South Africa Slang Dictionary
South African slang is a rich, multilingual mix that borrows freely from the country's eleven official languages - isiZulu, isiXhosa, Afrikaans, Sesotho and more - plus street languages like tsotsitaal and Sepitori. It's the language of the townships, the taxi rank, kwaito and amapiano, and everyday Mzansi life from Joburg to Cape Town to Durban. Words like eish, howzit, lekker, sharp sharp and yebo are woven into how South Africans speak every day. Explore the community-built dictionary of South African slang below - and add the words you know.
Ay this new Amapiano dance trend on TikTok is not make sure.
What’s that smell? 🤢
Ungodly isabhongo usisi wakho.
labafana babhema intashi
- these boys smoke intashi
Pronounced (ggggaaah); is a Khoikhoi word for “plenty” or “enough”. Used in Xhosa as a term for “That’s enough”often in anger and sometimes in disgust hence mistaken for “ew”.
In Khoikhoi: There is a river in the Eastern Cape called Birha. Bi is milk, and rha is plenty. Hence “a place of milk”. Another use is in the Xhosa chief Gambushe’s nickname: Rharhabe meaning “Minister of Plenty”.
In Xhosa it varies:
In a Dismissal Manner
Someone: I’m going to out race you.
Me: Rha! That would be the day.
To stop a child who is hitting another child a parent could say “Stop it. Rha! That’s enough”
In a Disgusting Manner
When a child see poop usually they used to say “Rha! Poo”
When people hear, smells, or see a disgusting thing they can say “Rha!”
In an Elated Manner
A person recounting an exciting moment of thriumph can say “Rha! I out did myself”
Feeling pretty? “Rha! I’m beautiful”
u -> the
m -> child of, person of, thing of
Shulgi -> an ancient Sumerian king who deified him just like Jesus and so people were said to perform wonders “In the name of Shulgi”.
On seeing a ghost: I saw umshologu.
On seeing a magic performance: He’s using umshologu.
A church was in the old days called: The House of umshologu
On someone who loves to go to church: He’s the ash of the house of umshologu. (you can modernize the expression by using “furniture” instead of “ash”)
owing to the Christianization of the Xhosa language by early African converts writers who owing to growing up in mission station could not comprehend Xhosa properly and had a habit of changing the spelling of Xhosa words they did not understand.
Going to East London?
I’m going to Gombo
I am going for a rhili.
My car broke down on the way, I had to make amatile-tile to get here.