My earlier post on "How to Speak South African" contained some of the slightly unique words or phrases I noticed when I first arrived. Examples include the use of "costume" for swimsuit, "diary" for daily schedule, or "mince" for ground beef. After four months, there are a few refinements I need to mention:
"Now now." - Back in February, I spoke of "Just now." I wrote then, "While seemingly clear, this phrase actually means 'eventually'. ... It might mean 10 minutes, 10 hours, or never." After four months, I have learned that there is a companion to "just now." It is "Now now." When "now now" is used, it means right now. I realized I was pretty acclimated when someone recently told me that I could get something "just now," and I heard myself saying, "Oh, shame. I don't want it just now, I need it now now." (As I walked out of the store, I thought to myself, "What did you just say?")
"Howzit?' - I don't use this phrase much, but our students love it as a handy, short way to ask "How is it going?" or "How was your day?" or "What's happening tonight?"
"Izzit" - For many weeks, when I heard 'izzit', I thought it was simply the question, "Is it?" For instance I might say, "It's raining outside," and the person answers, "Izzit." I'd respond, "Yes, it is." Gradually I realized that 'izzit' is used so frequently, it is more of a universal response to almost any spoken sentence. Depending on the inflection of the voice, the meaning ranges from "Oh, that's nice." to "Oh, my God!"
There are times when I am left baffled. At times when someone asks me where I'm from and I answer "America," they'll respond, "Izzit." I can't always tell whether it's meant as a good "izzit" or a bad "izzit."
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