Last night’s game between Portugal and Spain was well supported by the local Portuguese community. But sadly it is adeus to the Portuguese soccer team. South Africa has 11 official languages. Apart from those 11 cultures, we have old and newer immigrants. The Portuguese community are into their second and third generation here now. As are the Greek, Lebanese and Chinese community. There was a time when Durban had more Indians than any other place outside of India. Newer immigrants are the Germans and Brits to Cape Town. In the Gardens area German is widely spoken. We also have burgeoning Somalian, Nigerian and Congolese communities. And not surprising, Zimbabweans are aplenty here too.
But we all understand local lingo. Here are three of my favorite local expressions. Shayila time. It’s when you finish work and get ready to go home. Bliksem. It’s like saying damn it. Tsotsi. We call a thug or gangster a tsotsi.
Don’t they just sound so good?