Four South African words that would confuse foreigners

Although we as South Africans may not give much thought to certain words we use, there are some South African words that foreigners, especially Americans, may find very confusing.

SOUTH AFRICAN WORD FOR TRAFFIC LIGHTS

Probably one of the most confusing words for foreigners is our use of ‘robot’ to refer to traffic lights.

The reason, most likely, for South Africans using the word ‘robot’ is that police used to control traffic intersections with hand signals before we had traffic lights. This was in the same way they still do it today when traffic lights are not working at busier intersections. When traffic lights replaced the police, people perceived it to indicate that machines are replacing human jobs. From there the name ‘robot’. The original term was ‘robotic traffic controller’.

TAKKIES

We call rubber-soled canvas shoes ‘takkies’ (also ‘tackies’), while the Americans call them ‘sneakers’. In the UK, these are called ‘trainers’.

According to the Dictionary of South African English (DSAE), the origin of the South African variation of the word is uncertain. However, there are a few possible origins. One explanation is that these shoes were imported into South Africa from Japan before the Second World War. They were of poor quality and soon became known as tackies among the then fairly large Scottish community in the country from the word ‘tacky’ meaning cheap or rubbishy.

BUNNY CHOW

Many foreigners might cringe if you mention eating a bunny chow thinking of a cute, fluffy bunny. The DSAE defines it as ‘a take-away food consisting of a hollowed-out half-loaf of bread filled with vegetable or meat curry’. The earliest known use of the word is in the 1970s.

THE USE OF RUBBER DUCK

A rubber duck can either refer to a bath toy or an inflatable rescue boat, right? Most other nations only know the meaning of the plastic toy duck that some children play with in the bath. The Oxford English Dictionary labels it as ‘chiefly South African’.

Thinking about it, this South African word can be quite entertaining.

Imagine the different reactions that an American and a South African may have when they see the following news headline: ‘Man drowns after falling off a rubber duck’. The American may wonder how it is possible for someone to fall off a plastic bath toy. The South African may wonder in which ocean or bay the tragedy took place.