SA reads discussion

With our cultural diversity and 11 official languages, South African have a very individual way of speaking.

Some common words:

Lekker- good, cool
Scheme- think
Skollie/ skelm- trouble-maker

Fascinating! I love languages!

Proudly SA: "Ag, shame"
1) When feeling sympathetic towards someone, or
2) When being sarcastic
Go figure...

Ya-well-no-fine
Um...

Tjop (chop)- idiot
As in: don't be a tjop

Skaam, laaitie, skrik, skinner, mal,

Braai = like bar b que, but more rustic. Goes along with beer, wine, potato salad, cole slaw, beetroot salad, greek salad and braai broodjies.
Braai broodjie = a sandwich grilled on the braai with tomato, cheese and onion filling. Variations include apricot jam or Mrs Balls chutney.
Boerewors = sausage made with mix of beef/lamb mince, pork, fat and specific spices.
Biltong = any type of meat ( beef, game) hung up to dry with spices especially coriander.
Droë wors= beef/game sausage hung up to dry

Thanks Irene,
For the non SAns
laaitie- young child, male
Skaam- shy
Skinner- gossip
Thanks Adele for all the food.

striking- get a fright
mal- wild, crazy( can refer to fun) like having a mal time/ good time

Tjommie- buddy, pal

I also like Sommer........ Because
Sometimes the Afrikaans word is so much more expressive or has more emotion!
Oh and by the way, I never learned Afrikaans as I had finished my schooling before arriving in SA. My Afrikaans is via my children and TV and is therefore really poor

But your expressions are fantastic, Irene! If we read any novels originally in Afrikaans, we will check about translations first. Most Afrikaans books are translated, I couldn't read them in Afrikaans either.

My husband and I once spent a weekend in Prince Albert in the middle of the winter. It was freezing! At 8:00 pm every evening our host would get up and say "kom stap" and we all got up and went for a "stap"! I think we may have been too afraid not to as he spoke with such command! I have such wonderful memories of expressions like this!
Kom stap = come walk

Sommer is such a strong Afrikaans word. Luv it!

Mos!
Sort of like just, usually used to add meaning(or annoy my husband.
It's mos a god word
I must get my work done mos

Ne!
Also an exclamation, sort of like that is so
It's mos time to cook supper ne?

Ai tog!
O dear! Much more descriptive

Even our English differs from that in the UK - a traffic circle becomes a roundabout, and robots become traffic lights.

And a jumper is a jersey!

Worst of all: I needed a new knob for the temperature control on my oven.
They laughed their silly heads off.

So funny!!!

The one my patients use: catching on nonsense
This is a euphemistic term for looking for big trouble

Jersey is that place between Philly and New York. My oldest son lives there. I know that the word jumper refers to some sort of clothing: a dress or a sweater or both.

So USA says sweater
UK says jumper
We say jersey

"Catching on nonsense" is great! I think I've been there.

@ Dave- only if the police arrived!

Sies!
Yuck! Disgusting!

O and jelly is a desert eaten with ice cream and custard.
Jam goes on toast- with peanut butter

Snot klap!
I dare someone to explain...

SK is an open handed slap, hard enough to cause mucus to fly out.

Windgat translation?

@ Dave, good literal translation! It implies an unequivocal defeat.

@ Leon: what my mom calls me whenever I drive:-)

I googled snot klap. I like that expression; I used to study martial arts and I remember the experience of a snot klap too well. In 1965 Muhammad Ali knocked out Sonny Liston in the 1st minute of a championship fight. How would you use the expression to describe that situation?

Is a windgat a braggart?

Using snot klap in the boxing example may be too literal, something like: Ali gave the other guy a snot klap.
We use it around rugby: the bokke are going to give (insert team here) a snot klap.
A wind gat is not a braggart! It's a speedster, someone who rushes or is careless. Leon can supply the literal.

A windgat is all of that and more - above all, he/she is very chuffed with the way in which he/she is doing something.

Yes, Windgat can be used to describe someone that is very full of himself and shows off a lot

Lanie- (larney) fancy, sissy
Mugu- (moeg- goe, the g slides in the back of the mouth) dumbass

Thati ( tartey)- mentally unwell

Swaar ........ Brother in law?

Yup!

Also means 'heavy' and there was that wonderful TV advert with the elephants and the soundtrack was 'don't get heavy with him he's my brother'. My husband, Ray, always said it made him think of my brother!

Loved that ad!

Laat lammetjie
Literally late lamb.
I cannot think of a good English equivalent.
This is the child born to parents in their later lives, often has siblings old enough to be parents.
Eg my sister, Jessica, is a laat lammetjie, she is 21 years younger than me.

New term for "laatlammetjie" = pensioenopfokkertjie.

Pensioen is money you get after retirement. Opfokkertjie... Well, something like f.ck upper! Meant in a nice way ;)

Lisa wrote: "Lanie- (larney) fancy, sissy"

Is that what Stanley means when he calls Ben lanie?

Buck wrote: "Lisa wrote: "Lanie- (larney) fancy, sissy"

Is that what Stanley means when he calls Ben lanie?"

In South African Indian/English slang the word laani, (variants: larney, lanie, lahnee) means white man, overseer, boss, rich man and this is the context in which I have taken Stnaley calling Ben 'Lanie'. The word can also be applied as fancy, sissy, posh etc as in 'a lahnee house'.

Thanks Irene, I could not find that and it makes much more sense!

This was quite common in Natal where we had a large influx of Indians brought in for the cane fields and our 'English' has Indian slang also. It confused me in the book and I pictured Stanley as mixed race although this would not have been a common 'mix'.

It may have been used commonly in the seventies. Stanley speaks a lot of 'Tsotsi taal', maybe this was a common expression then. I spent ages on sites looking for the meaning and only got mine above, so very grateful for your input!

No this is/was a word commonly in use in Natal even in 2004 when we left. It is a word I would use even now..... Someone going on a posh holiday would get 'ohh lahnee!' Have a look at page 154 on this link .......So grateful for people doing studies like this.

http://ifa.amu.edu.pl/sap/files/31/11...