Tag archives: South African English
It is better to give than to receive
So, the Christmas season is well and truly upon us, something that tends to either warm the cockles of one’s heart, or bring about a blinding depression. For many people the cause of holiday angst is the entire hullabaloo made about gifts and shopping – there is an increasing complaint that the gift-giving (or commercial) [...]
The future of language: South African English in Zoo City
Earlier this year South African author Lauren Beukes won the prestigious Arthur C. Clarke Award for science fiction for her second novel Zoo City. It was a big moment for the author as it puts her in the company of illustrious recent winners such as, among others, China Miéville (who has won it three times [...]
South African English: braais, babalaas, and a monkey’s wedding
On 27 April South Africans celebrate Freedom Day, the anniversary of the country’s first democratic elections in 1994. As a South African ex-pat living in the UK and working for Oxford Dictionaries, I often think about the similarities and differences between the English spoken ‘back home’ and standard British English. Robots have taken over the [...]
Mandela, ubuntu, and the born frees of Mzansi
The peculiarities of South Africa’s political and economic heritage meant that in the twentieth century it bequeathed to English, among other things, a number of political terms that captured the mood of those troubled times. February sees two notable milestones, the twenty-first anniversaries of the unbanning of the African National Congress (ANC) and of the [...]
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