Suid-Afrikaanse slang wat almal behoort te ken

So lus for a lekker Mutton Bunny.
Did not see Bunnychow on your list.
Indians from India have never heard of it, lol
Hoe se?
Ja well no fine
Pull in and catch a park my broer

I have been seeing the word “Utunu” what does this word mean?

kiep, isnt this slang for sleep

Do you know the expression: hannah-hannah/hanna-hanna, meaning, working at a slow pace. also used in a sentence like: Wat se gehanna-hanna is dit met jou. Why are you dragging your feet?

There are some words from the army maybe some of my mukkas remember…like mukka, or die bossies.
Also, TSA! When you throw dice!

Phrase – Just now. A period of time. See you just now – see you soon – Could mean 5 minutes, could mean 30 minutes

🍑GA: What does Um Um mean when said by someone from Africa?

‘Jislaaik’…. expressing surprise.
Jislaaik, what was that!

What about ‘ek se’ … Hey, ek se, what are you doing?

There’s also a bunch of “baby” words that I’ve found are different in the us like

nappy – diaper
pram – stroller
dummy – pacifier

We also say shame or “ugh shame” “awe shame” for just about anything. Bad and good really

What about Yoh, tjoh? 😉 And eish. Luv these

and my favourite "Umkhulu ". Zulu for grandfather. I hope to be called this one day when I am an Umkhulu.
In Durban a laaitie is only for referring to a young boy (your son for example). Not for girls.

The phrase “lacquer dolph” not sure of the spelling…does that mean stupid?

@Todd, correction on my comment ‘laat lammetjie’

@Todd, yes lammetjie can be used by the non-English and Afrikaans speakers in SA. The non-Nguni and non-Sesotho speakers use our words and the non-English and non-Afrikaans South Africans use the English / Afrikaans words

Songololo Fundi Indaba is from the Nguni who encampass the Zulu Xhosa Swati and Ndebele.

Songololo has been mispronounced to Shongololo. To roll is ‘songa’.

A koki pen is a marker that you would use on a whiteboard.

In South Africa people mostly refer to older people formally in comparison to other countries. In Afrikaans we call everyone in the older generation “oom” and “tannie”, literally meaning aunt and uncle. We would always say ma’am and sir when speaking to teachers (juffrou en meneer in Afrikaans). We would also repeat constantly to the person’s title each time we speak, but even in the same conversationas a sign of respect.

E. g. Good morning ma’am… How are ma’am doing?… I’m doing well thank you ma’am. Bye ma’am.

Same with parents, grand parents, etc.

@Manolita Doise tell your friend “die braai was lekker, my maat” (pronounced dee braay vus lehkuh, may maahrt)
Meaning the barbecue was great, my friend.

Baba respectfully a male older than you
mdala respectfully a male elder
mlungu respectfully a white person
uMuntu the people
First born is your eldest child. Last born, your youngest
Zamalek Carling black label beer
Mfana young boy
Shot means thanks
Chow means food or goodbye
Ah-ah-ah indicates disbelief
Nca (ntcaaa) good or excellent
Izit? used to question like really?

@ Lissy Regarding your koeksuster question, Limpopo is a province in SA
Using the word ousie has a bad stigma and hurtful if used incorrectly
@ Mark Johnson Mx choooo could be similar to mxm which is sucking a small amount of air in the corner of your mouth over your teeth indicating irritation or indifference. Chooo a sound indicating something bad could happen or get worse.

What about ‘true as nyanis’ I think this comes from Zulu/xhosa word – tamale which means true but don’t know for sure

Talking about Robots (traffic lights), they used to have a sign – “wag vir groen”.
And some common words/expressions I recall:

- Mdala is an old man or elder
- Asseblief man (said with feeling) is please, I really want this to happen.
- Aikona is misbelief
- Maningi hunahuna is big trouble
- just now is sometime in the future, now now is straight away
- moenie worry nie – don’t worry
- mushi sterek (Rhodie slang?) very nice – sterek coming from the Afrikaans, sterk,
meaning strong.

Is the term laat lammetjie used among non English and Afrikaans speakers? Like would a Xhosa speaker typically know the term and use it if appropriate?

Yes, Southern African slang is a real melting pot of languages from far and near.
We would talk of an Indaba meaning a meeting to discuss a problem (from siNdebele/siZulu), while Maningi Indaba in Chilapalapa (or Funigalo) meant Big Trouble. Another slang word with an identical meaning was Hunnahunna, but can anyone please tell me from which language this comes? Please excuse the misspelling. Thanks

Thanks Koos for your “Ja well, no fine” – that’s a classic Southernafricanism!

Virginia, I believe Larney should be Laany, from the Afrikaans word for Avenue, Laan, meaning an upper class area.

Tot siens

Ja well, no fine… don’t know what this means
The Vaalies have hit Durbs, and ‘dis lekker by die see’
Just now….. a indefinite period
A Rhodesian one, maybe Sarth Effriken, ‘strike me the ages ou bee’ means ’what’s the time old pal’
Ek se.. I say
Don’t tune me grief meaning, don’t give me lip!

What’s the correct saying. Moenie (twice five or twice figh) met my nie. Meaning don’t argue with me.

I am trying to identify a word used by my late father. It sounded something like
“Mxhoxho” or “zhozho”. It was used to refer to “ the big guy” or the “big chief”.
Please help find the word. It could be a Zulu word.

what about Soutie – short for soutp..l

for “Ubuntu”, good single word approximations might include “neighbourliness”, “communion or community”, “cameraderie”.

What about the English words for things like
“Robot” – Traffic Light
“Circle” – Roundabout
“Trunk” – Boot
“Slap Chips” – Deep Fried Potato Chips
“Dop” – Failing A Test
"

A few here:
Larney: fancy, nice. As in “I’m not dressed for that larney restaurant.”

Gatvol: fed up, had enough. “I’ve had a gatvol of your nonsense.” I won’t give you the literal translation, it’s too filthy.

Pardon me if my spelling is off. I’m actually American :)

@Tyler and @Medupe It is actually “China” – it comes from cockney rhyming slang: China plate – mate.

Gatvol [ghut-foll]

This one probably comes from the Australian “Gut full” meaning exactly the same

Growing up in the Karoo we had “Wag ‘n bietjie” trees on the farm.

As a child I was asked to call the housemaid Aia Lina. That was in the Western Cape. And it is about 60 years ago. What does “Aia” mean?

@Manolita Doise – You could actually use both “jol” or “lekker”. In the true sense, “lekker” is more correct as it is used to essentially mean “very nice” or “great”, but “jol” usually refers to having a good experience or time with someone than being used to describe something nice/good.

I’d like to tell a friend from Limpopo that his braaivleis was great fun, do I use jol or lekker? This in a written message.

MF in Geneva

Ke sha’p = I’m good or OK
Sho’t left = taxi lingo for when you want to get out around the corner.
Cool / cold drink = soda
Bakkie = Pickup truck
Yoh!/Tjoh = reaction to surprise or shock
‘Phone me’ = call me or give me a ring
“must” = often used in place of ‘should’
Jozi = Johannesburg
Mzansi – South Africa

Robot meaning Traffic Light

Oh no! you forgot nee how which means you don’t say or a informal curse you might ponder on.

@tracy, “ousie” is actually a Tswana word for “aunty”.
You can see how somebody would misunderstand and think it means “maid” because of South Africa’s incredibly racially and economically divided society – with many Tswana people having to work as maids and the people they work for calling them “ousie” out of respect.

Then of course there are:

Takkies – loafers/trainers

Naarjie – satsuma mandarin

Slops – flip flops

Granadilla – passion fruit

Bringel – egg plant (also used in India)

Pooitjie [kos] – stew cooked on a three footed iron pot

Sap – fruit juice

Pap en wors- maize polenta like dish with sausage

I’m sure there is more but cannot think of any.

Was thinking that the other one that is really useful is “ungaas” from the isiZulu /angazi/ meaning “I don’t know”..

Pitch /pitch up…. not very know for foreigners if you ask did someone pitch…they think of sport!

@Maggie What a fantastic idea! We don’t have anything like this at the moment, but we will get our team to work on a separate blog for this. Do you have any specific words you’re looking for context on?

@deby A cokie pen is actually a “Koki pen” and they are a type of colour marker pens with brush ink paint (usually non-toxic in nature and often used by kids).

Hi, would it be possible to put some of these words within sentences to see how they would fit? Or perhaps you can refer me to where I can hear colloquial.
Many thanks
Maggie