging on, continues to use a cartoon crow image on its labels.

In light of the aforementioned, I questioned whether Coke had considered renaming Kia-Ora. They stated the following:

“In a 1998 agreement, The Coca-Cola Company bought the Cadbury Schweppes soft drink brands. The brand portfolio included the Kia-Ora name. Since then, there has been little money spent on brand marketing. Currently, there are no plans to change the beverage or the branding in any way.

In other words, Kia-Ora won’t change because a $270 billion firm can’t be bothered.

Although I have no expertise in marketing, I was able to come up with several ideas rather quickly.

• The second- or third-most popular concentrated low-calorie soft drink with orange flavor in Ireland
• I hope you don’t mind that this contains something called glycerol esters of wood rosins.
• Same Juice, but no longer racist

Given how imaginative New Zealanders are, perhaps we might have a nationwide vote to select a new moniker, ala Boaty McBoatface? Coca-Cola employees appear to be running low on resources right now, so they could use all the assistance they can get.

What’s a Kiwi’s greeting?

• The customary greeting for complete strangers is a handshake. To convey confidence, it should be forceful and accompanied by eye contact.
• A light chuckle at the formality of handshakes during introductions may come from New Zealanders.
• The degree of a physical greeting depends on how comfortable the other person is with you.
• When welcoming someone they know, some people give them a hug. Close friends might also give each other cheek kisses as a greeting, while others would only nod.
• “An informal way to say “hello” and “thank you,” kia ora (Key-or-rah) can also be used to express acknowledgment.
• “Tn koe” (pronounced “Teh-nah kweh”) is a formal salutation,
• A formal greeting for two people is called tn krua (Teh-nah cor-roo-ah), and “A three-person or more formal greeting is called tn koutou (Teh-nah co-toe).
• Mori traditionally use the hongi to welcome one another. This involves two persons holding each other’s heads while squeezing their noses and foreheads together and inhaling at the same time to share the same moment and breath. This particular salutation is typically saved for official Mori occasions.
• When visitors arrive, the Mori also have a pwhiri welcoming ceremony. This involves a customary test to determine whether visitors are allies or enemies, which is typically followed by a call to welcome, speeches, and musical selections.

In Mori, how do you greet someone?

Despite the fact that English is New Zealand’s primary language, the Mori language is a national treasure and is currently seeing a rebirth. Pick up some basic language.

Te Reo Mori, New Zealand Sign Language, and English are all recognized as official languages in New Zealand. The majority of people speak English, although only about 4%, or 140,000, do so in Te Reo. As a result, it is now the second most widely used language in New Zealand.

The Mori language is being revived and is regarded as a national treasure. Te Reo is still a living language that is widely spoken in New Zealand because to programs like Mori Language Week, Mori language schools (from pre-school through high school), and a Mori language television station.

In the traditional Mori greeting known as the hongi, two individuals press their noses and occasionally their foreheads together (pictured). It is typically used at ceremonial gatherings of Mori people and is sometimes followed by a handshake.

You can assist in sustaining the language Te Reo Mori by striving for accurate pronunciation and use straightforward words and expressions in daily speech. A wonderful place to start is by learning the fundamental Mori greetings (mihi). Anywhere in New Zealand you use them, you’ll probably get a big smile in return.

Thank you

Kia ora is a greeting that can also be used to show gratitude in general.

The Mori words for “thank you” are tn koe (to one person), tn krua (to two people), and tn koutou (to three or more persons).

Kia Ora: How do you utilize it?

You can say “kia ora” to someone to wish them good health.

When employed as a noun, the word ora denotes “life, health, and energy.”

[4] It can also be used as a greeting, a good-bye, or a thank-you.

[5] Given that it comes from a society that values oratory, it can also be used to indicate agreement with a speaker during a meeting. Along with other, more formal Mori welcomes, it is frequently used. It is one of the 100 Mori words that every New Zealander should know, according to the NZ History website run by the New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage, which provides the following definition: “Good day! (generally accepted salutation) “. [3]

In order to address several distinct exact quantities of persons, kia ora can use a similar technique. It can be used to address any number of individuals on its own, but by adding koe (also known as kia ora koe), krua, and koutou, one can designate a greeting to one, two, or three or more people, respectively. [6] Similarly, by ending a sentence with ttou, one addresses everyone in the room, including the speaker. [7]

How do you make a formal introduction in Mori?

In Mori, you can introduce oneself by saying “pepeha.” By revealing your ties to the people and locations that are significant to you, it reveals who you are to others.

Do all New Zealanders speak Mori?

At the start of the 19th century, the language of New Zealand’s first settlers was still the majority tongue in the nation, but it was repressed throughout the ensuing decades to ensure that Mori children merged with the expanding number of English-speaking colonial arrivals. “My parents and my parents didn’t pass it down to me because my grandparents weren’t allowed to speak it,” claims Williams.

Approximately 16.5 percent of the population now are Mori. However, just about 3.7 percent of the 5 million people living there in 2013 were able to speak it. There are even fewer people who can speak it well.

But according to specialists, the number of people attempting to learn the language has significantly increased during the past five or so years. At Auckland University of Technology, there were hundreds of persons on a waiting list for language sessions as of late 2019. According to Ara Institute of Canterbury, a vocational training institution, the number of students studying Mori increased by 35% between 2018 and 2019.

According to experts at Massey University, the revival is being driven by both the Mori people who are embracing their language and non-Maori New Zealanders who are studying it to better understand their national identity, for professional purposes, or out of a feeling of moral obligation. According to Ella Henry, an associate professor at Auckland University of Technology, the proportion of Maori and non-Maori students in language studies at her institution is roughly 50/50.

Is it need to be Mori to perform the haka?

One widespread myth about haka is that only men should execute it.

While some haka are only performed by men, others can be performed by anyone and even other haka are only performed by women.

Non-Mori are invited to learn the haka, but it’s crucial that you respect the dance’s cultural and traditional roots. Learn the lyrics and make sure you comprehend the chants’ meanings, the significance of each haka, and the message you are conveying when you execute it.