| amagoduka (Xhosa) migrant workers; from‚ ukugoduka meaning to go home eg Ndiyagoduka = I am going home |
| askari – East-African soldier or police. Used to describe blacks who enforced colonial / apartheid rule |
| AWB Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (Afrikaans Resistance Movement) an armed Neo-Nazi organisation |
| baas – boss (blacks were expected to use this as a term of address for any white man) |
| bakkie – pickup truck |
| balsak – slang for a duffel bag (literally ball bag, as in scrotum) |
| befokked – fucked |
| bergie – homeless person in Cape Town |
| blerrie – as in English bloody for shock or anger |
| bliksem – bastard |
| boep – pot belly |
| boepens – potbelly |
| boerewors – South African suasage |
| boet – brother |
| boetie – little brother |
| bokbaard – goatee |
| boma – grandma |
| bosberade – “bush council”, a strategy meeting in an isolated venue |
| braaisous – marinade for BBQ |
| brei – refers to the manner some Afrikaans people speak with an uvular “r” |
| Broederbonder – a secret Afrikaans business league |
| broekielace – decorative wrought iron work |
| Buffel a type of armoured caramaqabane – IFP term for communists at the time |
| bunny chow – Durban food in which a bread is hollowed out and filled |
| casspir – type of armoured personnel carrier |
| chakalaka – a spicy tomato and onion mix |
| daggakop – slang for a person, literally – cannabis head |
| doek – headscarf |
| dompas – apartheid era identity document “non-white” South Africans were forced to carry |
| donga – dry watercourse |
| duwweltjies – a thorn (of Tribulus terrestris) |
| dwaal – daze |
| eish! – an exclamation |
| Fapla – People’s Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola |
| fokof – fuck off (Afrikaaans) |
| gat – hole |
| GCM! – a slang exclamation |
| gemors – mess |
| gesuip – get drunk |
| goggas – creepy crawleys |
| gogo – affectionate term for a grandma or any older woman |
| gunge – mess, sticky substance |
| gyppo guts – diarrhoea |
| handlanger – sidekick |
| hendsopper – pejorative word for Afrikaaners who surrendered to the British during the Anglo-Boer war |
| hok – cage |
| igeza – mad |
| imbongi – a traditional praise singer |
| impi – warrior |
| impimpi – a police informer |
| impis – Zulu military formation |
| induna – the chief’s advisor, but on the mines a black overseer |
| induna – the chief’s advisor, but on the mines a black overseer |
| ingcibi – the witchdoctor who does the circumcision |
| intelezi – magic potion of herbs to cleanse |
| intwaso – the process of weird dreams that begins the possession by the ancestors |
| ja-nee – literally: yes-no, a common Afrikaans expression for agreeing with someone |
| jalabia – the long Moslem dress |
| kaffertije – black person, dimunitive form (insulting) |
| kak – shit |
| kak , kakgat – shit; shit trench/hole |
| karoo plain with no water – the large interior desert of South Africa Kei the Kei river |
| kêrels – guys |
| kettie – a slingshot |
| kikoi – an East African cloth worn by men and women |
| kitskonstabels – “instant constable”, referred to new police deployed with little training to shore up numbers |
| klap – slap |
| Klippies – Klipdrift brand of brandy |
| klong – offensive racist term usually applied to a coloured or black youth (from klein (small) + jong (young)) |
| Klova – an insulting term used to taunt someone |
| knobkierie – a club which one throws OR walking stick with a knob at the top used in fighting |
| knobkieries (not knobkerries) – short stick with a knob at the head used in fighting |
| Koevoet – “crowbar”, the term for an elite counter-terrorism squad |
| koppie – hill |
| lappie – rag |
| larnie – fancy (slang) |
| lobola – bride price |
| lobolo – neogtiaion of bride price |
| los poppies – “loose” women |
| makwerekwere makoerekoere – derogatory word for black immigrants |
| mebos – a sweet confection from dried fruit |
| meidenaaier – literally “maid fucker” |
| mielie – corn; corn cob |
| mielies – corn |
| moegoe – idiot |
| moffie – homosexual |
| mofgat – Derogatory for a homosexual, meaning “homo arse” |
| morogo – a wild spinach |
| mpundulubird – a mythical bird |
| muti – African potion for magical strength |
| naai – fuck |
| necklace / necklaced – term used to describe execution using a burning tyre |
| oke – guy |
| oshona – a dry riverbed or plane |
| ou sis – older sister |
| oubaas – old boss, affectionate term for an older white man or patriarch |
| panga – a machete |
| panga(s) – machete |
| pêl – pal |
| piepies – diminutive for penises |
| poephol – arsehole |
| poesboekie – literally – vagina book; softporn magazine |
| pondok – hovel |
| potjie – a stew dish referring to the three-legged cast iron pot it is cooked in |
| rooinek – derogatory term for Enlgishman (literally red neck referring to sunburn) |
| samajoor – sergeant major |
| samp – coarse ground maize |
| shebeen – speakeasy |
| shebeen – a speakeasy |
| silindele – We are waiting expectantly |
| sjambok – a type of whip |
| sloot – a ditch |
| snoek – a type of fish |
| sorrie – sorry |
| soutpiel – salt penis (used for English South Africans, the Afrikaners said they had one leg in Europe and the other in Africa and their penis hanging in the sea) |
| spaza – a convenience store found in African townships and rural areas |
| squeegee – a sponge mop |
| staban – homosexual (derogatory) |
| stayaway(s) – a form of workers’ strike |
| stoep – terrace, veranda |
| stokvel – a savings syndicate |
| stywe pap – thick maize porridge |
| terrs – terrorists |
| tickey-box – phonebooth |
| tjaile – rest time |
| toppie – old man |
| trilby – a type of hat |
| truessbob – “as true as Bob” |
| tshisa nyama – BBQ |
| tsotsi a gangster |
| umlungu – white man |
| umngqusho – porridge (traditional) |
| voetsek get lost (exclamation) |
| watsenaam – what’s his name |
| wena – watch out |
| witdoeke – a vigilante group in the 1980s in the Western Cape |
| wors – sausagechar to clean, a cleaning lady (yes) |
Xhosa & Zulu phrases
Nceda, hlala phantsi – Please sit down
Injani intombi yakho – how is your daughter?
Uphumaphi? – where have you come from?
Ikrisimesi Emnandi – merry Christmas
Sininqwenelela Unyaka Omtsha – happy new year
Molo, bhuti – hello, brother
Gcwalisa! – fill up
Molo, kunjani? – hello, how are you
Bekumnandi ukuthetha nawe. Sobonana kwakhona ngomso. – It was good to speak to you. We will see each other tomorrow.
AmaBhulu akwelizwe ayosbel’ emanzini; siyohlala sisodwa emhlabeni wethu – The Afrikaners who are in this country are going to escape to the water; We will live alone in this country
Mawayek’ umhlaba wethu – They should leave our country
Anqonqoza amajoni afikile, ye, ye, ye mama, ye majoni afikile – The soldiers knocked; they have arrived; yes, mama, the soldiers have arrived
Bavumeleni abantwana beze kum, Jerusalem halala – Let the children come to me, Jerusalem
Umshini Wam’, mshini wam; Khawuleth’umshini wam; Umshini Wam’ we baba – I want my machine gun; bring me my machine gun
