World Cup Language
Posted on June 10th, 2010by Michelle
In Hints and Tips | 2 Comments »
With the football World Cup starting tomorrow, it’s time to take a look at some South African slang.
The slang is taken from South Africa’s 11 different languages, which all have constitutionally guaranteed equal status. These languages reflect the diversity of the country, and are:
Afrikaans
English
IsiNdebele
IsiXhosa
IsiZulu
Sepedi
Sesotho
Setswana
SiSwati
Tshivenda
Xitsonga
In addition a number of other languages are spoken including Khoi, Nama and San languages, sign language, and some indigenous creoles and pidgins.
Here are some examples of slang – I particularly like ‘chips! Chips!’:
Babbelas (bub-a-lars). Hangover – usually rather a bad one. From the isiZulu word for hangover isibhabhalazi. “Hello, hello. Great party last night. How’s your head? Are you a bit babbelas?”
Bra (brah) or bru. Nothing to do with underwear at all, but an informal term for “my friend” or “mate”, deriving from “brother”. ‘He’s my bra but that team he supports is rubbish.” Bru stems from the Afrikaans for brother, broer.
Chips! Chips!. Nothing you’ll find in the kebab shop around the corner but an expression of alarm or warning. “Chips! Chips! He’s off-side”
(Source: The Guardian)
2 Responses
[…] Last week I brought you such gems as ‘chips! Chips!’ – now it’s time for some more useful terms: BLIKSEM (BLUK-SEM): If you’re in a pub and you accidentally spill a beer belonging to a man with a thick neck, he may say: “Do you want me to bliksem you?” Don’t respond. Just run. Run for your life. It’s the Afrikaans word for hit or strike or punch. […]
[…] Africa has 11 different official languages. Many children speak Zulu at home but are taught in English at school. It is hoped the dictionary […]