Joh! You are in OED – South Africa makes a linguistic imprint

Joh! I am Gatvol from this Tjoekie and I need Zol to deal with these people Moggy.

No, these are not grammatical errors – this is a sentence that includes the words of South Africa listed in the latest update of the English Oxford dictionary (OED).

This means: Wow, I am very upset with this prison and I need to smoke some marijuana to deal with these inaccurate people.

These common words are among a large collection of “translated words”, which OED determines as “words and phrases in one language that cannot be translated to another”, which appeared in the latest dictionary.

The other “loan words” listed in the update come from the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore and Ireland.

The list of South Africa’s words comes from many 12 official languages in the country:

YOH: A famous intervention in South Africa, which OED follows until 1855. It comes from two languages from South Africa: Africans and Isoxosa and is known as “a cry or exclamation used to express feelings or various reactions, such as surprise, wonder, admiration or shock.”

Ghodoul: Another famous term that originated from the Africans and used to express “feelings of frustration and anger”. OED follows this word until 1980 and says that the adjective describes “the person who has enough” or “very annoyed, unhappy or bored” with the ongoing state.

The Hell-IN: A colloquial phrase comes from African who say it translated literally into “in hell”.

Tjoekie: Another general term, returned to 1977, which refers to prison or prison. The speech was first presented in South Africa by English -speaking immigrants from India, according to OED, “But it made its way to the English language in South Africa through the Africans.” It is associated with another colloquial term for prison – the English term Chokey.

Seshwewee or Shwshwe: This comes from Sosthern Sesotho and refers to “a type of printed cotton tissue, originally dyed with the indigo but is now available in different colors,” according to OED. He added that the Seshwshwe patterns are used in traditional South African clothes or accessories.

Makarapa: This word can be tracked until 1999, and refers to a solid hat worn by building workers or miners. According to OED, “It is now known to be used by sports fans, especially football fans, who draw and decorate these hats in the flags, centuries, and badges in games to show support for their favorite teams.”

Zol: This term, of unknown origin, is popular in the South African colloquial and refers to marijuana, or the drug itself, or “manual cigarette containing marijuana”, according to OED.

Moggy: This characteristic, which is also originally, can be tracked until 1984. According to OED, it refers to a “very irrational or outgoing person with reality.

Sharp-SARP: It can be returned to the last phrase “, which can be said to be known, which appeared in the latest quarterly updates of OED, to 1991. The term is” an informal way to say welcome or goodbye to English in South Africa “but it can also be used” a person’s style or just to comment on the excellent in general or wonderful. “

A list of all added words from all over the world can be found On OED website.