Great South Africanisms

A

1. A.C. Kermans – Retail clothing store actually called “Ackermans”
2. Ag-ja (pronounced: ‘ach*-yaa’) – Sure
3. Aikona! (pronounced: ‘Eye-kawn-uh) – No!
4. Amped – Excited
5. Arvie – Afternoon
6. Amabhokobhoko (pronounced: ‘Um-muh-baw-kaw-baw-kaw’) / Springboks – South African national rugby side
7. Amaglug-glug (pronounced: ‘Um-muh-glue-glue-g’) – SASOL; South African under 20 football side
8. Amajita (pronounced: ‘Um-muh-jee-tuh’) – Guys

B
9. Baba (pronounced: ‘buh-buh’) – Father
10. Babbalas (pronounced: ‘Bubble-us’) – Hangover
11. Baggies – Boardshorts
12. Bakkie (pronounced: ‘buck-key’) – Pick-up truck
13. Ballie (pronounced: ‘b-ul-lee) – Old person
14. Bankie – Bank bag filled with dope
15. Bell – To phone someone
16. Biltong (pronounced: ‘bill-tong’) – Jerky
17. Bioscope – Movies
18. Bleak – Disappointed
19. Biscuit – Term of affection (i.e. Timmy, you biscuit!) / Cookie
20. Blaps (pronounced: ‘blups’) – Mistake
21. Bliksem (pronounced: ‘blik-sum’) – (Exclamation – similar to ‘Jislaaik’)/ To hit.
22. Blind – Embarrassing
23. Bob – Money
24. Boerewors (pronounced: ‘boo-re-vors’) – Sausage
25. Boet – (Term of affection) Friend
26. Bog - Toilet
27. Bokkie (pronounced: ‘baw-key’) – Girl/woman
28. Boomie (‘boom-me’) / Boomelaar (‘boom-eh-laa-r’) – Homeless person
29. Boot – Trunk
30. Box – Television
31. Braai (pronounced: ‘br-eye) – Barbeque
32. Bru – Friend/person
33. Bundu – Wilderness
34. Bunny Chow – Curry inside a loaf of bread

C
35. Café (pronounced: ‘caf-fee’) – Corner store (pronunciation is most important)
36. Chappies – Bubble-gum
37. Carrots – To get screwed
38. Charf – Joke / Flirt
39. Charles – Castle Lager (Beer)
40. Check – Look
41. Checkers – Plastic carrier bag
42. Cherrie – Woman
43. Cheers – Thanks / Good-bye
44. China – Friend
45. Chips – Look out / A warning / French fries / Crisps
46. Chocolate / Chocolate bar – R20 note
47. Chop – Moron
48. Chorb – Pimple
49. Chorrie (pronounced: ‘Chore-ree’) – Car
50. Cotch – Vomit
51. Circle – Roundabout
52. Classic – Awesome / excellent
53. Clipper – R100 note
54. Coke / Cream Soda – Leaded or Unleaded petrol (refers to the colour coding at the petrol station)
55. Connection – Person (Can be a friend or a vaguely related person)
56. Cool drink – Soda

57. Crash – Sleep
58. Cubby hole – Glove compartment

D
59. Dagga (pronounced: ‘duh-ch*-uh’) – Marijuana
60. De Klerk – R2 coin
61. Deck – Punch
62. Deurmekaar (pronounced: ‘dee-yer-mek-car’) - Confused
63. Dinges (pronounced: ‘ding-us’) – Thing
64. Dodgy – Suspiscious
65. Doss (pronounced: ‘daws’) – Sleep
66. Duck – Leave
67. Disco Biscuit – Ecstasy tablet
68. Dish – Satellite TV dish
69. Doek (pronounced: like ‘book’ but with a ‘d’) – Scarf worn on the head (like a bandana) / cloth
70. Dof (pronounced: ‘dawf’) – Dumb
71. Dolphin – BMW
72. Donga – Ditch
73. Dosh – Cash
74. Dummy – Pacifier

E
75. Eina! (pronounced: ‘ay-nah’!) – Ouch
76. Eish! – Exclamation / confessing confusion

F
77. Flossie (pronounced: ‘Flaw-sea’) - Girlfriend
78. Fong-Kong – Fake
79. Foofy slide – Zip Line
80. Full on – Absolutely
81. Fully – Yes
82. Funagalore (pronounced: ‘Fun-nah-galore’) – Mixture of South African languages

G
83. Gaai (pronounced: ‘ch*-eye’) - Nothing
84. Gafoefel (pronounced: ‘ch*-uh-foo-fill’) – To fidget with / To fool around with
85. Ganja (pronounced: ‘Gun-juh’) – Marijuana
86. Gatsby – Subway sandwich (predominant in Cape Town)
87. Gatvol (pronounced: ‘ch*-ut-fol’) – Fed Up
88. Ghey (pronounced: ‘Ch*-ay’) - Homosexual
89. Gogga (pronounced: ‘ch*-aw-ch*-uh’) – Insect
90. Goof – Swim
91. Goofed – Stoned
92. Gooi (pronounced: ‘ch*-oy’) – Throw / To vomit
93. Graft – Hard work
94. Grammadoelas (pronounced: ‘ch*-ramma-do-lus) – Wilderness
95. Granadilla – Passion Fruit
96. Guff – Fart

H
97. Hayibo! (pronounced: ‘hi-baw’) – (Exclamation/Surprise) Wow!)
98. Half and half – Half brandy, half coke drink
99. Half-tiger – R5 coin
100. Hap (prounounced: ‘Hup’) – Bite of
101. Hectic – Extreme
102. Heita! (pronounced: ‘ay-tah’) – Hi!
103. Higher grade – Reference to our schooling system and is usually used in a derogatory sense when a task is too complex for someone (i.e. China, it’s not that higher grade, just do it!)
104. Hone – Stink
105. Hooter – Car horn
106. Hose – Laugh
107. Howzit! – Hi!


I
108. Izzit / Is it? (pronounced: ‘zawl’) – Oh really?!

J
109. Jags (prounounced: ‘yuch*-s’) – Horny
110. Ja-nee (pronounced: ‘yaa’ ‘knee-ya’) – Equivalent of ‘I don’t know’ / sure
111. Jawelnofine (pronounced: ‘yaa’ ‘well’ ‘no’ ‘fine’) – (Response) Alright
112. Jeet – Leave
113. Jislaaik (pronounced: ‘yis-like’) – Holy Crap!
114. Johnnie Walker – Someone who doesn’t own a car
115. Jol (pronounced: ‘Jawl’) – Party
116. Jozi (pronounced: ‘Joe-zee’) - Johannesburg
117. Juice – Petrol
118. Just now – Later

K
119. Kak – crap
120. Kief (pronounced: ‘keef’) – Cool/awesome
121. Klippies and Kola (pronounced: ‘Clip-peas’ and ‘Cola’) – Brandy and Coke
122. Koki (pronounced: ‘Coke-key’) – Permanent marker
123. Kombi – Minibus / Small van
124. Koppie (pronounced: ‘kaw-pea’) – Small hill / small person’s head
125. Kreepy / Kreepy Krawly – Pool skimmer
126. Kugel (pronounced: ‘Coo-gill’) – Posh women
127. Kwaai (pronounced: “kw-eye’) – Cool
128. Kwaito (pronounced: ‘kw-eye-toe’) – Township Music

L
129. Laduma! (pronounced: ‘La-doom-a’!) – Scoring a goal in football
130. Laaitie (pronounced: ‘light-tea’) – Child
131. Lank – A lot
132. Lappie (pronounced: ‘lupp-pea’) – Cloth
133. Larny – Fancy OR Person/friend (i.e. Howzit my larny?!)
134. Lekker – Cool/awesome
135. Location – Informal settlement
136. Lus (pronounced: ‘lis’) – Craving

M
137. Madiba (pronounced: ‘muh-dee-buh’) – Nelson Mandela (affectionate reference)
138. Mampara (pronounced: ‘Mum-puh-ruh’) – Fool
139. Marmite – South African equivalent of Australian’s Vegemite
140. Matchbox – Typical township house
141. Matric – Final year of high school
142. Meerkat (pronounced: ‘me-yer-kat’) – Mongoose
143. Metro – Traffic officers
144. Mielie (pronounced: ‘me-lee’) – Corn
145. Mif – Disgusting / upset
146. Mission – Awesome / Difficult
147. Moegoe (pronounced: ‘Moo-ch*-oo’) – Idiot / Someone who farts in the bath and then smells it! (Well that’s what I know it as … could be wrong! LOL).
148. Moffie (pronounced: ‘maw-fee’) – Homosexual
149. Moja (pronounced: ‘Maw-juh’) – Good (derived from ‘Mojo’
150. Monsieur Prisay (Pronounced: ‘Monsieur’ ‘pree-say’) – Low to Mid-budget Retail store actually named, “Mr. price”.
151. Mother City – Cape Town
152. Muti (pronounced: ‘Moo-tea’) – Medicine

N
153. Naai (pronounced: ‘n-eye’) – To have sex / No / For sure!
154. Naartjie (pronounced: ‘naar-chee’) – Tangerine
155. Nappy – Diaper
156. Né? (pronounced: ‘neh’) – hey?
157. Niks – Nothing (Afrikaans) / Not (i.e. Niks … I’m not getting the door!)
158. Nine-Nine – Straight (i.e. I told him nine-nine!)
159. Nooit (pronounced: ‘noyt’) – Never (usually used as an exclamation)
160. Now now – Soon

O
161. Oke (pronounced: ‘Oak’) – Person
162. Ola / Ola 7 (pronounced: ‘Aw-la’ ‘seven’) – Hi!
163. One Wiper – Mercedes Benz

P
164. Packet – Carrier bag
165. Pap (pronounced: ‘Pup’) – Porridge / Flat (i.e. My car’s tyre went pap)
166. Parktown Prawn – King cricket
167. Pavement – Sidewalk
168. Pavement pizza – Vomit
169. Pavement special – Mongrel dog
170. P.E.P Boutique – Low-budget retail store actually called ‘Pep’.
171. Phuza (pronounced: ‘Poo-zuh’) – To drink
172. Picking up stompies (See ‘stompie’ for pronunciation) – Eve’s dropping but catching the end of the conversation, ultimately getting the story wrong!
173. Piss-cat – Heavy drinker
174. Plakkies (pronounced: ‘pluck-keys’) – Flip-flops
175. Pomp (pronounced: ‘pawmp’) – To have sex
176. Pondo (pronounced: ‘Pawn-daw’) – R2 (derived from £ (Pound) – but from back in the day when it was ACTUALLY R2 to a Pound!)
177. Pozzie (pronounced: ‘pozz-zee’) – House
178. Pull in! – Come around!

R
179. Raboebie (pronounced: ‘ra-boob-bie’) – Spiderman
180. Robot – Traffic light
181. Rock up – Arrive
182. Rods – Underwear (briefs)
183. Rooibos (pronounced: ‘Roy-bos’) – Tea

S
184. Safe – Cool/awesome
185. Samoosa (pronounced: ‘sum-moose-uh’) – Triangular Indian snack
186. Sarmi (pronounced: ‘saar-me’) – Sandwich
187. Sat (pronounced: ‘Sut’) – Tired/dead
188. Sawubona (pronounced: ‘suh-woo-baw-na’) - Hello
189. Scale – To steal / To jump over
190. Shame – Used normally but also a term of sympathy (i.e. Ag shame, he’s so cute!)
191. Sharp – Fine / Great
192. Shongololo (pronounced: ‘shawng-gaw-law-law) – Millipede
193. Shot – Thanks
194. Shweet – Cool/awesome
195. Sif – Disgusting
196. Sikhona (pronounced: ‘Si-kaw-na’) – Thank you
197. Skat (pronounced: ‘skut’) – Term of affection. I.e. Don’t worry, my skat
198. Skedonk – Battered old car
199. Skinner – Gossip
200. Skollie (pronounced: ‘skol-lee’) – Riff-raff
201. Skop, skiet, en donner (pronounced: ‘skawp’, ‘skeet’, en ‘dawn-ner’) – Fighting
202. Skraal (pronounced: ‘skraa-l’) – Hungry/thin
203. Skyf (pronounced: ‘Skafe’) – Cigarette
204. Slap chips (pronounced: ‘slup’ ‘chips’) – French fries
205. Slip slops – Flip flops (we just had to go and be different!)
206. S.M.S. – Text Message
207. Smaak (prounounced: ‘smaark’) – To like/love
208. Smiri-miri (pronounced: ‘Sm-i-ree’ ‘Mi-ree’) – Smirnoff Vodka
209. Snackwich – A toasted sandwich with an assortment of fillings
210. Snollie (pronounced: ‘Snol-lee’) – Snot
211. Sosatie (pronounced: ‘Soss-sartie’) – Kebab on a stick
212. Space Case – Pencil Bag
213. Spanspek (pronounced: ‘Spun-speck’) - Cantaloupe
214. Spaza – Corner café
215. Spook and Diesel – Spirits (usually cane) and Coke
216. Squatter camp – Informal settlement
217. Squif (pronounced: ‘Skwif’) – Skew
218. Starter Pack – Entry-level car (especially a Toyota ‘Tazz’)
219. Stick (i.e. To ‘stick’ someone) – To sponsor/compensate someone money. Example: ‘Let's go have lunch, I'll stick you’
220. Stiffy – 3 ½ inch floppy disk
221. Stina (pronounced: ‘Stee-nuh’) – R1000 (translated from the Afrikaans ‘baksteen’ meaning ‘Brick’)
222. Stokies (pronounced: ‘stow-keys’) – Slippers
223. Stompie (pronounced: ‘stawm-pee’) – Cigarette butt
224. Strewsbob – Abridged version of ‘As true as Bob’. It basically means, ‘I promise’ or ‘Murphy’s law’. (I.e. And then strewsbob, I got fined – Murphy’s law) OR (i.e. Strewsbob, I broke 5 fingers) … or something lame like that!! (ed. Shit that was a lot tougher to explain than I originally thought!)
225. Sucker – Lollipop
226. Swak - Bad
227. Swimming Costume – Bathing Suit

T
228. Takkies – Sneakers
229. Taxi – Minibus
230. Tiger – R10
231. Tjommie (pronounced: ‘chom-me’) – Friend
232. Tomato Sauce - Ketchup
233. Toppie (pronounced: ‘tawp-pee’) – Old person
234. Torch – Flashlight
235. Trek – Walk / Journey
236. Tsotsi – Gangster
237. Tune (pronounced: ‘Choon’) – I’m telling you / warning you
238. Two Tiger – R20

V
239. Veld – Wilderness
240. Vienna – Hotdog sausages/’Wieners’
241. Voetsek! (pronounced: ‘foot-sack’) – (Derogatory) Go Away!
242. Volksie (pronounced: ‘fawlk-see’) – Volkswagen (usually a ‘Golf’)
243. Vrot (pronounced: ‘frawt’) – Stale (i.e. food past its expiry date) / Disgusting / Weak (i.e. My car is vrot!)

W
244. Walala Wasala (pronounced: ‘Wuh-laa-luh’ ‘Wuh-saa-luh’) – You snooze you lose!
245. Woza Lapa (pronounced: ‘war-za’ ‘luh-puh’) – Come here

Y
246. Yebo (pronounced: ‘yeah-baw’) – Yes
247. Yoh! / Yoh, yoh, yoh! (pronounced: ‘yaw’) – Expression of amazement (i.e. Yoh, I don’t believe it!)

Z
248. Zamalek (pronounced: ‘Zum-muh-leck’) – Carling Black Label (Beer)
249. Zoot suit – Fancy Suit
250. Zuk (pronounced: ‘zik’) – Steal

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The Monty Hall Problem

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