To my ears South African slang is strange. Combining slang words coming from all eleven national languages - particularly Afrikaans, English and Zulu – I sometimes found it difficult to keep up with locals conversation, though most people were happy to take the time to translate.
So before you leave for your trip to South Africa and wonder why the people keep saying “shame“, wonder what you signed up to when you get invited to a “braai” and explained what “sharp-sharp” means before the locals say it in reply to “How are you?”, I wanted to share this quick crash course with you explaining some of the most popular South African slang I heard!
Howzit : One of the most common phrases you’ll hear in South Africa. Howzit is a common greeting meaning “hello” and/or “how’s it going?”
Shame : I was a little confused by this one when I first began talking to a local who said it three or four times in a sentence. Confused, I had to ask him what he meant by it.
South Africans use the word “shame” to sympathise with a person’s misfortune or an objects cuteness. Confusing much?!
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So before you leave for your trip to South Africa and wonder why the people keep saying “shame“, wonder what you signed up to when you get invited to a “braai” and explained what “sharp-sharp” means before the locals say it in reply to “How are you?”, I wanted to share this quick crash course with you explaining some of the most popular South African slang I heard!
Howzit : One of the most common phrases you’ll hear in South Africa. Howzit is a common greeting meaning “hello” and/or “how’s it going?”
- Eg. “Howzit my China?” (How’s it going my friend?)
- Eg. “The food is lekker” (tasty/delicious) /”What a lekker jol” (what a great party)
- Eg. “Lets have a braai” (lets have a BBQ)
- Eg. “Jan broke up with Shelly.” “Izzit??”
- Eg. “We need to turn right at the next robot.”
- Eg. “I have a fever blister.”
- Eg. “Howzit my china?”
Shame : I was a little confused by this one when I first began talking to a local who said it three or four times in a sentence. Confused, I had to ask him what he meant by it.
South Africans use the word “shame” to sympathise with a person’s misfortune or an objects cuteness. Confusing much?!
- Eg. “I fell down the stairs today and now I’ve missed my flight.” “Shame.” (sympathise)
- Eg. “Ag shame, look at that baby!” (cuteness)
- Eg. “Lets go have a dop in the shebeen.”
- Eg. “He was kaal-gat!”
- Eg. “I’ll see you later.” “Sharp-sharp!”
- Eg. “I’ll do it just now”/”I’ll do it now now” (I’ll do it very soon/eventually)
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