SUNDAY 25 MAY: Varsity Speak, bru.

SUNDAY 25 MAY: Varsity Speak, bru.
Day rating: 7/10

This post is dedicated to the amazing ability we students have to create our own dialect of English. In fact, it’s a mishmash of English, Afrikaans, Yiddish, and any number of African languages. Throw in the odd Spanish word, and you have student-speak in Cape Town.

The difficulty with student speak is that nobody else understands it, largely (as I have previously said) because certain words have multiple meaning, depending on the context and tone in which the word is said. For example, “lank” can mean very (that’s a lank kiff oke), or nice (lank sweater bru) or it can be used to express any escalation in degrees of comparison. “Hundreds” can refer to a large number of people (hundreds of people on Jamie stairs) or that something is acceptable (that’s hundreds) or that you are feeling particularly great (I’m feeling hundreds after that surf!)

These are but two examples in a dictionary so uniquely student and South African, which is so rich and vibrant it’s a pity we don’t all speak it. Here are a few more examples to get you started:

Action: any form of sexual gratification, including kissing
Af: disgusting
Amped: excited, keen anticipation
Arb: strange or random
Awe (pronounced ah-WEH): greeting, similar to “hello”, used mostly by coloured students.
Bleak: not good, unfortunate
Bliksem: to hit (I bliksemed him) also an exclamation of anger or used to refer to someone you dislike intensely (the bliksem!)
Bro: term of reference when referring to a male friend
Bru: unisex term of reference, usually referring to a male friend. Often used in conjunction with “awe”.
China: loosely used to refer to a friend, usually male. Used almost exclusively by jocks.
Check: synonym for “look” e.g. “check those hot chicks!”
Chick: loosely used to refer to any female, usually an attractive one
Chop: synonym for “idiot”
Chunder: to throw up, or (n) actual puke.
Cockblocker: (adj) ugly friend of a hot chick who tries to prevent said friend from getting any action
Dack: well-built, muscular
Dig: to like (I dig your shoes)
Diss: (v) to insult, (n) an insult (what a diss!)
Dog: a male slut
Doos: asshole/idiot
Dop: alcoholic beverage
Dude: unisex term of reference, although usually male
Eish: expression used to indicate exasperation or commiseration
Fluff: silly, airheaded female
Game: degree of success with members of the opposite sex
Gatvol: tired of something (expression of annoyance, similar to “fed-up”)
Gay: usually used to indicate homosexuality, but when used by jocks, usually taken to mean lame or pathetic.
Guns: large arms/biceps (male)
Gunshow: when a dack guy wears clothes that show off his impressive biceps
Guy: any male person
Harsh: refers to an unpleasant situation. Expression of commiseration.
“Heavy days”: phrase indicating a serious situation/matter. Appropriate response to someone else’s bad news.
Hectic: degree of comparison (hectic cool night) or an exclamation of amazement (hectic, bru!)
Heya: greeting, similar to “hello”
Hond: (pronounced “hawnt”) someone really ugly or otherwise worthy of degradation
Hoodie: bulky, hooded jacket, usually bearing the name of a university or clothing brand
Hook up: (to have) some kind of sexual experience. Often refers to kissing.
Hot: attractive
Hottie: any attractive person
Jammie: refers either to UCT shuttles/buses, or to Jameson plaza
Jammie stairs: stairs above Jameson plaza, popular place for socialization and skipping class.
Keen: synonym for amped. Can also refer to a nerd, someone who takes academic work too seriously (he/she is keen) or can be used to indicate a positive level of interest (I’m keen to go out)
Kiff: synonym for “cool”
Knob: refers either to the male reproductive organ, or as a colloquialism for “idiot”
Kotch (pronounced “kawtch”): to throw up. Also, as an adjective, meaning disgusting
Lag (pronounced “lugh”): laugh. Usually used in the context of something/someone being pathetic or amusing (what a lag)
Lank: see above paragraph
Las: (v) to leave (las it, bru) or (n) an annoyance or burden (what a las!)
Los: immoral, usually used to refer to chicks who sleep around
Mack: depending on context, to make out with/have sex with (I macked her last night)
Manky: ugly, usually used to refer to persons but also used to indicate general unpleasantness usually relating to something being dirty (manky top that he hasn’t washed all week)
Miff: disgusting
Nada: nothing
Nasty: ugly/unpleasant
Naaaaat: inserted at end of sentence to make it funy/sarcastic. As used in the movie Borat.
Nort: bastardisation of the Afrikaans “nooit”. Used to express surprise/disbelief (ah nort bru!)
Oi: synonym for “hello” or an expression of annoyance/alarm (Oi! Stop that!)
Oi vey: expression of exasperation/despair
Oke: any male person
Over it: state of not caring about something (I’m over it)
Owned: a state of having been convincingly dominated
Parry: stressed, worried
Parrying: worrying, stressing about something
Pissed: depending on context, angry or very drunk
Plank: stupid person
Porky: fat
Proper: extreme degree of comparison (I was proper over it/we were proper fighting)
Ride: car or other vehicular transportation
Rough: harsh or unpleasant (I had a rough night)
Ruggas: the sport of rugby
Siff: very disgusting
Shag: (v) to have sex with
Shot: synonym for “thank you”
Shweet: synonym for “good” or “nice” (shweet ride, bru!)
Six-love: indicates a state of total unconsciousness (he drank 7 tequila shots and passed out, six-love)
Skank: girl with loose morals
Skinnys: skinny jeans (exceptionally tight jeans)
Slops: flip-flops/sandals
Spade: to have sex with (exclusively used by males)
Stoked: happy/excited
Suck: to be uncool/unpleasant (exams suck/this sucks)
‘Sup: contraction of “what’s up”, enquiry into a state of affairs, someone’s wellbeing, or just a general greeting
Suss: to check out (I sussed out the new club, its pretty cool)
Tanked: drunk
Tigering: the act of going out to Tiger Tiger
Tool: stupid person with no sense of originality
Tripping: on drugs/crazy
Vibe: (n) a state of being (good vibe), indication of someone else’s mood/intention (getting a vibe) or indication of plans/mood (what’s the vibe for tonight?)
Votch: disgusting, nauseating or the need to/act of throwing up
Wanker: idiot/asshole
Wasted: usually refers to state of advanced drunkenness, can also be used to mean tired or to refer to a particularly violent death or defeat (I wasted him in ProEvo Soccer 2)
Whipped: a state of giving in to all of a female’s demands because of overwhelming sexual desire and fear that she will withhold sexual favours if displeased
Yaaaasis: (alt spelling “jaaaasis”) exclamation of indignation/frustration/surprise.
Yoh: synonym for the above
Yo: greeting, similar to “hello”