| Afrikaner: |
person of Boer origin, from South Africa |
| askari: |
policeman or guard |
| ayah: |
child’s nurse |
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| banda: |
bungalow or small cottage |
| bhang: |
marijuana |
| biltong: |
strips of dried meat |
| boma: |
a fenced-in enclosure for dwellings and livestock |
| braai: |
an outdoor meal or barbecue |
| brookies: |
knickers |
| bundu: |
bushland |
| bushbaby: |
a nocturnal animal, one of the smallest primates |
| bwana: |
title of respect to a white man, or boss |
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| chai: |
tea |
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| daktari: |
doctor |
| djinn: |
a demon or genie that may act as a guardian |
| domkop: |
idiot, or fool |
| dorp: |
dump, backwater |
| duka: |
a shop |
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| fundi: |
handyman, carpenter, expert |
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| harambee: |
everyone pull together |
| hodi: |
hello, anyone home? |
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| jambo: |
greetings, hello |
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| kaffir: |
derogatory term for a black man |
| kali: |
fierce, cross, sharp |
| kanga: |
brightly coloured cloth, worn by women |
| kanzu: |
a long white robe used as a uniform by domestic staff |
| kaross: |
a cured animal skin made into a rug or cover |
| kifaru: |
rhino |
| kipande: |
an identification card |
| Kirinyaga: |
Kikuyu god, believed to live on Mount Kirinyaga or Mount Kenya |
| kopje: |
a rocky outcrop |
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| lekker: |
wonderful, fantastic |
| lugga: |
a dried-out river bed |
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| mahindi or mealie: |
a corn cob |
| maji: |
water |
| manyatta: |
traditional dwelling of Maasai and Samburu tribes |
| Mau Mau: |
violent uprising by the Kikuyu tribe, initially against white settlers |
| memsahib: |
title of respect towards a white woman |
| moran: |
a Maasai or Samburu warrior |
| moto: |
hot |
| mpishi: |
cook |
| munt: |
derogatory term for an African |
| murram: |
red-coloured earth |
| mzee: |
a title of respect towards an old person |
| the Mzee: |
title given to Jomo Kenyatta, who became president of Kenya |
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| ndio: |
yes |
| ndofu: |
elephant |
| ngoma: |
celebration dance |
| ngombe: |
cow |
| nguvu: |
vigour or gumption |
| nyati: |
buffalo |
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| panga: |
large flat-bladed knife, like a machete |
| pole: |
slowly, or sorry |
| pole sana: |
very slowly, or very sorry |
| pombe: |
illicit home-brewed alcohol |
| posho: |
ground maize meal, used as a staple food |
| purdah: |
the segregation and veiling of women |
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| rafiki: |
a friend |
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| safi: |
clean, smart, nice |
| salaams: |
greetings – as in hello |
| shamba: |
smallholding, a garden |
| shauri: |
a problem or argument or matter of disagreement |
| shenzi: |
shoddy and run down |
| Shifta: |
Somali bandits |
| shuka: |
traditional red blanket worn by Maasai and Samburu warriors |
| siafu: |
aggressive type of red ants which march in columns |
| sisal: |
fibrous plant from which rope is made |
| swala twiga: |
gerenuk |
| syce: |
a groom, who takes care of horses |
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| taka taka: |
rubbish |
| terrs: |
Rhodesian slang for ‘terrorists’ |
| toroka: |
get on with it, hurry |
| toto: |
child (short for mtoto) |
| tsotsis: |
terrorist insurgents in Rhodesia |
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| Uhuru: |
freedom, the political term for Independence |
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| veldt: |
grassy plain |
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| wananchi: |
the people |
| watu: |
men, labourers |
| wazee: |
old people, elders |
| wazungu: |
white people |
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| yaapie: |
term for a person of Afrikaans origin |