With 11 official languages, it's no wonder some words can be topsy turvy once direct translated.
Photo:cashkows
POLOKWANE – Given that South Africa has 11 official languages, it’s easy to get confused by some words you don’t know in other languages.
With Sepedi and Afrikaans being two of the most commonly spoken languages in Polokwane, Review decided to take a look at the quirky side of these two languages by looking at direct translation.
In our offices, we’ve adapted to an English-Afrikaans mix in order to get the message across.
Many times one will hear: “I wrote that sentence for just sommer” or “I think you verdraai your words”. To outsiders this might seem strange and wrong, but we understand each other.
Other proudly South African Afrikaans words that only make sense to South Africans are “lekker” “braai”, “gogga”, “pap” and “bakkie”
The following article on https://www.thesouthafrican.com gave the following Afrikaans words that are interesting once direct translated:
Raeesa Sempe is a Caxton Award-winning Digital Editor with nine years’ experience in the industry. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Media Studies from the University of the Witwatersrand and started her journey as a community journalist for the Polokwane Review in 2015. She then became the online journalist for the Review in 2016 where she excelled in solidifying the Review’s digital footprint through Facebook lives, content creation and marketing campaigns. Raeesa then moved on to become the News Editor of the Bonus Review in 2019 and scooped up the Editorial Employee of the Year award in the same year. She is the current Digital Editor of the Polokwane Review-Observer, a position she takes pride in. Raeesa is married with one child and enjoys spending time with friends, listening to music and baking – when she has the time. “I still believe that if your aim is to change the world, journalism is a more immediate short-term weapon." – Tom Stoppard
