1. Slasher: guy who cuts the grass by hand with a blade
2. Somehow: could mean either 'somehow' or 'somewhat'
3. Tipper: small dump truck
4. Boda: motorcycle taxi
5. To slope (verb): to come down the hill
6. Where do you pray?: What church do you go to?
7. Mmm: yes
8. Ehhh: yes
9. Sure [shoo-ah]: yes
10. Uncle: a man (ie. Paul is 'Uncle Paul' even to men that are older than him)
11. Aunt: a woman (ie. Aunt[y] Megan)
12. Well done: well done (used even when you're not doing anything particularly "well")
13. Thank you for your work: thank you for your work (used even when you're not doing any work)
14. Pick someone: pick someone up
15. Drop someone: drop someone off
16. Soda: pop (obviously)
17. Petrol: gas
18. Meaty, goaty, chickeny: meat, goat, chicken
19. I am the one: me (as in, "Who do I talk to about ___?" "I am the one.")
20. You are welcome: welcome
It doesn't take long to figure out what these words mean when talking to Ugandans, but you know you've been here awhile (7 months to be precise) when you start using the strange ones yourself! (Somehow and mmm are my personal favourites. Slope down, ehhh and goaty are Paul's words of choice.)
I don't often get to say the word goat, let alone goaty, in my daily life, but I think Im going to try 'meaty' and 'chickeny'
ReplyDeleteyou forgot about "jeddy can": jerry can
ReplyDeletehahahhahaha. I love Uganda.