| Bag |
Refers to kissing someone or hooking up with them. Can be used as Did you bag? or Did you get baggings? meaning Didyoukissormake-out with someone?.
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| Bakkie |
A utility truck, pickup truck or ute in Australia
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| Bergie |
Refers to a particular subculture of vagrants in Cape Town (from Afrikaans berg (mountain), originallyreferringtovagrantswho sheltered in the forests of Table Mountain.) Increasingly used in other cities to mean a vagrant of any description.
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| Biltong |
Cured meat, similar to jerky
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| Bioscope |
Cinema, movie theatre (now dated)
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| Biscuit |
Same as American cookie
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| Bladdy |
South African version of bloody, from the Afrikaans blerrie
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| Boerewors |
Spicy sausage from (Afrikaans) farmer-sausage (usually made with a mixture of beef and pork)
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| Book of life |
National identity document (now dated)
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| Braai |
A barbecue, to barbecue (from Afrikaans)
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| Brinjal |
Eggplant (from Portuguese berinjela, also used in Indian English)
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| Buck |
A Rand
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| Bundu |
A wilderness region, remote from cities (from Shona bundo, meaning grasslands)
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| Bunking |
As used in the UK, playing truant, skipping school/class
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| Bunny chow |
Loaf of bread filled with curry, speciality of Durban, particularly Durban Indians
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| Cafe |
When pronounced /kæ?fi?/ refers to a convenience store not a coffee shop (originally such stores sold coffeeand otherbasic items)
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| China |
(e.g. howzit my china?) - rhyming slang for mate derived from Chum
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| Chips |
Used for both French fries and potato crisps
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| Circle |
Traffic circle or roundabout
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| Clutch pencil |
A mechanical pencil
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| Coloured |
Refers to typically brown skinned South Africans of mixed European and Khoisan or black and/or Malayancestry.
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| Cool drink, cold drink |
Soft drink, fizzy drink not necessarily chilled
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| Costume |
Besides meaning attire worn to a dress-up party/play it also refers to a bathing suit (short for swimmingcostume or bathing costume), sometime abbreviated cozzie also used in Britain.
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| Dagga |
Marijuana, dag-gah, dagca (similar in pronunciation to an Arabic herb)
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| Dam |
Also used to mean a reservoir
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| Donga |
A ditch of the type found in South African topography (from Zulu, 'wall')
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| Erf plural erven |
A plot of land for a building (from Cape Dutch).
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| Garden boy |
A male gardener (of any age), (Commonly used by older white South Africans, now considered politicallyincorrect)
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| Geyser |
Domestic water boiler
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| Globe |
As formerly used in Britain, a light bulb
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| Hey? |
Similar to eh? or huh?
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| Homeland |
Under apartheid, typically referred to a self-governing state for black South Africans
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| House |
A free-standing dwelling. Usage differs from the UK, where a house is not free-standing, unlike a bungalow.
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| Howzit |
Hello, how are you, good morning (despite being a contraction (grammar) of 'how is it', howzit is almost exclusivelya greeting, and seldom a question)
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| Indaba |
Conference (from Zulu, 'a matter for discussion')
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| Is it? |
An all purpose exclamative, can be used in any context where really?, uh-huh, etc. would be appropriate; for example: I'mfeeling pretty tired. Is it?. Often contracted in speech to izit
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| Ja well no fine |
Expression of indifference or ambivalence.
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| Jam |
Can also be referred to as having a good time, partying, drinking etc. e.g. Let's jam soon
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| Jol |
Another term more commonly used for partying and drinking. e.g. It was a jol or I am jolling with you soon.
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| Just now |
Idiomatically used to mean soon, later, or in a short while, but unlike the UK not immediately.
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| Kief |
Kiff, kief, adj., indicating appreciation (like cool). Originating from the resin glands of cannabis Kief
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| koki, koki pen, a fibr |
tip (coloured) art pen (from a local brand name)
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| kombi |
a minivan, esp. Volkswagen (from the Volkswagen 'Kombi' van)
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| lekker |
originating from the Afrikaans word for sweet, now meaning nice, pleasant or enjoyable in South African English.
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| location |
an apartheid-era urban area populated by Blacks, Cape Coloureds or Indians (dated, replaced townshipincommonusage amongst Whites, but still widely used by Blacks)
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| main road |
what is generally called a High Street in Britain or a Main Street in North America
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| matric |
school-leaving certificate or the final year of high school or a student in the final year, short formatriculationexemption. Equivalent internationally to A-Levels or Twelfth grade.
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| mielie |
an ear of maize (from Afrikaans mielie)
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| mielie meal |
used for both maize flour and the traditional porridge made from it similar to American grits, the latter alsocommonlyknown by the Afrikaans word pap
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| monkey's wedding |
a sunshower.
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| muti |
traditional medicine.
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| naartjie |
orange-colored citrus fruit with separable segments and skin that is easily peeled (from Afrikaans),similar to aTangerine in Britain
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| now now |
idiomatically used to mean soon (sooner than just now in South Africa, but similar to just now in theUnited Kingdom)
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| Rand |
currency, divided into 100 cents. The plural of rand is Rand, not Rands
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| robot, robots |
besides the standard meaning, in South Africa this is also used for traffic lights. The etymology of thewordderivesfrom a description of early traffic lights as robot policemen, which then got truncated with time.
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| rondavel |
round free-standing building, usually with a thatched roof
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| saami |
a sandwich
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| samoosa |
Indian samosa
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| shame |
an exclamation denoting sympathy as in shame, you poor thing, you must be cold
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| shebeen |
illegal drinking establishment (also used in Scotland)
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| shongololo |
millipede (from Zulu and Xhosa, ukushonga, to roll up)
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| SMS |
a text message sent via a mobile / cell phone.
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| snackwich |
a grilled cheese sandwich (made in a snackwich maker / snackwich machine)
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| sosatie |
a kebab on a stick
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| spanspek |
a cantaloupe (from Afrikaans meaning: Spanish Bacon)
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| spaza |
an informal trading post/convenience store found in townships and remote areas
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| standard |
besides other meanings referred to a school grade higher than grades 1 and 2 (now defunct)
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| State President |
head of state between 1961 and 1994 - now known as President
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| stiffy, stiffy disk |
a 3.5 inch floppy disk, floppy is used exclusively for the old 5.25 inch or larger disks
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| sucker |
used for a popsicle (frozen sucker), a lollipop
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| takkies |
sneakers, trainers (from Afrikaans tekkies)
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| taxi |
shared taxi (usually a minibus taxi) as well as taxicab
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| toasted cheese |
a grilled cheese sandwich, in contrast cheese on toast refers to unmelted cheese on toasted bread.
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| township |
large residential suburb lacking city infrastructure, in particular the areas allocated to non-whiteSouth Africans underapartheid
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| veld |
virgin bush, especially grassland or wide open rural spaces
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plan your trip
SOUTH AFRICAN SLANG
South Africa has 11 official languages. In addition, there are many words unique to this country. This is a list of the more common words that will leave many a visitor puzzled. 
© Copyright 2011 travellingsouthafrica