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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.
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 Under apartheid, typically referred to a self-governing "state" for black South Africans. howzit
sjambok (an ox-hide whip): used by the South African Police Service for riot control, formerly used as a disciplinary tool for misbehaving school children spoor (literally "tracks" or "footprints"): the Afrikaans "spoorweë" refers specifically to the National Train Route, often indirectly as the train-tracks as well.
ubuntu – Nguni term for "mankind, humanity", in South Africa since the 1980s also used capitalized, Ubuntu, as the name of a philosophy or ideology of "human kindness" or "humanism" uhuru – from Swahili, "freedom". Ujamaa – from Swahili, "fraternity". Socialist policies of Tanzanian president Julius Nyerere.
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.
Dagga (Afrikaans pronunciation:) is a word used in certain areas of Southern Africa to describe cannabis.The term, dating to the 1660s, derives from the word daxa in the Khoekhoe language used to describe the plant as well as various species of Leonotis.
Getty Images Though the official language of Jamaica is English, when dealing with Kingston slang you'll find you need much more than a well-worn Webster's dictionary to follow most conversations.
The word was a popular rallying cry in the days of resistance against apartheid, used by the African National Congress and its allies. The leader of a group would call out "Amandla!" and the crowd would respond with "Awethu" [2] or "Ngawethu!" [3] (to us), completing the South African version of the rallying cry "power to the people!". [4]