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 Quiz: South African English – Test your Knowledge of it!

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Although English is just one of 11 official languages in South Africa, it is understood in most urban areas and is the dominant language in government and the media. Due to its long exposure to other languages, South African English has incorporated many borrowed terms. Some of these have been fully naturalised, while some slang terms hover on the edge of respectability. See how many of these terms you can understand. Please share with us how you get on 🙂

Note: Don’t ignore the pictures!

  • Question of

    Berg

    • Mountain
    • Field
    • Ice-cream
  • Question of

    Veldt

    • Valley
    • Flat grassland
    • Felt
  • Question of

    Chommie

    • Chewing gum
    • Broad-rimmed hat
    • Friend
  • Question of

    Yebo!

    • No!
    • Yes!
    • Not on your life!
  • Question of

    Braai

    • Underwear
    • Deep suntan
    • Barbecue
  • Question of

    Lekker

    • Nice
    • Sticky
    • Enormous
  • Question of

    Shebeen

    • Shabbily dressed girl
    • Unlicensed bar
    • Local style of dance music
  • Question of

    Eina!

    • Ouch!
    • At last!
    • Wrong!
  • Question of

    Babelaas

    • Nightclub
    • Extra-long glass for beer
    • Hangover
  • Question of

    Boney

    • Baby
    • Motorcycle
    • Shared taxi
  • Question of

    Kiff

    • Disgusting
    • Pleasurable
    • Unbelievable
  • Question of

    Gatsby

    • Beggar
    • Strong cocktail
    • Sandwich filled with chips (fries) and other ingredients

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Written by Norman Darlo

34 Comments

  9. You got 12 out of 12 right! Perfect. You rock!

    Thanks for the images otherwise I would have only got Veldt

    right. Now I am feeling pretty pleased with myself 🙂

  14. 12 right – although it would probably have been 2 without the pictures! (I`m still trying to fathom out how you get pictures to run alongside quiz questions – any tips?)

    • I am atoning for my repeated sin of making my quizzes too hard!
      Adding photos is easy. Once you click ‘Add’ to register the question text, a grey rectangle appears directly below, with an image of a camera at centre. Click anywhere in that rectangle, and a dialogue will open whereby you select a photo from your computer for upload. That’s it. Let me know if I haven’t been clear.

      • Absolutely clear, and that is what I would have expected to happen, but whenever I have clicked in the grey box, absolutely nothing has happened!

    • Perhaps, just maybe, that’s a result of your pop-up suppressor. If you know how, go into your browser settings and edit them so that you allow pop-ups for this site. And/or try a different browser or different computer. One way or another, it sounds like the issue is at your end 🙁