SANParks.org Forums

I would love to hear that.

I think we need to make tracks and get ourselves a doppie.

Dotty I see that the English word 'chum' has become 'chommie' in SA...basically y'know.

I wonder where the word 'braai' comes from? Maybe 'braai vleis' which is barbequed meat?

Nee!! Michel..a doppie? Why not a plain straight forward dop in a dumpie?

Twin overhead hooters and skimmed wheel nuts coming up..fat takkies too!

(I thought Scips might bomb in here and praat the taal with us but maybe he's still chewing his boerie sarmie left over from lunch...)

Praat = talk
Taal = language

Takkies [running shoes]


Now that one I object to. It is only used here by clueless morons who have never jogged or run. To think you can lump running shoes into the casual shoe name of takkies shows ignorance (not you granjan). When I bought my last pair of runnung shoes I enquired about suitable ones and was told "this is a good takkie". I asked for somebody who knew the difference to attend to me. I did not want to buy takkies.


Back to the subject. Have you noticed that they also want to sell you a takkie, and ppl say they have a long/broad foot etc. And the other one?

Over the past few months, I've had several pm's from non-Saffies wanting to know what certain words mean - Afrikaans mainly, but also Zulu and general South African informal language (slang).

So, I thought I'd assist all those who arrive here from overseas by getting South Africans to share our unique vocabulary with others. Please, nothing offensive, friends! Oh, and try to put down the phonetic pronunciation too.

I'll run through the alphabet, of course beginning with A, and ending with Z. As many terms or South African words as you can think of, mites, for a particular letter. When I think the supply of words for an alphabet letter has been exhausted, I'll post the next letter, and so on.

If any non-Saffies know of a word with that letter that they would like to know the meaning of, please get involved by posting it here and asking.

OWN, a few months back I downloaded a Africaans - English/Italian dictionary and have actually used it a lot. Will be great to get some direct info on meaning and how to pronounce.

Can we start with a couple of rude words??

naughty: Andy....


What a great idea OWN...I have googled so many words since I joined.....

Let's begin with the letter "A".

I'll kick this off with:

AG SIES TOG.
Pronunciation: rhymes with Bach Kiss Och (the last word as in the Scottish Och Aye)
Afrikaans for SHAME or POOR THING.
Said when a situation demands sympathy.

CC, if you use Firefox you can download their translator which works just fine.

RR, I suppose this is a very wobbly tightrope. How rude is rude? Perhaps pm them to me and I'll accept or decline?

THIS is a great link to Forum terms

OWN, there is a similar topic South Africa English - a guide for other mother tongues already here.

Maybe I should merge them together.........

Didn't know about that excellent thread, Jazil. If Bush Baptist doesn't mind, then

I have now merged your thread "Lingo of the Land" to here Own. Thanks for starting a new one and therefore bringing this alive again.