MUST READ! South African Slangs You Should Get Familiar With

South Africa is home to several attractions for tourists – marked by several distinct ecosystems, inland safari destinations, beaches, lush wine lands, craggy cliffs at the Cape of Good Hope, forest and lagoons along the Garden Route, and the beautiful cities.

If you are visiting South Africa soon, it will be useful to know a few of the popular slangs and phrases known as ‘South Africanisms’.

Slap chips

Slap chips [slup chips] is a slang phrase for deep-fried potato chips sold at takeaway seafood shops, grocery stores and restaurants. The word slap means ‘limp’ in Afrikaans and is a perfect description for the oily potato chips which are larger than French fries.

Skinner

Skinner [skuhn-her] is Afrikaans slang for gossip. Eg. ‘Don’t skinner about me.’

Eish

Eish [aysh] is a colloquial exclamation of surprise, disapproval, exasperation or regret derived from Xhosa. Eg. ‘Eish, my cell phone broke’.

Lekker

Lekker [lek-uh] is a widely used term indicating that something is ‘great’ or ‘nice’. For example, ‘The food was lekker’, or ‘We had a lekker day.’

Kief

Kief [kif], derived from Arabic (kayf), means cool, great, awesome, or neat. Eg. ‘That’s a kief car!’

Sharp

Sharp [shahp] is often doubled up for effect (sharp sharp!) and means ‘goodbye’ or that everything is great.

Is it?

Is it? [izzit] is an expression frequently used in conversation meaning ‘Is that so?’ or ‘Really?’.

Dop

Dop is slang for an alcoholic drink. It can also mean ‘to fail an exam’. For example, ‘Pour me a dop,’ or ‘I’m gonna dop that test’.

Just Now

You’ll often hear South Africans mention that they will do something ‘just now’. This does not mean they’ll do it immediately, but rather a bit later. It may sound illogical but makes complete sense in South Africa!

Shebeen

Shebeen [sha-bean] is an illegal tavern derived from Irish (sibín). It refers to unlicensed bars that were set up in townships during apartheid and frequented mainly by black South Africans. It has since become a mainstream word.

Sho’t Left

Sho’t left is derived from everyday South African ‘taxi lingo’. A commuter wanting a ride to a destination close by will say ‘Sho’t left, driver,’ meaning ‘I want to get off just around the corner.

Jol

Jol [jawl] is a widely-used term for ‘club’, ‘party’, or to ‘have fun’. Eg. ‘We had a jol last night!’