Words Tourists Need to Know when in Cape Town
Cape Town has a plethora of made up words, words with a mix of English and Afrikaans and just some local slang that has been reworked and changed throughout the years. I don’t think a sentence goes by when I don’t use some of these words. Here is a little guide that could essentially help all the tourists when they come down here to understand us a little bit better. Infact, I think we should all take a little read over this to help US understand each other a bit better… 
| Ahoy | A way for youngsters to greet each other |
| Aweh | Aweh my bru (Hello my friend) |
| babbelas | Hangover from the night before |
| befok | really good, exciting, cool, kuk kief |
| Bergies | Local homeless, usually drunk and completely harmless |
| Biltong | A piece of dry spiced raw meat. Goes down well with beer |
| Bopsie/Gatta/5-0 | Slang for the Police |
| Braai | A fire made with lots of wood usually for cooking or social gatherings |
| Broer | Brother, not neccessarily family. |
| Bru/Bro/China/Oke/Boet | Friendly way to call a friend, eg bro is short for brother |
| Castle Lager | Beer |
| Chise | To chat up someone, go chise that kinder |
| chommie/chomma | another way to call a friend |
| Cooler box | Big square shaped box filled with ice to keep the beers cold. |
| dagga | most common word for Marijuana. |
| Dik Gesuip | Very drunk |
| Droëwors | Boerewors that has hung out to dry. |
| Duidelik | This word is an adjective, describing how good something is |
| Gooi | Afrikaans word for throw, eg: gooi a beer bru! |
| Howzit? | How are you?, or actually it derives from “How is it?” |
| Is it? | Is that so, usually used at the end of a sentence. |
| Ja | Yes (Ja, broer) |
| Jus | this can mean a few things, but its two main uses: crazy or horny |
| Just now | Some time soon, but no-one seems to know, or care when |
| Kiff, Kief, keef | Cool, really good, wicked, awesome |
| kind/kinder | another name for a girl/person, used a lot by the coloured bra’s |
| Kreef | Lobster also known as crayfish. |
| Laaitie | Young kids or usually referring to someone younger then you |
| Lank | Another word for very. EG: its lank hot today |
| Lekker | Very good |
| Mal | afrikaans for crazy, wild. Eg: Kreg and Ricky were so mal last night. |
| moffie | male homosexual (derogatory). |
| Papsak | Wine in a box, usually5 litres which will always be found in Cape Town |
| Potjiekos | A large black steel pot on the coals of a fire and a meal is slowly brewed. . |
| Robot | A traffic light! |
| rockspider/spaatchie | another name for an afrikaaner |
| Skeif | To glare at someone or stare at them |
| Skyf/loose/entjie | A cigarette. Eg: Swing me a loose there dude. Awe, give a entjie bra! |
| Snoek | Fish caught by local fishermen. EG: jy stink soes a vuil snoek |
| South Easter | The prevailing wind in the summer, also known as the Cape Doctor. |
| Swak | Adj. how you feel about something, when you sad or sorry. That was so swak of him |
| takkies | Shoes. Usually used in a the afrikaans sense |
| Voetsek | get lost, go away, fuck off |
| Woes | Wound up, aggressive, feeling strong. “Shit bru, that baboon looks woes.” |
So there you have it. A couple of well known ones and a couple more unknown ones. We always try to lend a helping hand here at MyCityByNight especially when dealing with a car guard or a “bergie” who sometimes makes life extremely hard for you when you cannot understand a word that is coming out of his mouth (usually due to the fact that he is so intoxicated from methalyated spirits). If you guys know of any that I have left out, do feel free to drop a comment and let us know!
Awe my bru, be a kiff ou and gooi me an entjie bra! Jy’s a befokte mul naai!
5 Comments
Thanx Kreg – as Onaj one said: This is k*k funny.
Wow that Onaj guy should learn how to express himself better… But funny tO see sandy quoting him
My name is Piter Jankovich. oOnly want to tell, that your blog is really cool
And want to ask you: is this blog your hobby?
P.S. Sorry for my bad english
Thanks very much for that Piter.
This blog is our hobby yes, just a means for us to have fun and write funny stuff and the odd occasional serious piece. Thanks for dropping by
I am not going to be original this time, so all I am going to say that your blog rocks, sad that I don’t have such nice writing skills