A brilliantly vivid New Zealand idiom meaning to go completely wrong, fall apart, or descend into chaos.
A brilliantly vivid New Zealand idiom meaning to go completely wrong, fall apart, or descend into chaos. When a plan, situation, or event turns to custard, it's not a minor hiccup — it's full collapse into a wobbly, formless mess, which is exactly what custard does when you don't follow the recipe. The phrase captures that particular combination of disappointment and absurdity that comes with spectacular failure. Widely used across New Zealand in casual and professional contexts alike.
The event was going fine until the sound system broke and the whole thing turned to custard.
Add your own interpretation of "turn to custard".
Regional slang from around the English-speaking world — British, Australian, Irish, Caribbean, Nigerian, Filipino, AAVE, and the hyphenated-English dialects that make the internet sound local.
See all Regional & Other slang on Slangora.
Browse all slang words starting with T.
British slang meaning to mess something up, bungle it, or ruin it through incompetence or carelessness. Used as a transitive verb: you can "arse up" a plan, a project, a relationship, or just about anything that can go wrong. The phrase is mildly vulgar by British standards but is common in everyday informal British speech. Similar in meaning to "cock up" or "balls up." Delivers a tone of genuine frustration or exasperation.
(British, Ireland, Australia, NZ, informal) To break or spoil something, or make it inoperative, useless etc.
(AU, NZ, slang) To fail miserably; to make a huge mistake; to fall flat on one's face.
New Zealand informal slang for wasting time or messing around without purpose — the kind of aimless dithering that happens when you should be doing something productive but somehow an hour just disappears. It implies a light-hearted pointlessness rather than deliberate laziness, the verbal equivalent of wandering around the house picking things up and putting them down. Perfect for calling someone out when they're clearly procrastinating without committing to it.
No comments yet — say something.
(New Zealand) To go badly awry.
No comments yet — say something.