American expat was shocked to learn Christmas decorations are called baubles in New Zealand

An American expat living in New Zealand was taken aback after seeing the word “trinkets” scrawled on a package of decorations while shopping at Kmart for Christmas.

As someone who has called holiday shopping ‘decoration’ all her life, Arizona’s Maddie Gemmel quickly took to Tiktok and shared the culture shock moment with fans.

“I’m here at Kmart doing my Christmas shopping and I’m confused by what I’m seeing, so someone help me,” she said.

‘I don’t think I’ve ever heard this word before. That should say ornaments.

‘What is that word. What? Do you say this or do you say ‘ornaments’ for decorating trees?’ she asked.

An American expat living in New Zealand was taken aback after seeing the word “trinkets” scrawled on a package of decorations while shopping at Kmart for Christmas.

As someone who has called holiday shopping ‘decoration’ all her life, Arizona’s Maddie Gemmel quickly took to Tiktok and shared the culture shock moment with fans.

Kiwis were quick to fight back, however, with many saying the decorations and knick-knacks are “completely different.”

‘All trinkets are ornaments, but not all trinkets are trinkets,’ explained one woman.

“The ornaments are round, but the ornaments can be any shape or theme,” added another.

‘That’s actually the correct term. The ornaments can have any shape, the balls are round or teardrop-shaped,” agreed another.

Some commenters took offense that Madi was so shocked by the difference in wording.

‘Wow. It’s like you’re in another country,” said one man.

“Guys wait until she finds out that different countries have different languages ​​too,” added one woman.

Madi has noticed other differences since moving to New Zealand, particularly variations in slang.

She and her husband often share the difference between American and New Zealand slang.

For example, he noticed that Americans say ‘see you later’ while Kiwis say ‘let’s catch up’.