South Africans speak English, that does not mean that you will always understand them!
For all the visitors – not only during the World Cup 2010 - we would like to introduce a few words that are good to know while travelling in South Africa:
babbelas (bub-buh-luss) - A hangover.
bakkie (buck-ee) - A pick-up truck.
biltong (bill-tong) - This South African favourite is dried and salted meat
boerewors (boor-uh-vors) - Literally, farmer's sausage. A savoury sausage developed by the Boers - today's Afrikaners - some 200 years ago, boerewors is South African food at its most traditional.
boet (like book, with a t) - A term of affection, from the Afrikaans for brother.
braai (br-eye) - An outdoor barbecue, where meat such as steak, chicken and boerewors are cooked.
café (kaf-ay, kaff-ee or kayff) - The ubiquitous small neighbourhood convenience store, often found on street corners and stocking cigarettes, cold drinks and newspapers.
droewors (droo-uh-vors) – Dried boerewors, similar to biltong.
eish (aysh) - Used to express surprise, wonder, frustration or outrage.
gatvol (ghut-foll) - Taken from Afrikaans, this means fed up, as in “Jislaaik”. I'm gatvol of working in this hot sun." Translation: "Gee, I'm fed up with working in this hot sun."
howzit - A traditional South African greeting that translates roughly as "How are you?", "How are things?" or simply "Hello".
is it (as one word: izit) - An expression frequently used in conversation and equivalent to "Is that so?"
ja (yaa) - Yes.
jislaaik (yis-like) - An expression of outrage or surprise: "Jislaaik, I just saw Elvis!"
just now - If a South African tells you they will do something "just now", they mean they'll do it in the near future - not immediately: "I'll do the dishes just now."
laduma! (la-doo-mah) - A popular cheer celebrating goals scored at soccer matches, from the isiZulu for it thunders.
lekker (lekk-irr with a rolling r) - Nice, good, great, cool or tasty.
mampara (mum-puh-rah) - An idiot, a silly person. From the Sotho languages.
now-now - Shortly, in a bit: "I'll be there now-now."
oke - A man, similar to guy or bloke.
robots - Traffic lights.
sarmie - Sandwich.
shame - Broadly denotes sympathetic feeling. Someone admiring a baby, kitten or puppy might say: "Ag shame!" to emphasise its cuteness.
sharp - Often doubled up for effect as sharp-sharp!, this word is used as a greeting, a farewell, for agreement or just to express enthusiasm.
vuvuzela (voo-voo-zeh-lah) - A large, colourful plastic trumpet with the sound of a foghorn, blown enthusiastically by virtually everyone in the crowd at soccer matches. According to some, the word comes from the isiZulu for "making noise".
And do not forget, South Africa is a multilingual country with 11 official languages!
