Savannah of Washington, D.C., and her South African husband, John, have opposite readings of jacked up: to her, if the D.C. Metro is “jacked up” then it’s messed up; to him, it is impressively “raised up” or better than expected. The phrase is...
South African English is a rich mix of Afrikaans, English, and indigenous languages such as Zulu and Xhosa. Martha and Grant discuss some favorite terms from that part of the world, including lekker, diski, and ubuntu. Also, where’d we get the...
Looking ahead to the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa, Martha and Grant discuss some terms you might hear there. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “South African English” You’re listening to A Way with Words...
Yeah, no isn’t an oxymoron in miniature. Jade from San Diego notices friends using it before answers such as “we are not spending $50,” and linguists treat it as a discourse marker, a little conversational tool rather than ordinary yes plus ordinary...