Yo! I need a zol to treat these moggy people in this tjoekie very gatovol.
No, these are not grammatical errors – this is a sentence that contains South African words included in the latest update of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED).
That means: Wow, I'm so frustrated with this prison and I have to smoke some marijuana to deal with these irrational people.
These popular words are one of the “untranslated words” defined by the OED as “words and phrases that cannot be translated into another language.”
Other “loan words” included in the renewal are from the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore and Ireland.
The list of South African languages comes from some of the country's 12 official languages.
Yoh: Popular South African Breakdown tracked by the OED until 1855. It comes from two South African languages: Africans and Ishiksosa, and is defined as “a cry or exclamation point used to express various emotions and reactions such as surprise, wonder, praise, shock, and pain.”
Gatvol: A native of Afrikaans, another popular slang term used to express “feelings of frustration and anger.” The OED traces the word to 1980, describing the adjective as “sufficient enough person” or saying it is “very frustrating, unhappy or boring.”
Hell: A colloquial phrase that comes from Africans who say it will be translated literally into “hell.”
Tjoekie: Another colloquial term dates back to 1977, referring to a prison or prison. According to the OED, the term was first introduced to South Africa by English-speaking immigrants from India. This relates to the English term Chokie, another slang term for prison.
Seshweshwe or Shweshwe: This comes from southern Sesotho and, according to the OED, “refers to the type of printed cotton fabric that was originally dyed with indigo, but now available in a variety of colors.” The Seshweshwe pattern is used in traditional southern African clothing and accessories.
Makarapa: This word can be traced to 1999, refer to the hard hat worn by construction workers or miners. According to the OED, “Now they are known for being used by sports fans, especially soccer fans. They paint these hats with flags, corners and badges, and wear them in the game to show the support of their favorite teams.”
ZOL: The term refers to marijuana, drugs, or “hand-wrapped tobacco containing marijuana” because of its unknown origin, is popular in South African slang, and according to the OED.
Moggy: This adjective, although its origins are uncertain, can be traced back to 1984. According to the OED, it refers to someone “very irrational or different from reality.”
The last and perhaps best-known phrase featured in Sharp-Sharp: OED's latest quarterly update can be traced back to 1991. The term is “a casual way to say goodbye or say goodbye in South African English,” but can also be used to comment “complete someone's style or generally superior or fantastical.”
A list of all words added from around the world can be found on the OED website.
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