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By teal_dx
#240313 I came across this on google and figured it might be useful to start a South Africa translation thread, similar to the Europe Translation Thread in the European section of the forum. This could be a fun thread, feel free to add to or clarify any of these :thumb:

Note: In many words derived from Afrikaans, the letter "g" is pronounced in the same way as the "ch" in the Scottish "loch" or the German "achtung" - a kind of growl at the back of the throat. In the pronunciation guides below, the spelling for this sound is given as "gh".

Here is your quick guide to learning some local words...

ag (agh) - Generally used at the beginning of a sentence, to express resignation or irritation, as in: "Ag no man! What did you do that for?"

babbelas (bub-buh-luss) - A hangover

bakkie (buck-ee) - a pick-up truck

biltong (bill-tong) biltong (bill-tong) - This South African favourite is dried and salted meat, similar to beef jerky, although it can be made from ostrich, kudu or any other red meat

boerewors (boor-uh-vors) - Literally, farmer's sausage. A savoury sausage developed by the Boers - today's Afrikaners - some 200 years ago, boerewors is South African food at its most traditional

bru (brew) A term of affection, shortened from Afrikaans broer, meaning "brother". An example would be "Hey, my bru, howzit?"

café (kaf-ay, kaff-ee or kayff) The ubiquitous small neighbourhood convenience store, often found on street corners and stocking cigarettes, cold drinks and newspapers

china - To most people China is the country with the largest population in the world, but to a South African it can mean something entirely different. China means good friend, as in "This oke's my china". It's one of the few Cockney rhyming slang words to survive in the country, coming from "china plate" = "mate"

chommie - Friend, from the English chum

chow - Eat : "What do you guys want to chow?

cooldrink, colddrink - This is the common term for a soda, such as Coca-Cola. Ask for a soda in South Africa and you will receive a club soda

deurmekaar (dee-oor-muh-car) An Afrikaans for confused, disorganised or stupid, as in "He's a bit deurmekaar

dinges (ding-us) - A thing, thingamabob, whatzit, whatchamacallit or whatsizname: "When is dinges coming around?"

dop (dawp) - An alcoholic drink: "Can I pour you a dop?" It can also mean

droewors (droo-uh-vors) - Dried boerewors, similar to biltong

dumpie - A South African beer served in a brown 340ml bottle

Durbs - The city of Durban

eina (ay-nuh or ay-nar) - Ouch! Can also mean "sore".

eish (aysh) - Used to express surprise, wonder, frustration or outrage: "Eish! That cut was eina!"

frikkadel (frik-kuh-dell) - A traditional meatball

gatvol (ghut-foll) - Taken from Afrikaans, this means fed up, as in "Jislaaik, china, I'm gatvol of working in this hot sun." Translation: "Gee, my friend, I'm fed up with working in this hot sun."

graze - Eat

hey - The popular expression hey can be used as a standalone question meaning "pardon" or "what" - "Hey? What did you say?" Or it can be used to prompt affirmation or agreement, as in "It was a great film, hey?"
howzit - A traditional South African greeting that translates roughly as "How are you?", "How are things?" or simply "Hello"

is it (as one word: izit) - An expression frequently used in conversation and equivalent to "Is that so?"

ja (yaa) - Yes

jislaaik (yis-like) - An expression of outrage or surprise: "Jislaaik, I just saw Elvis!"

jol (jawl) - A versatile word with many meanings, including party, disco, having fun, or just thing

Jozi (jo-zee) - The city of Johannesburg, South Africa's largest city, which is also known as Joburg or Joeys

just now - If a South African tells you they will do something "just now", they mean they'll do it in the near future - not immediately: "I'll do the dishes just now."

kif - Cool, neat, great or wonderful. From the Arabic kayf, meaning enjoyment or wellbeing

koeksister (kook-sister) - A traditional Malay - and now also Afrikaner - sweet, made from twisted yeast dough, deep fried and dipped in syrup. The right-wing enclave of Orania in the Northern Cape even has its own statue to the koeksister. The word comes from the Dutch koek ("cake") and sissen, meaning "to sizzle"
koppie (kor-pee) - A small hill

laduma! (la-doo-mah) - A popular cheer celebrating goals scored at soccer matches, from the isiZulu for it thunders

lappie (luppie) A cleaning cloth

lekker (lekk-irr with a rolling r) Nice, good, great, cool or tasty

mal (mull) - Mad, from the Afrikaans

mampara (mum-puh-rah) - An idiot, a silly person. From the Sotho languages

mampoer (mum-poo-er) - Extremely potent brandy made from peaches or other fruit, similar to the American moonshine

mealie (pronounce mih-lih) - Maize or corn. A mealie is a maize cob, and mealie meal is maize meal, the staple diet of South Africa, which is mostly cooked into pap. From the Afrikaans mielie

moegoe (moo-ghoo) - A fool, buffoon, idiot or simpleton

naartjie (nar-chee) - The South African word for tangerine

now-now - Shortly, in a bit: "I'll be there now-now."

oke, ou - A man, similar to guy or bloke. The word ou (oh) can be used interchangeably

pasop (pus-orp) - An Afrikaans word meaning "beware" or "watch out".
pavement - South Africans walk on pavements and drive cars on the road (at least that's the idea). The pavement is the sidewalk

rand - The South African currency, which is made up of 100 cents

robots - Traffic lights

rock up - To arrive somewhere unannounced or uninvited. It's the kind of thing friends do: "I was going to go out but then my china rocked up."

rubbish bin (alternatively dustbin or dirt bin) - Garbage can

sangoma (sun-go-mah) - Traditional healer or diviner

sarmie - Sandwich

scale, scaly - To scale something means to steal it. A scaly person is not to be trusted

shame - Broadly denotes sympathetic feeling. Someone admiring a baby, kitten or puppy might say: "Ag shame!" to emphasise its cuteness.
sharp - Often doubled up for effect as sharp-sharp!, this word is used as a greeting, a farewell, for agreement or just to express enthusiasm.

shebeen - A township tavern, illegal under the apartheid regime, often set up in a private house and frequented by black South Africans. The word is originally Gaelic

shongololo - Large brown millipede, from the isiZulu ukushonga, meaning "to roll up"

sjambok (sham-bok) - A stout leather whip made from animal hide

skelm (skellem) - A shifty or untrustworthy person; a criminal

skinner (skinner) - Gossip, from Afrikaans. A person who gossips is known as a skinnerbek: "Jislaaik, bru, I'm going to donner that skinnerbek for skinnering about me." Translation: "Gee, my friend, I'm going to hit that guy for gossiping about me."

skollie (skoh-li) - Gangster, criminal, from the Greek skolios, meaning crooked

skrik - Fright: "I caught a big skrik" means "I got a big fright"

skrik vir niks - Scared of nothing

slap chips (slup chips) - French fries, usually soft, oily and vinegar-drenched, bought in a brown paper bag. Slap is Afrikaans for "limp", which is how French fries are generally made here

smaak stukkend - Love to bits. In Afrikaans smaak means like, and stukkend means broken

smokes - Cigarettes

sosatie (soh-saa-tee) - A kebab on a stick

stoep (stup) - Porch or verandah

stompie - A cigarette butt. From the Afrikaans stomp, meaning "stump". The term picking up stompies means intruding into a conversation at its tail end, with little information about its content
stroppy Difficult, uncooperative, argumentative or stubborn

takkies - Running shoes or sneakers. Fat takkies are extra-wide tyres

tannie - (tunny) An Afrikaans word meaning "auntie", but also used for any older female of authority

taxi - Not a metered car with a single occupant, but a minibus used to transport a large number of people, and the most common way of getting around in South Africa

toppie - Old man

veld (felt) - Open grassland. From the Dutch for "field"

voetsek (foot-sak) - Go away, buzz off

vrot (frot) - Rotten or smelly

vuvuzela (voo-voo-zeh-lah) - A large, colourful plastic trumpet with the sound of a foghorn, blown enthusiastically by virtually everyone in the crowd at soccer matches. According to some, the word comes from the isiZulu for "making noise"

windgat (vint-ghut) - Show-off or blabbermouth. Taken from the Afrikaans, it literally means wind hole
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By Mr Rattles
#240330 @ Teal dx thanks for putting a flag up for us we really do appreciate it

secondly this post is brilliant I laughed so loud i almost fell off my horse,

awesom post bru :popcorn: :eekdance:
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By Simmons
#240403
teal_dx wrote:it sounds like you guys are really laid back and never in a hurry to be anywhere on time :thumb:


That is the people 4rm Cape Town(Kaap) that is so laid back.
Jozi(Johannesburg)is hectic man
Nice post.
Just a little FYI the different cities in SA also have there own slang.These mentioned might be like your standardised slang,but here is Cape Town we have a messed up slang that keep changes sometimes.
Is mostly gang related slang :thumb:

This should be a sticky :woot: very informative
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By #ROBIN#
#240418 fokket, this is a jas thread maybru. salute teal_dx, you must stiek uit here then we can a buy a dyte, maybe a gatsby cut in four.

after that we maarch to the beach chaise kinnes. then we line to the dices and give a few mense pak

Salute bru. :hehe: :D
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By Riekert
#240421 Epic stuff! haha laughed my ass off.

@ Robin - Hahaha dude! even I sukkel'd to read that! hahaha
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By #ROBIN#
#240423
Riekert wrote:Epic stuff! haha laughed my ass off.

@ Robin - Hahaha dude! even I sukkel'd to read that! hahaha


let teal try to translate it before anyone helps him :thumb:
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By swich
#240426 lol @ that

yeah each area has its own slang. like in JHB(jozi) we so "bro" same as "bru"
in Durbs it is "Bra"
and capetown its Bru. but more like "brooooooooooooo"(brew) but all slow and laid back

JHB is where the most money is made. so it is a hecktic town thing happen now. fast paced lifestyle.

Durnban is like jhb but things take there time. durban is also full of indians. they settaled there about 100 years ago. so they speak there own slang that is hard for some of us locals to even grasp.

and then there is capetown. the laid back tomorrow is another day sort of slow, when ever it happens is cool with us...sort of place.

lol most of the guys are from CT here. but im from the hectic fast paced JHB.

oh one more thing JHB has another city joined to it. Petoria. we at 5500ft(second highest city in the world) above sea level so na builds suffer alot up here. we also call JHB "the reef" as this is where some of the biggest golf reefs where in the world.
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By #ROBIN#
#240429
swich wrote:lol @ that

yeah each area has its own slang. like in JHB(jozi) we so "bro" same as "bru"
in Durbs it is "Bra"
and capetown its Bru. but more like "brooooooooooooo"(brew) but all slow and laid back

JHB is where the most money is made. so it is a hecktic town thing happen now. fast paced lifestyle.

Durnban is like jhb but things take there time. durban is also full of indians. they settaled there about 100 years ago. so they speak there own slang that is hard for some of us locals to even grasp.

and then there is capetown. the laid back tomorrow is another day sort of slow, when ever it happens is cool with us...sort of place.

lol most of the guys are from CT here. but im from the hectic fast paced JHB.

oh one more thing JHB has another city joined to it. Petoria. we at 5500ft(second highest city in the world) above sea level so na builds suffer alot up here. we also call JHB "the reef" as this is where some of the biggest golf reefs where in the world.


with that said, cape town has the best hunnies, while we laying back they laying on top of us :D
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By swich
#240430 capetown is good nice honeys down there. dude you need to come up to hatheild some time. thats all i need to say.
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By Mr Rattles
#240433 Salute for lunch time in South Africa :thumb:

this is a Cape Town style gatsby( notice the size of the golfs bonnet compared to the light lunch time snack )
Image

This is a South African styled braai, all thats missing is a dop
Image
User avatar
By teal_dx
#240449
#ROBIN# wrote:fokket, this is a jas thread maybru. salute teal_dx, you must stiek uit here then we can a buy a dyte, maybe a gatsby cut in four.

after that we maarch to the beach chaise kinnes. then we line to the dices and give a few mense pak

Salute bru. :hehe: :D


I got the part about splitting the big sandwich :thumb:

I think I understood the part about going to the beach to check out the women there. The rest I have no idea :lol:

And that food posted above me is making me hungry right now! [smilie=brushteeth.gif]
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By Mr Rattles
#240451 Teal maybe you got a little South African in you cause you were able to understand that haha
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By #ROBIN#
#240684
teal_dx wrote:
#ROBIN# wrote:fokket, this is a jas thread maybru. salute teal_dx, you must stiek uit here then we can a buy a dyte, maybe a gatsby cut in four.

after that we maarch to the beach chaise kinnes. then we line to the dices and give a few mense pak

Salute bru. :hehe: :D


I got the part about splitting the big sandwich :thumb:

I think I understood the part about going to the beach to check out the women there. The rest I have no idea :lol:

And that food posted above me is making me hungry right now! [smilie=brushteeth.gif]


lol, i said fuckit what an awesome thread bru. You should come to S.A then we buy food, maybe a gatby cut in four

after that we go to the beach to pick up chicks, then we go to the street races/drags to give them hiding

cool bru
lol. guys that use these words are mostly gham (you do not want to be gham) they have no front teeth and have red hair etc and always wearing fake gold. speak to a girl like this you will get no action.

some words we normal guys will use is kak; awe (a greeting) etc. :thumb:
User avatar
By Simmons
#240688
Mr Rattles wrote:Salute for lunch time in South Africa :thumb:

this is a Cape Town style gatsby( notice the size of the golfs bonnet compared to the light lunch time snack )
Image

This is a South African styled braai, all thats missing is a dop
Image


Rattles where you buy that dyt?Nogal didnt eat a geba in a long time :thumb: