Greetings
Howzit
HOW-zit
'Hi / how's it going?' — the all-purpose South African greeting. English works everywhere here.
Molo / Enkosi
MO-lo / en-KOH-si
'Hello' / 'thank you' in isiXhosa — warmly received, and Xhosa is one of Cape Town's languages.
Baie dankie
BUY-uh DUNK-ee
'Thank you very much' in Afrikaans — handy across the Cape.
Social
Lekker
LEK-ker
Nice / great / tasty / fun (Afrikaans). Endlessly useful — 'lekker braai', 'lekker day'.
Sharp (sharp-sharp)
shahp
'OK / cool / great / bye' — often with a thumbs-up. Doubling it adds enthusiasm.
Ag shame
ach shame
An affectionate 'aw, bless' — for something cute, or sympathy. Not an insult.
Eish
AY-sh
An all-purpose exclamation of frustration, surprise or resignation — 'eish, load-shedding again'.
Is it?
izzit
A conversational 'oh really? / is that so?' — a verbal nod, not a real question.
Food
Braai
br-EYE
A barbecue — and a beloved national institution. 'Come for a braai' is the classic SA invite.
Daily life
Robot
ROH-bot
A traffic light. 'Turn left at the robot' confuses every newcomer exactly once.
Now now / just now
now now
SA time: 'now now' = soon-ish, 'just now' = later (not immediately!), 'now' = the most urgent. All vague.
Emergency
Help! / Emergency
help
Dial 112 from any mobile in an emergency; 10111 for police.
Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.