It's in the context

In NZ, the word “kiwi” could refer to a bird, a fruit, a person, or the country.

The kiwi bird is a flightless bird, kasi walang pakpak. It is native to NZ and is a national symbol of the country. Actually, sa zoo lang ako nakakita ng kiwi bird. It is very hard to spot these birds in the wild because they’re nocturnal. Sa gabi lang gumagala.



The kiwi fruit is an egg shaped fruit (parang chiko, mas maliit lang at medyo oval shaped) with a fuzzy brown skin. Inside, the fruit is color green. The fruit is sweet na medyo maasim kaya rich in vitamin C. Nowadays, meron na rin tinatawag na Kiwi Gold which looks just like the green variety on the outside pero yellow ang laman sa loob at hindi maasim katulad nung green.


“Kiwi” can also refer to a person born in NZ or someone who’s lived in NZ for a sufficient amount of time. When used as an adjective, the word Kiwi can also refer to NZ as a country. For example: The Kiwi flag.

Ang tipid naman nila sa salita ano? Using the same word for different things. Nakakalito tuloy. One has to derive the thing being referred to from the context of the conversation. I know I’ve used the word “kiwi” lots of times before. If you are unable to derive it’s meaning from the context, huwag kayong mahihiyang magtanong. For now I will be the one to give you a simple test. Tingnan ko kung talagang attentive kayo. Can you guess what I am referring to when I ask: “nakatikim ka na ba ng kiwi?”