Tsotsi by Athol Fugard, a short vocabulary help for less common words
(p. 1)
tsotsi [sot-sé]
black street kid, hooligan, thug
(p. 8)
veld [feld]
(Afrik.) word referring primarily (but not
exclusively) to the wide open rural spaces of
South Africa characterized by flatter areas
covered in grass or low scrub
(p. 15)
maag
(Afrik.) stomach
's goed
(Afrik.) It's OK
(p. 21)
titcha
teacher
(p. 22)
dagga
cannabis
Jy moet loop
(Afrik.) Go! / Walk! (Literally: You must go)
zol
marijuana (cigarette)
(p. 28)
shebeen
clandestine bar for black people
(p. 33)
bluegum tree
a kind of eucalyptus tree
(p. 42)
mealiemeal
relatively coarse kind of maize flour found in
southern Africa
(p. 43)
tickey
(Afrik.) a threepence coin (worth 0.0125 GBP
in the decimal monetary system of today)
(p. 50)
bloomers
panties
(p. 67)
kwela-van
police-van
(p. 68)
wragtig
(Afrik.) truly, really (used to express surprise)
(p. 72)
quid-wrangle
probably means something like an argument
or quarrel over the price of an item (a quid
means a pound in slang)
(p. 73)
vetkoek
(Afrik.) traditional Afrikaner pastry filled with
minced meat or jam or honey (Literally: fat
cake!)
(p. 81)
Missus
informal term of address for a (white) woman
(it is actually the deformed spoken form of the
word Mistress)
(p. 82)
Medem
deformed spoken form of Madam
(p. 86)
Bantu
referring to (a member of) any of a large number of linguistically related peoples of central
and southern Africa
(This word became a strongly offensive word
in South Africa under the apartheid regime,
especially when used for an individual person)
(p. 90)
Lay-ee-deshin
late edition
Cit-ee-deshin
city edition
layeetsportresilts
late sports results
strue's gawd
it's a s true as God (i.e. I'm not kidding)
distribiter
distributor (a device in a petrol engine)
kaffir
offensive term to refer to a black person, most
common in South Africa
(p. 92)
Shangaan
language used by a member of the Tsongaspeaking peoples, especially one who works in
a gold mine
(p. 105)
polony
a kind of sausage
(p. 116)
tackies
trainers, shoes
(p. 130)
paraffin tin
empty tin that used to contain paraffin, a substance widely used by poorer black people
as a treatment against dry skin (also known as
vaseline)
(p. 131)
doek
(Afrik.) cloth, fabric
(p. 151)
pas
(according to the apartheid legislation:) a kind
of internal passport that black people had to
be able to show at all times to justify their
whereabouts. Failing to show a valid pass
usually resulted in imprisonment)
(p. 190)
highveld
high plateau region of inland South Africa
where most of the metropolitan population of
the country lives