 South African Slang |
| |
| Aikona |
Not on your life |
Babelaas
(bub- be- las) |
Baabie - hangover |
| Bakkie |
Pickup Truck |
| Barnie |
Fight, bustup |
| Bergie |
Hobo found in Cape Town |
| Biltong |
Jerky in the US, usually of dried beef, venison or ostrich |
Bliksem or
Donner |
To beat someone up as in "I will bliksem you" |
| Boerewors |
Traditional braai fare - minced meat generally beef with spices in a sausage skin |
| Bossies |
Whacko as in "after too long in the bush he went bossies" |
| Braai |
Traditional cook out on a wood fire. One of the few times you will see SA men cooking and they even have competitions! |
| Bush |
Generally referring to the war in Angola or Namibia, or out in the wild |
| Catch a tan |
Get a suntan |
| Chick, Cherry, stukkie |
All sexist terms referring to women |
| Crash |
Sleep as in "I had a late night I need to crash big time." |
| Dankie |
Afrikaans word meaning thank you used by all language groups. |
| Doff |
Stupid - as in "If you don't know that you must be doff" |
| Dop |
A drink |
| Durban poison or dagga |
Marijuana |
| Dwaal |
Blank stare/zombie |
| Gooi |
Move it! |
| Graze |
To Eat |
| Howzit |
Very common greeting abbreviated "how is it?" |
| Jawl |
A good time as in "What a jawl that party was" |
| Just now / now now |
Very confusing for visitors as it can mean anything from very soon, eventually to never. |
| Lekker |
Afrikaans word meaning nice |
| Nooit (noy -t) |
Never or no way |
| Oke |
Guy |
| Park off |
To relax/chill out |
| Pavement |
Sidewalk |
| Robot |
Traffic Light |
| Rock up |
To arrive, to turn up somewhere. |
| Ag Shame |
Typical expression as in "Ag Shame look at that beautiful puppy". |
| Skelm |
Devious or conniving. |
| Skollie |
Ruffian (generally used in the Cape) |
| Slapchips / slappies |
French Fries |
| Stoep |
Verandah |
| Takkies |
Sneakers, running shoes or trainers |
| Tokoloshe |
Evil spirited small man |
| Vasbyt |
Hang in there |
| Voetsek |
Get Lost |
