South African expressions you need to know Hayibo! Eish!

e.g. John just sent me an urgent order, so I’m going to get that done now now. The other quote can wait for a bit – I’ll lekker – meaning “nice” or “good”, lekker can be used to describe everything from how you are feeling to a delicious plate of food e.g. I had such a lekker time visiting my friends on holiday. We went to a few lekker restaurants as well. load shedding – evoking fear and frustration, this unfortunate phenomenon takes place when the national electrical grid is constrained, requiring rotating blackouts across the country

Mzansi – an informal name for South Africa, meaning “south” in isiXhosa robot – according to most South Africans, we don’t have mere “traffic lights”; instead, “robots” with green, yellow and red lights control the flow of traffic at our intersections e.g. Just take a left at the next set of robots and you’ll be right at the hotel. shame – used to express sympathy or empathy, similar to “I’m sorry to hear that” e.g. Shame, what’s going on with your son? I heard you took him to the doctor yesterday. sharp (also sharp-sharp) – an almost universal expression that can mean everything from agreement to enthusiasm, and is even a greeting; it can mean “thank you”, “okay”, “sure”, “yes”, “good” or “goodbye” e.g. Q: How are you doing today? A: I’m sharp-sharp. ubuntu – a universally African term that expresses a sense of community, as well as care and concern for others yebo – Zulu word for “yes”, used informally by South Africans of all backgrounds yoh – as all South Africans will know, “yoh” usually has a hidden exclamation point built into it and it is usually used to express surprise or shock; however, it can also indicate excitement, so context is key e.g. Yoh, it’s unbelievably hot today, isn’t it?

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