oh! I’m this Tjoekie’s Gatvol and need a ZOL to handle these Moggy people.
No, these are not grammatical errors – this is a sentence containing South African words from the latest update of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED).
It means: Wow, I’m very annoyed by this prison and need to smoke marijuana to deal with these irrational people.
These popular words are a series of “untranslated words” defined by OED as “one word and phrase that cannot be translated into another language” and translated in another language in the latest dictionary.
Other “loan words” in the update come from the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore and Ireland.
The South African word list comes from several of the 12 official languages in the country, which are:
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YOH: OED goes back to a popular South African interjection in 1855. It comes from two South African languages: South African languages: Afrikaans and Isixhosa, which are defined as “a cry or sigh used to express various emotions or reactions, such as surprise, surprise, miracle, admiration, admiration, shock or distress”.
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Gatvol: Another popular term, originated in Afrikaans and is used to express “feelings of depression and anger.” OED traces the word back to 1980 and says the adjective describes “there are enough people” or “very annoyed, unhappy or bored with a persistent state.”
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Hellish: A phrase of a proverb that comes from an Afrikaans saying literally translates as “hell.”
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Tjoekie: Another popular term, which dates back to 1977, refers to a prison or prison. According to the OED, the term was first introduced to South Africa through English-speaking immigration from India, “but it entered South African English through the Afrikaans.” It is related to another cail’s language term – English semester chokey.
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Seshweshwe or Shweshwe: It comes from the southern part of Sestotho, which refers to “printed cotton fabrics, originally dyed with indigo, but now there are various colors available”, according to the OED. It added that the Seshweshwe pattern is used in traditional Southern African clothing or accessories.
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Makarapa: This word dates back to 1999 and mentions the hard hat worn by construction workers or miners. According to the OED, “It is now known for the use of sports fans, especially football fans who carefully paint and decorate these hats with flags, corners and badges and wear them in the game to express support for their favorite teams”.
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ZOL: This word is popular in Afrikaans, and it refers to marijuana itself, or “a manual cigarette containing marijuana”.
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Moggy: The origin of this adjective is also unsure, and it can be traced back to 1984. According to the OED, it refers to “a person who is very unreasonable or has lost contact with reality.”
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Sharp-Sharp: The last, or arguably the most famous of the OED’s latest quarterly update, dates back to 1991. The word is “a casual way to say hello or goodbye in South African English” but can also be used to praise someone’s style, or just comment on someone’s style to comment on how great or wonderful it is”.
A list of all words from around the world can be found on the OED website.
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