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The following slang words used in South African originated in other parts of the Commonwealth of Nations and subsequently came to South Africa. bint – a girl, from Arabic بِنْت. Usually seen as derogatory. buck – the main unit of currency: in South Africa the rand, and from the American use of the word for the dollar.
Zulu word meaning grandmother/grandma, also used as a general term of respect for women of appropriate age. Became part of the iconic slogan Yebo Gogo (Yes, Grandma) from the South African cellular service-provider Vodacom. gogo. In Tswana has the same meaning as gogga - it refers to a creepy crawly or an insect. homeland
At least thirty-five languages are spoken in South Africa, twelve of which are official languages of South Africa: Ndebele, Pedi, Sotho, South African Sign Language, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Afrikaans, Xhosa, Zulu, and English, which is the primary language used in parliamentary and state discourse, though all official languages are equal in legal status.
Hindi is a protected language in South Africa. According to the Constitution of South Africa, the Pan South African Language Board must promote and ensure respect for Hindi along with other languages. [6]
Possibly from the Arab word kafir meaning 'non-Muslim' or 'infidel', perhaps originating in the East African slave trade which was largely run by Arabians and migrating to South Africa.] [92] Kebab (UK and Europe) a Turkish person. Derived from traditional Turkish food. Kash Root
After the abolition of apartheid in South Africa in 1994, kwaito, already a popular music form in South Africa, and its artists came to embrace the use of tsotsitaal in lyrical content. Because they are associated with urban thugs and the criminal subculture, tsotsitaals and Iscamtho are seen by many as a South African form of gangsta slang.
Correspondingly, the word is "sometimes used as ugly slang for a black person". [19] Use of the derived term hotnot was explicitly proscribed in South Africa by 2008. [20] Accordingly, much recent scholarship on the history of colonial attitudes to the Khoisan or on the European trope of "the Hottentot" puts the term Hottentot in scare quotes. [21]
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa.Its nine provinces are bounded to the south by 2,798 kilometres (1,739 miles) of coastline that stretches along the South Atlantic and Indian Ocean; [15] [16] [17] to the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe; to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini ...