South African Vernacular Lesson

http://iluvsa.blogspot.co.uk/2008/04/souf-efriken-vernacular-lesson-101-for.html

So there can't be any cross cultural misinderstandings

Souf Efriken Vernacular Lesson.

Now that so many Saffas are residing overseas, the locals may seemed perplexed when overhearing some of our strange vernacular while we talk around a braai, er, I mean..barbie..er, barbeque.

Being in Aus, I have enough of a hard time accepting ‘trainers’ to mean takkies, and a ‘ute’ to mean a bakkie. Damn, don’t these Aussies know how to speak proper English?

I must say though, their terms are quite colourful too. The Aussies refer to a man’s swimming costume (the Speedo kind) as 'budgie smugglers'. Too much info there buddy. We, Souf Efrikans, on the udder hand Darren, call ours ‘ostrich smugglers’, ifyaknowhatimean.

In the interests of promoting international harmony and facilitating assimilation of all of us one million Souf Efrikens into those foreign societies, a list has been compiled below which should help the locals begin to understand our lingo.

- - -

Ag: Pronounced like ‘ach’ in German. Clear your throat when you get to 'g'! "Ag, no man" - sign of irritation. Many purposes. Like reading this post, ag nee, man.
Aikona: No, never, not on your life.
Babbelas: ('Bub-be-las'). A hangover. Normally referring to a pretty damn bad hangover!
Befok: Wild, crazy, excellent, great! This is used in two ways: "He went befok" (he lost it completely!) or "that's befok!" (that's awesome!).
Bliksem: Strike, hit, punch. "I'm going to bliksem you!" Can also be used as follows: "Bliksem! (Damn!) That was a good game of rugby!". A popular term.
Boytjie: Little boy, or can be used as in: "He's quite a boytjie" - (he's quite the guy!)"
China: A friend, buddy, mate. Very popular term. Can also be used aggressively, as in: "Are you giving me kak, china? - are you giving me ****, mate?"
Dinges: ('Din-gus') a thingamabob, a wotzit or a whatchamacallit.
Doff: Stupid, idiot. It can also be used as a noun. "You doffie" - you stupid ass!
Dop: An alcoholic drink.
Dwaal: To be blank, a state a person gets into sometimes, walking around like a zombie. He’s in a ‘dwaal’.
Eina (ay-nah): Ouch! Widely used. Derived from Afrikaans. Said usually a lot after stubbing toe.
Gesuip ('Ge-sayp'): Drunk.
Graze: Means “to eat"! "Let's go get something to graze".
Howzit? (or hoesit?"): A greeting, equate with the Aussie “G’day”.
Izzit?: Used in place of "is it really?"
Just now: An immense source of amusement for foreigners - it means "very soon", "eventually", or "never". If someone says he will do something "just now" it could be in 10 minutes or tomorrow. Or maybe he won't do it at all.
Kak: ****. And used in the same way.... "Don't talk kak - Don't give me kak".
Klap (klah-p): A slap - "Give him a good snot-klap if he gives you kak".
Lekker: An Afrikaans word meaning ‘nice’, this word is used by all language groups to express approval.
Lightie: a youngster.
Mampara: A fool.
Moffie: A wimp, pansie, naff, weakling, a queer, a gay person.
Oke (or ‘ou’): A guy, chap, bloke.
Park off: To chill out - sit down and relax - "Let's go park off at the beach tonight.
Robots: Yes, it's our term for traffic lights! In my view the correct term. 'Traffic lights' is too long.
Rock Up: To show up, to arrive - "What time should we rock up?"
Snot-klap: A bitch-slap, to hit someone very hard.
Scale: To steal.
Shame: Very common and highly confusing to foreigners: A hugely popular South African expression. "Ag shame, look how cute that baby is!" or "Shame, that's really sad".
Slap chips: When French Fries are thick and long and don't go crispy in the oil - they are soft and stodgy.
Stroppy: Being in a bad mood.
The moer in - (roll the ‘r’): Very angry - "You make me the fokken moer in!".
Voetsek: Get lost, buzz off.

Thanks, Theresa, that's actually quite interesting!

Didn't you uposet someone on another forum by using 'boytjie'? Shame - he should have just asked!

That's interesting Theresa, thank you! Some originating from Dutch/Africaans which might (and does!) puzzle us Brits; and some familiar and used by us Brits too.

I love colourful expressions (so long as they are not offensive).

Doesn't boytjie mean little boy? That's what I always thought. If not, it should do as it sounds cute.

Thanks Theresa

Language and how it evolves is quite interesting. Even different counties in the UK have their own words that others don't use; for example in Wiltshire, where I'm from we still use 'thee' and 'thou' a lot for 'you' and 'yours'. When I first moved to Berkshire (an adjoining county, for those who don't know), no-one knew what I meant if I called someone 'occard' - awkward, in the clumsy sense.

I find some Aussie terms quite endearing, I don't know many S African ones, but I struggle with the American use of our language.

LyndaW wrote:Doesn't boytjie mean little boy?  That's what I always thought. If not, it should do as it sounds cute.

It does mean little boy or you can say it to a male friend as a term of endearment.