Apr 21 ∙ 2017
Awê and Howzit. If you’re learning English in Cape Town, you’re gonna have to look into learning some slang. Cape Town is full of colloquialisms and knowing what the locals are saying could come in handy if you want to do some eavesdropping in the taxi or banter with the boys.
So, let’s start with some greetings.
Awê (ah-weh): Hello.
A casual greeting you’d say to someone on the street or to your mates, but not to your boss.
“Awê Matt” sounds pretty cool, but “Awê Mr Van Wyk” – not so much.
Howzit (howsit): Hello/ How are you?
Another casual greeting often used by young South Africans, often mixed with a slang term of endearment like “bru”. More of a statement than a question.
Now onto some things to call people. Nice things.
My Lief/ My Liefie (leaf): My Love
Afrikaans word used by English people to be cute. Often used as a term of endearment for their boyfriends or girlfriends.
Bra, Boet, My Boy, Bru: Brother
Used by men (mostly rugby players) on other men (mostly their team mates) to signify friendship.
Tjommie, chommie (choh-mee): Friend
Afrikaans word describing someone you like as a mate.
And some Descriptive words:
Befok (beh-fawk): Crazy and Insane
If someone does something crazy and that’s not necessarily good you can ask them if they are befok.
“You shaved all of your hair and eyebrows off on purpose! Are you befok?”
Kwaai (kw-eye): Cool
Best used when describing something you like.
“That flower is kwaai. Really gorgeous”
Duidelik (day-duh-lik): Awesome.
An Afrikaans slang word used in the same way as “kwaai”.
Kak (kuh-k): 1. Afrikaans for ‘Nonsense/ crap/ useless’ 2. Very
Drop these words in conversation to your English friends and they’ll probably think you’re cool. Cape Town is a beautiful city, English Plus Academy has great things to teach you and learning is fun.
Interested in learning with us?
Send us a quick email (info@englishplusaacademy.co.za) and we’ll get back to you kak fast.
