South African English Vocabulary

Sawubona!

I hope everybody had a great weekend! 

So, I thought for this post it would be fun to list some of the English vocabulary here that differs from the English vocabulary back home. 

This is a working list that I can continue to update when I discover more.
(If any of my international friends or my SA friends have any corrections or changes, please let me know!) 

University --- Varsity

Classes    ---  Modules

Vacation  ---  Vac (Pronounced Vack)

The trunk of your car --- the boot (one of my favorites)

Traffic lights  --- robots

Pick-up Trucks --- Bukkies (pronounced "buckees")

Gas   --- Petrol

Gas Station --- Petrol Station or Garage

Sneakers/Tennis Shoes --- Takkies (Pronounced "tackees")

Flip Flops --- Flops

Cardigan/ Sweater --- Jersey

Some slip-on sandals --- slippers

Plastic Bag (like at a grocery store) --- Packet or Plastic

Napkins (the paper ones) --- serviettes 

The restaurant check/bill --- is always called the bill

BBQ --- Braai

Cookies --- Biscuits
Carry Out --- Take Away

To be drunk --- sloshed

Minutes (for a phone) --- airtime

Text message --- SMS (or BBM because mostly everyone here has a BlackBerry)

To steal --- pinch

Trash Can --- Bin

Also:
The drugstore will always be called a pharmacy (if you ask for a drug store they may be very confused)

and when looking for a restroom in public, you usually have to ask for the toilets, not the bathroom (otherwise they may think you want to bathe and be as equally confused). 

On a different note, this weekend was very nice.

On Friday, I went to the school's rugby game on campus and then on Saturday a group of us went to Durban to celebrate our friend,  Emily Rojas's 20th Birthday. In addition, surprise to us all, we also got to celebrate her recent engagement to Mo Mooideen!  

We made crepes in the morning with ice cream and strawberries and then spent the afternoon on the beach. That evening we went to our favorite hotspot Joe Cools. All in all, a very successful weekend :)

Hope everyone is doing well!

Much Love,

El