List of South African English regionalisms

This is a list of words used in mainstream South African English but not usually found in other dialects of the English language. For internationally common English words of South African origin, see List of English words of Afrikaans origin.

A-B

bakkie

a utility truck or pickup truck. Can also mean a small basin or other container.

bergie

(informal) refers to a particular subculture of vagrants in Cape Town (from Afrikaans berg (mountain), originally referring to vagrants who sheltered in the forests of Table Mountain). Increasingly used in other cities to mean a vagrant of any description.

bioscope

cinema; movie theatre (now dated)

biltong

dried meat, similar to jerky

bladdy

(informal) occasionally heard South African version of bloody (the predominantly heard form), from the Cape Coloured/Afrikaans blerrie, itself a corruption of the English word

boerewors

traditional sausage from Afrikaans "farmer-sausage", usually made with a mixture of beef and pork and seasoned with spices

braai

a barbecue, to barbecue

buck

a rand

brinjal

eggplant (from Portuguese berinjela, also used in Indian English)

bundu

a wilderness region, remote from cities (from Shona bundo, meaning grasslands)

bunny chow

loaf of bread filled with curry, speciality of Durban, particularly Indian South Africans

C-E

cafe

when pronounced /kæˈfiː/ refers to a convenience store not a coffee shop (originally such stores sold coffee and other basic items)

china

(informal) a friend, abbreviated rhyming slang, "china plate", for "mate" also used in Cockney rhyming slang, e.g. "Howzit my China?"

chips

potato crisps by default, but may also used for French fries, which are more commonly referred to as slap chips (pronounced /slʌp/, Afrikaans for drooping, not firm).

circle

traffic circle or roundabout

Coloured

refers to typically brown skinned South Africans of mixed European and Khoisan or black and/or Malay ancestry.

combi

a mini-van, people-carrier, often used as taxis

cool drink, cold drink

soft drink, fizzy drink (not necessarily chilled)

dagga

(pronounced /dæxə/ or more commonly, /dʌxə/) marijuana

dam

also used to mean a reservoir

donga

a ditch of the type found in South African topography (from Zulu, wall)

erf

(plural erfs or erven) a plot of land in an urban area (from Cape Dutch)

F-J

garden boy

a male gardener (of any age), typically used by older white South Africans, but may cause offense to some

geyser

(pronounced /ˈɡiːzər/ or /ˈɡiːzə/) water heater and tank for the home

globe

a light-bulb (also used in Australian and New Zealand English)

gogga

(pronounced /xɔːxʌ/ or /xɔːxʌ/, the latter similar to the Afrikaans pronunciation) a creepy crawly or an insect

homeland

under apartheid, typically referred to a self-governing "state" for black South Africans

hey?

(colloquial) used similarly to "eh?" or "huh?"

howzit

(colloquial) hello, how are you, good morning (despite being a contracted of 'how is it going', howzit is almost exclusively a greeting, and seldom a question)

is it?

(colloquial) Is that so? An all purpose exclamative, can be used in any context where "really?", "uh-huh", etc. would be appropriate, e.g. "I'm feeling pretty tired." "Is it?". Often contracted in speech to "izit".

indaba

a conference (from Zulu, "a matter for discussion")

jam

(informal) can also be referred to as having a good time, partying, drinking etc. e.g. "Let's jam soon"

ja

(colloquial) yes (from Afrikaans "yes")

ja nee

(colloquial) meaning yes, in response to a question: "Ja no, that's fine." (From Afrikaans "ja nee", which is used in the same sense)

jol

(informal, pronounced /dʒɔːl/) another term more commonly used for partying and drinking. e.g. "It was a jol" or "I am jolling with you soon."

just now

idiomatically used to mean soon, later, in a short while, or a short time ago, but unlike the UK not immediately. If you rely on this you may be waiting a long time. There is no sense of urgency, especially in Cape Town, whereas in the corporate Johannesburg environment, "just now" is taken more seriously and will be acted on with more urgency than in Cape Town which is more laid-back.

K-L

kaffir

(derogatory/offensive, pronounced /kæfə/) a black-skinned person (from Arabic kafir meaning non-believer) used as a racial slur

kif

(informal) indicating appreciation, like "cool"

kip

a nap

koki, koki pen

(pronounced /koʊkiː/) a fibre-tip pen (from a local brand name)

lekker

(informal, pronounced /lɛkə/) nice, pleasant, enjoyable (from Afrikaans "nice")

lappie

(informal) a small dishcloth used for cleaning, as opposed to a dishcloth or teatowel

laaitie

(informal) one's own child, or to refer to a young person as a lightweight or inexperienced in something particular

location, lokasie

an apartheid-era urban area populated by Blacks, Cape Coloureds, or Indians. It was replaced by "township" in common usage amongst Whites but is still widely used by Blacks in the form of kasi

M-N

main road

what is generally called a "High Street" in Britain or a "Main Street" in North America

matric

school-leaving certificate or the final year of high school or a student in the final year, short for matriculation

mielie, mealie

an ear of maize (from Afrikaans mielie)

mielie meel, mealie meal

used for both maize flour and the traditional porridge made from it similar to American grits, the latter also commonly known by the Afrikaans word pap

monkey's wedding

a sunshower

muti

any sort of medicine but especially something unfamiliar (Zulu for traditional medicine)

naartjie

a mandarin orange (from Indonesian via Afrikaans), a tangerine in Britain

no

(colloquial) used at the beginning of a sentence or phrase to mean yes, in response to a question: "No, that's fine, I'll meet you there."

now now

(colloquial) idiomatically used to mean soon (sooner than just now in South Africa, but similar to just now in the United Kingdom)

O-R

oukie

a person, similar to "bloke" (man)

poppie

(informal) a ditzy woman (derogatory term), from the Afrikaans word pop, meaning a doll

robot

besides the standard meaning, in South Africa this is also used for traffic lights. The etymology of the word derives from a description of early traffic lights as robot policemen, which then got truncated with time.

rondavel

round free-standing building, usually with a thatched roof

S

sarmie

a sandwich

shame

an exclamation denoting sympathy as in "shame, you poor thing, you must be cold"

shebeen

(also used in Ireland and Scotland) an illegal drinking establishment, nowadays meaning any legal, informal bar, especially in townships

shongololo, songololo

millipede (from Zulu and Xhosa, ukushonga, to roll up)

snackwich

a toasted sandwich made in a snackwich maker/snackwich machine

sosatie

a kebab on a stick

soutie

derogatory term for an English-speaking South African, from the Afrikaans soutpiel (literally "salty penis"), which referred to British colonial settlers who had one foot in England, one foot in South Africa and, subsequently, their manhood dangling in the Atlantic Ocean.

spanspek

a cantaloupe

spaza

an informal trading post/convenience store found in townships and remote areas

standard

besides other meanings, used to refer to a school grade higher than grades 1 and 2 (now defunct)

State President

head of state between 1961 and 1994 - now known as President

stiffy, stiffy disk

a 3.5 inch floppy disk, floppy is used exclusively for the old 5.25 inch or larger disks

sucker

used for a popsicle (frozen sucker) or a lollipop

T-Z

tackies, takkies, tekkies

sneakers, trainers

taxi

standard usage applies, but is more commonly used to refer to a minibus taxi

tickey box, ticky-box

a payphone, derived from "tickey" coin (threepenny coin minted in 1892), as one had to insert a coin to make a call

township

residential area, historically reserved for black Africans, Coloureds or Indians under apartheid. Sometimes also used to describe impoverished formally designated residential areas largely populated by black Africans, established post-Apartheid.

veld

virgin bush, especially grassland or wide open rural spaces