Being here in South Sudan where people's use of English is, well, interesting to say the least, I've found a whole bunch of funny phrases, some of which aren't technically incorrect, but we wouldn't ever use them; and others which don't make a whole bunch of sense. Either way, I'm trying to integrate them into my own vocabulary.
1. 'Footing' - to be used in place of 'walking'. "How are you getting there?" "I am footing."
Not 'going by foot'. This is definitely my favourite!
2. "You are lost!" - the first thing people say to you when they see you after a long absence ... a replacement for "I haven't seen you in a while, where have you been?"
3. 'It's ok.' Which is a kind of ambiguous way of saying 'yes'. If you ask someone a question with a yes/no answer, and they respond with "it's ok", you should take it as affirmative, not negative. It's also how people confirm something that you've proposed to them. "So you'll organise transport to Maper?" "It's ok."
For me it's a bit counter-intuitive. If someone offered me a piece of cake and I said "no, it's ok", I would be refusing it, not accepting it. Here it's the opposite. ... hence my initial confusion for about the first month of my being here!
4. 'Next tomorrow' - the day after tomorrow.
5. "I'm coming" - used when you need to just go off and do something; we would probably say "I'll be right back."
6. "I'm on my way coming". You don't have to be a dummy to work that out, but it still makes me smile. Ahh obsolete words.
7. Speaking of obsolete words: "I will try my level best." This one is great too; I'm not really sure where it comes from, or why they use it, but I like it!
8. 'What what' ... used in place of 'etc' when people are listing examples of things and can't think of any more ... ie. "they were eating apples, bananas, what what..." Love this one too.
9. A 'lady' is someone who is married; a 'girl' is someone who is not married yet. So even if you're already 30 but not yet married (which is highly unusual in South Sudan ... in fact being 20 and not yet married is also unusual!) you are still considered a girl.
10. Adding the suffix 'ment' to words that don't really need it. My favourite example is the word 'delayment'. "There was some delayment with our coming from the field." Hee hee!
11. 'Too much' - often used to describe a situation that is not good, or where something is
for example when it's a really hot day - "this heat is too much" or when everyone is really busy and needs a rest - "work is just too much".
12. 'You people'- used in place of 'you' (plural) - and usually used when making a strong statement about a group; for example, "you people are just too much!" or "what are you people doing?!"
I'll add more when I think of them.
:)
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