Can someone give me a crash course in South African slang from the 1970s to present? If so, I'll be impressed and grateful!
South African slang
- Thread starter RainbowDragon
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South African slang changes every few months. You need someone living in SA at the moment. Slang there also depends on culture and geography.
Kaffa (sp?) = N*gger, that's all I know. A GREAT move about South Africa(and i mean GREAT) is called "Stander" (2003)with Thomas Jane. It's a true story of a bank robber in South Africa crica 70s-early 80s. If it doesn't help with the slang you'll at least get to see an awesome movie.
Still waiting to hear!
Sorry, Rainbow Dragon, my SA pals are busy and haven't replied to my e-mails. Will let you know as soon as they let me know!
Sorry, Rainbow Dragon, my SA pals are busy and haven't replied to my e-mails. Will let you know as soon as they let me know!
depends on what your relating it to. Most of these are 80's/90's
Miff = really disgusting
raging = going to party
lekker = nice
sweet = okay
sies = disgusting
bliksem = to hit;beat the hell out of
moer = same as bliksem
mooi = attractive/well done
"vat hom, fluffie" = very 90's catchphrase; usually sarcastic, frequently used at sports
Keep in mind Saffa's use a combination of english, afrikaans and frequently one or more indigenous language (depending on which region of the country they're from).
eg = gogo (zulu, meaning grandmother) became pretty colloquial after meaning used in a Vodaphone advert.
Miff = really disgusting
raging = going to party
lekker = nice
sweet = okay
sies = disgusting
bliksem = to hit;beat the hell out of
moer = same as bliksem
mooi = attractive/well done
"vat hom, fluffie" = very 90's catchphrase; usually sarcastic, frequently used at sports
Keep in mind Saffa's use a combination of english, afrikaans and frequently one or more indigenous language (depending on which region of the country they're from).
eg = gogo (zulu, meaning grandmother) became pretty colloquial after meaning used in a Vodaphone advert.
From my SA friends.
N.B.
Remember, there is the South African way of speaking (saying no when you mean yes, saying "so long" when you mean "meanwhile", etc.) that is not slang, everybody does it.
We can give you the 80s and some 90s. Most English-speaking teenagers would have used slang words that come from Afrikaans. Some examples below:
N.B.
Remember, there is the South African way of speaking (saying no when you mean yes, saying "so long" when you mean "meanwhile", etc.) that is not slang, everybody does it.
We can give you the 80s and some 90s. Most English-speaking teenagers would have used slang words that come from Afrikaans. Some examples below:
- aag: oh
- ou: guy
- skinder (pronounced skinner): gossip
- naar: queasy
- lekker: any shade of fine to fantastic
- jol: good party
- to jol: to have a good party
- to bunk: to skip school (to this day I don't know how to say that in proper English, the Brits I think say "skive off")
- to swot: to study (usually for an exam)
- to chaff: to charm
- howzit my china: how goes it (to a peer)
- i will chaila: i will go home
- to donner, to bliksem: to beat the **** out of somebody
- hot: sexy
- cool: part of the in-crowd
- to score: to have sex
- to give or get a ride: to give or get a quick meaningless sexual encounter; NOTE: in non-slang to give a ride means to give a lift, so there was a lot of word play going on.
pdr - British kids "bunk off" school as well, though at my Lancashire school playing truant was known as "wagging it".
To "skive off" is more general, and means laziness not necessarily connected with school.
To "skive off" is more general, and means laziness not necessarily connected with school.
Thanks! Has anyone heard of "bok" meaning good or beautiful or somesuch? Has that been around a long time? How would it sound in a sentence?
Er, Evaine?
That message was from my SA pals. Not me! I recognise bunk off, wag, skive, hook it, gone missing, fishing, doing a bunk, etc.
That message was from my SA pals. Not me! I recognise bunk off, wag, skive, hook it, gone missing, fishing, doing a bunk, etc.
More slang.
example of using No meaning Yes.
Person A: "The Pope is Catholic."
Person B: "No, I agree with you entirely."
It doesn't make any sense, but there you go.
The other slang saying that was much in use in the late 80s and early 90s
was: "I'll stick you" meaning "it'll be my treat" or "I'll pay". It took the preposition "for" as in "I'll stick you for lunch". (Say it to a foreigner and they imagine all sort of violent or sexual scenarios.)
Saying "man". As in "Man, it's hot!", "Come on, man, let's get a move on."
Saying "hey" for emphasis: "It's hot, hey."
Same with "shame": "Oh shame, he's soooooo cute!!!"
"Moffie" - a gay man
"Boykie" - a cute guy
"I'll do it just now" - "I'll do it whenever, maybe tomorrow"
"I'll do it now now" - "I'll do it whenever, but sooner than tomorrow"
A "robot" is a traffic light.
example of using No meaning Yes.
Person A: "The Pope is Catholic."
Person B: "No, I agree with you entirely."
It doesn't make any sense, but there you go.
The other slang saying that was much in use in the late 80s and early 90s
was: "I'll stick you" meaning "it'll be my treat" or "I'll pay". It took the preposition "for" as in "I'll stick you for lunch". (Say it to a foreigner and they imagine all sort of violent or sexual scenarios.)
Saying "man". As in "Man, it's hot!", "Come on, man, let's get a move on."
Saying "hey" for emphasis: "It's hot, hey."
Same with "shame": "Oh shame, he's soooooo cute!!!"
"Moffie" - a gay man
"Boykie" - a cute guy
"I'll do it just now" - "I'll do it whenever, maybe tomorrow"
"I'll do it now now" - "I'll do it whenever, but sooner than tomorrow"
A "robot" is a traffic light.
RainbowDragon said:
bok or bokkie can be used as a pet name.eg; "Howzit, bokkie?" (How are you, dear?)
the bok's are the springbucks - the SA rugby team, and south africans love their rugby!
Bok literally means buck, or deer, so it's a shortened version of the longer name, such as Blesbok, Springbok etc.
Another greeting between casual mates would be "Howzit, china?"
"Skat" is also an affectionate term.
Two black South Africans speaking in English:
Person A- Are you sure?
Person B -Sure, sure ( meaning yes i'm sure.)
or Person B - I'm sure (meaning I'm uncertain)
in a sentence - I'm sure you have enough SA slang to work with... meaning, I'm uncertain as to whether you have enough SA slang to work with.
Sharp - okay or fine
Ag shame also means, what a pity.
Person A- Are you sure?
Person B -Sure, sure ( meaning yes i'm sure.)
or Person B - I'm sure (meaning I'm uncertain)
in a sentence - I'm sure you have enough SA slang to work with... meaning, I'm uncertain as to whether you have enough SA slang to work with.
Sharp - okay or fine
Ag shame also means, what a pity.
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SA Slang
Hi I'm a South African Writer
Just caught this and while some of the examples are accurate. Some aren't. Remember SA has many diverse cultures (we have 11 official languages) so the slang you're referring to depends a great deal on what particular grouping you're dealing with - though of course, there are overlaps and with the reintegration of our society, this is becoming more so.
The suggestion of watching "Stander" is a good one - it was set in the 70's if I'm not mistaken.
Should you have any direct queries, feel free contact me on dennisventer(at)hotmail.com though be aware that slang has changed alot since the 70's.
Cheers
Hi I'm a South African Writer
Just caught this and while some of the examples are accurate. Some aren't. Remember SA has many diverse cultures (we have 11 official languages) so the slang you're referring to depends a great deal on what particular grouping you're dealing with - though of course, there are overlaps and with the reintegration of our society, this is becoming more so.
The suggestion of watching "Stander" is a good one - it was set in the 70's if I'm not mistaken.
Should you have any direct queries, feel free contact me on dennisventer(at)hotmail.com though be aware that slang has changed alot since the 70's.
Cheers
Thanks everyone - Umbhali, I'll probably send you an e-mail in the coming weeks. I've been working on another project of late but when I get back to the one involving the SA slang I may send you a short dialogue sample and maybe you can tell me if it has any bearing in reality. . .!
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