Kiwi is the nickname used internationally for people from New Zealand, as well as being a relatively common sel-reference. The name derives from the flightless bird native to New Zealand, the national bird. The word Kiwi has multiple meanings: In connection with New Zealand Kiwi - any of several species of flightless bird native to New Zealand. ... There is no one culture of New Zealand. ... Species See text. ...

Origins

The first New Zealanders to be widely known as Kiwis were the military. The Regimental Signs for all New Zealand Regiments feature the kiwi, including those which fought in the Second Boer War then with the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps in World War I. Much of the interaction between Regiments and between regiments and locals was done under the respective Regimental Sign, and the kiwi came to mean first the men of regiments and then all New Zealanders. Due to the relative isolation of New Zealand, many troops stayed in Europe (particularly at Beacon Hill, near Bulford on the Salisbury Plain, where they carved a chalk kiwi into the hill in 1918^[1]) for months or years until transport home could be arranged. The Oxford English Dictionary gives the first use of the Kiwi to mean New Zealand in 1918, in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force Chronicles. The nickname Kiwis for New Zealand servicemen eventually became common usage in all war theatres.^{[citation needed]} Following World War II it was gradually attributed to all New Zealanders and today, throughout the world they are referred to as Kiwis, as well as often referring to themselves in this way. Combatants British Empire Orange Free State South African Republic Commanders Sir Redvers Buller Lord Kitchener Lord Roberts Paul Kruger Louis Botha Koos de la Rey Martinus Steyn Christiaan de Wet Casualties 6,000 - 7,000 (A further ~14,000 from disease) 6,000 - 8,000 (Unknown number from disease) Civilians... The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (popularly abbreviated as ANZAC) was originally an army corps of Australian and New Zealand troops who fought in World War I at Gallipoli against the Turks. ... “The Great War ” redirects here. ... Bulford is a village and civil parish in the Salisbury of Wiltshire, England, close to Salisbury Plain. ... The Oxford English Dictionary print set The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is a dictionary published by the Oxford University Press (OUP), and is the most successful dictionary of the English language, (not to be confused with the one-volume Oxford Dictionary of English, formerly New Oxford Dictionary of English, of... The New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF) was the title of the military force sent from New Zealand to fight for Britain in World War I. Upon the outbreak of war, New Zealand immediately offered to provide two brigades — one of infantry and one of mounted troops — a total of 8... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000...

The word Kiwi, used to describe people, is often capitalised, and takes the plural form Kiwis. The bird's name is spelt with a lower-case k (except, of course, when the rules of grammar state otherwise) and, being a word of Māori origin, normally stays as kiwi when a plural is formed. Thus, two Kiwis = two people, whereas two kiwi = two birds. Māori or Te Reo Māori, commonly shortened to Te Reo (literally the language) is an official language of New Zealand. ...

References

1. ^ The White Horses