A “Mini Dictionary”

As you may already know, South Africa has 11 official languages. That’s a lot for one country! As English is one of eleven, it’s easy for travellers from all over the globe to communicate efficiently. However, in true South African style, not only do we have our terms for explaining time, such as now-now and just now, but we also have many other words that are taken from one or more of the official languages that are good to know or even just worth going through for a light-hearted read.

Here I share some fabulous expressions for each letter of the alphabet:

An A – Z of South African words and expressions:

A

Ag. Ag, pronounced ach. This is an expression of annoyance or exasperation. “Mom! The dog ate my homework.” Ag, no, man!
Aikona! A term derived from Zulu and Xhosa languages, meaning “no” or “not at all.” Used to express disagreement or refusal. “Are you ready to leave?” Aikona, not yet!

B

Babbelas. A term derived from the Zulu word ibhabhalazi, meaning hangover. See D – Dop.
Bakkie. A beloved vehicle cherished by South Africans nationwide. Whether navigating city streets or rugged terrain, this pickup truck, known as a bakkie, is a versatile companion. Perfect for farm work, national park adventures, and camping trips, its flatbed doubles as a makeshift bed when completed with a comfy mattress.
Boet / Bru. Man to man, a best friend who is like your brother.
Braai – a barbeque. South Africans love to braai, no matter the weather or the day. You can read about it here.

C

Chommie. When someone calls you their chommie, you’re their friend or buddy. Kids have lots of chommies at school or sports chommies they team up with for rugby, soccer, or cricket matches.

D

Dop. A dop is an alcoholic drink, especially a glass of brandy & coke. You have a dop with your chommie when you’re at a braai, a sports game, or around the fire in the bush. Too much dop will leave you with a horrible babbelas.

E

Eish. An exclamation of surprise, similar to “oh my!”. Burnt the meat on your braai? Eish! The loadshedding just kicked in as you put in a load of laundry? Eish!
Eina! Pronounced ay-na, eina is a cry of pain. Sore, like when you cut your finger, it’s eina!

F

Faff. When someone wastes time or procrastinates. “Hurry up and stop faffing!”
Fundi. A word used to describe someone with a lot of knowledge or an expert in a field, like a professor, or a mastermind = a fundi.

G

Gogga. Typically any kind of insect or bug, whether you know what it is or not. Beatles, moths, miggies – they’re all goggas.
Gatvol! Pronounced ghat-foll. An Afrikaans word used to describe when you’ve had enough of something, or when you’ve reached your limit in a situation. You could be gatvol of load-shedding, traffic, or even someones bad attitude!

H

Haibo! A zulu word, pronounced hi-boh, is used to express something unbelievable, surprising or disbelieving. “I had 76 goggas all over me!” Haibo!
Howzit! How we greet informally. Howzit does not always need a response, like saying a quick “hi,” but is often answered with Lekker, thanks!

I

Isit? Used as a shortened version of is it, or really, and often used to seek confirmation or express surprise. “Eish, we saw so many lions on our trip to the bush!” – Isit?

J

Ja-nee. A colloquial expression meaning “yes-no” is used to express acknowledgement or confirmation, or to disagree with someone. I know that this probably doesn’t make sense using a positive and a negative in one, but, alas, it exists. “Yoh, it’s hot today!” Ja-nee. “Would you like to visit on Friday?” Ja-nee, I don’t know.
Jinne! Expresses surprise, shock, or awe. Your son just scored his first try in a rugby match. Jinne, that’s fantastic!
Jol. A mix of fun and excitement, or a good vibe. Hanging out with your friends at a braai, dancing the night away, at a party, or anywhere where you’re having an unforgettable time can be classified as a jol.

K

Klippies. Literally translated from Afrikaans, it means small stones. However, it’s the colloquial name of a brandy, Klipdrift. Often enjoyed as a dop, Klippies & Coke.
Kiff. Used to describe something cool or awesome. And when something is really great, it can be lekker kiff!

L

Laduma! A Zulu term used during soccer matches and an appropriate term meaning “it’thunders”—commonly shouted by fans to celebrate a goal. Laduma is exactly what the stadiums sound like during intense matches.
Laaitie. Pronounced lighty. A young person, usually a boy. I have three sons, meaning I have three laaities.
Lekker. Everything in South Africa is referred to as lekker. Whether it’s pleasant, enjoyable, or tasty, a fabulous holiday, gorgeous weather, good company, a fun day out, and delicious food = lekker!

M

Mielie. The word for corn or maize. Green mielies, canned creamed mieles, mielies on the braai.
Moerse. The Afrikaans word for huge. Expresses greatness as in, ‘n Moerse lekker jol! (a really great time)

N

Neh. Meaning “really?” “right?” or “is that so?” Often used at the end of a sentence to seek confirmation: It’s a beautiful day, neh?, or it can sometimes be used sarcastically, in disagreement or skepticism: Oh, you’re the fundi now, neh?

O

Oke. An oke generally refers guy or a man. A good oke will be your chommie and you learn to stay away from bad okes. Note: not oaks – those are trees and all oaks are good.

P

Padkos. Snacks or provisions for a journey. No road trip is complete without some homemade sarmies, biltong, fruit, and a flask of coffee, all packed in the car as your padkos (directly translated to “road food”).

Q

Quagga. An extinct subspecies of the zebra. It’s not a slang word, but it’s native to South Africa.

R

Robot. Traffic lights!

S

Sarmie. A sandwich. Sarmies are packed in for school lunches and padkos, and when a cheese, tomato, and onion sarmie is grilled over the braai, it’s called a braaibroodjie.
Shap shap! Meaning “all good”. For example, “I’ll pick you up at seven?” Shap shap!
Shebeen – a bar or tavern, particularly in the townships.
Shongololo. Derived from the Zulu and Xhosa languages, a shongololo is a millipede, a common sight in South Africa, particularly after rainfall. It’s also referred to as a gogga. And also a nickname for my children’s aunt whose name is Laura, or Lau-Lau. She’s now “Shongololo”.

T

Tekkies. Sneakers or athletic shoes. Everyone loves a good, comfortable pair of tekkies to wear for sports, or casual days out and about. You’ll even find a shoe store with the same in its name.

U

Ubuntu. Pronounced o-boon-too, there is no single word to translate it to, but means human kindness and interconnectedness: “I am because we are.”

V

Voetsek! Go away. It isn’t very kind and I don’t advise telling people to voetsek, but it’s used jokingly between friends and family. When you’re afraid of animals, you can ask it to voetsek when it comes too close. You may hear someone shouting voetsek when being chased by a dog.
Vrot. Rotten or spoiled. No one likes vrot tomatoes.

W

Wors. A South African spiced sausage, traditionally served at a braai or on bread rolls known as boerie rolls. Boerewors is delicious, and there’s nothing quite like it in the whole world. I can speak the truth now since I’m basically living in sausage country. Austria might have an incredible variety of sausage, but Austria does not have wors, so South Africa definitely wins in this meat department.

X

Xhosa Click. One of South Africa’s official languages, spoken predominantly in the Eastern Cape, and also a famous Xhosa song, called The Click Song by Miriam Makeba. The click refers to the distinctive clicking sounds used in the Xhosa language. Xhosa is one of many languages that incorporates click consonants into its phonology.

Y

Yebo, Yebo Yes! Yebo is yes in Zulu, a positive acknowledgement used by all, even the double positive yebo yes for emphasis. Would you like to come over on Friday night? Yebo. Should we have a braai? Yebo yes!
Yoh! The dramatic version of “wow”. Yoh, Saffas have such a lekker way of expressing themselves!

Z

Zamalek. A nickname for a popular South African beer, Carling Black Label, is popular in townships but may be enjoyed by any of your chommies at a braai.

Ag, ja, neh! What can I say? South Africans have a colourful way of expressing emotions, confirmations, and a unique vocabulary (with many other expressive words I’d rather not mention here). I hope that one day, traveller, you’ll be immersed in delightful South African conversation. Except for Quagga, you’ll probably never need to use that.

Until next time, stay lekker!