Phrases
- Album - (Offensive Term)Refers to Pregnancy/Birth – That girl just released an Album.
- Ati how? - How are you? Very informal slang. Origin ‘Ati bwanji’ became ‘ati bwa’ and ‘bwa’ was translated to English ‘how’
- Ba ka’amba - from ‘ba kalamba’ big man. Generally used to address either a friend or one whose name you don’t know
- Ba'ane - Good friends. genrally used to address very good friends or in jest to not so good friends
- Bali - Father/Older Man.
- Ba Rwanda (can be derogatory )- Beer Scavengers. - usage arose at the time when Zambia had a lot of refugees from Rwanda in the
- Balloon Type - Lady with Big Bums/Back side/Hips
- Brush - sex
- Better TV - A prostitute. [from a song by local musician Danny of the same title]
- Bells - Length of time (usually long) or time of day. derived from a bell ringing at the top of the hour. e.g. Its 6 bells right now i.e. 6 am/pm. E.g, It's been bells since I saw him.
- Blazed - To get drunk / high on drugs
- Black album / blue movie - Porn movie
- Black table - A table laden with lager beer Bottles, usually castle or mosi
- Bolt - to run
- Book - leave a location e.g. "Buta" lets book from here its getting "dry".
- Box - reference to any area that is confined such as a room or a location.
- Buta / Bootah - in reference to brotherhood. from "boet" or "boetie"
- Bululu / Bururu - Relative from Afrikaans "broer" meaning brother
- Bwete - (Big Ass) A simultaneous shaking of a Woman/lady's Behind when walking.
- Belegede - Drunk
- Kanasaki (Kan-i-Saki) - Get Head -- From the word Kawasaki
- Cabin - House/Home.
- Chakolwa - an alcoholic
- Chamba - Marijuana/cannabis
- Chux'd - To be detained/imprisoned by the Police.
- Choncholi - rather derogatory reference to a Chinese person.
- Chow(chau) - Eat.
- Clap - to finish e.g. I've clapped all my homework so we can go play football now.
- CNN / BBC - In reference to gossip and its ability to spread like the news
- Coolie (Kuli) - An Indian
- Colgate - Refers to ANY toothpaste
- Crop - To fall down
- Cut - 1)Going/Leaving e.g. I'm cutting cabin, its already 3 a.m. 2)Drunk e.g. My father was cut last night after the party, I had to drive him home. 3) What's cutting? = what's happening?
- Damage - in reference to money spent. How much damage did you do last night? - 1 million Kwacha on dinner.
- Departure lounge - someone very ill and most likely on their death bed.e.g. one with HIV could be said to be in the departure lounge.
- Dicey - Tricky
- Dop / Dope - Alcohol
- Dos - To sleep
- Doss / dossed - terminally ill (derogatory) used to describe persons suffering from AIDS (gossip type)
- Down it - Bottoms up - drink at one go
- Dry - Boring/Lame
- Dyonko - sample/taste
- Ek Se - Originally an Afrikaans term which means " I say " e.g. Ek Se what time is it?Its meaning has literally changed to refer to a friend or some one of your age you don't know.
- Eh Eh/Ah Ah - An expression used to describe 'being surprised'. What the hell? E.g, Eh eh, didn't he "prang" his ride?.
- Falisa/Falisis - ambiguous reference to any object, situation or action (popular among Copperbelt Kaponyas)
- Fastele - Fast - From a cartoon Comic in local newspapers, 'The Post' from back in the days.
- Father - used to call a man’s name you don’t know/Elderly Man(commonly use by call boys/Bus conductors)
- Flat - Annoyed or upset or angry.
- Flush - The act of aborting an unwanted pregnancy.
- Fodia - Cigarette
- Flamingo - (sexual position - Similar to Doggy Style) where the woman stands then bends over and touches her toes.
- Free Kick - (Offensive) To abort a pregnancy as in She had a free kick
- Frozen chicken - (sexual position) sexual position where the woman is lying on her back and her legs are over the man's shoulders.
- Fuzi - side Kick
- Gabon - anything bad, in reference to the Gabon air disaster of 1993 in which Zambia soccer player lost their lives.
- Gon’ga - noun. an imitation product. verb. To be swindled/ugly girl.
- G.P - Game Plan, i.e. organizing a plan of action
- Graze - Food or the act of eating
- Gun Powder - Groundnuts
- Gooza / Guza - woman/lady
- Gelo (Chi gelo) - A girl/woman
- Gwamo - Go/Leave (Na gwamo - I have gone.)
- Hammer - 1) to beat
- Hard - to be considered something special or good e.g. That Items is Hard Ek Se.
- How do you make it? - What time is it?
- Hule - Prostitute
- Item - Refers to a thing/anything.
- Jam - to play e.g. We are jamming football tonight at the school football pitch.
- Joll - 1)Come or arrive at a destination. e.g. Are you jolling to the party tonight? 2) In other parts of Africa joll can refer to a party or party atmosphere.
- Joint - 1)place or location. e.g. This joint is nice. 2) Weed
- John Cena - really big local buns
- Kaponya - A street hawker or any individual found roaming the city streets aimlessly. Usually very vulgar
- Kabwata - Body builder or well built muscular man commonly referred to as "chiKabwata" - named after Lusaka's first and oldest gym located in Kabwata Township
- Ka ndile - A broke person that feeds off others and tries to keep up appearances like he/she is the spender
- Ka nduli - Hot girl.
- Kembo - A person of no substance (insulting) eg. "Iwe Kembo!" English translation "Hey Jerk/funny guy/popper!"
- Ku ma 'dizzy’ - Bar/Tavern
- Ku ma yard [yadi] - Suburbs. [literally at the yards]
- ka pulp - Nshima.
- Kajansa - Masturbation e.g. - Alibe Gelo,ama chaya che kanajansa daily.
- ku dyela - Having a good time e.g. wa dyela, tina dyela
- Ku yupa ma banana - Masturbation e.g. - Ninamu pezekeza Ayupa ma banana mu Toilet.
- Kui Typa - Bemba Word for Fight.
- Kapeta - Body builder or weightlifter
- Kuli (coolie) - An Indian.
- Ka saka - a bag of money.
- Kopala - an indigenous citizen of the Copperbelt province (Usually an unruly member of this group of people)
- Long Nose /4 Corner - formal shoes with a long front-end/4 Squared heal.
- Laliga - Something good
- Laka - nice, good, great. From Afrikaans "lekker"
- Lash - To give e.g. Lash me some Money Ek Se
- Ma packs - Opaque beer. e.g. shake-shake,(Chibuku).
- Maize juice or Blue print - Shake Shake/ Opaque Beer
- Ma pint - Lager beer e.g. Mosi and castle
- Mahafu - Money.
- Mbama - Slap/ To Slap Someone.
- Metre [Mita] - A million kwacha.
- McGyver - Using ingenious methods and simple tools/materials to fix something. e.g. using wires instead of bolts and nuts to hold together two parts. From the popular 1980s TV seriesMcGyver.
- Mpopo - Hot Girls/Babes
- Moko-Moko - Retarded person/Retard
- Mwanaa - Refers to Friend/Young Person
- Mune - Same as mwanaa, term of endearment for a good friend e.g. 'Shani Mune' "Hello my friend"; 'Shani baane' "Hello My friends"
- Mali - Mother / Mum / in certain contexts a lady or woman
- Mati - Mate/friend
- Mao - Derived from Mal (French for sick/sickness). Being "sick in the head" or crazy. Usually as a reaction to someone doing something stupid. E.g, "ek se", how do you "dope" without "tuning" us "ek se", but you're mao.
- Mauless - speechless or at a loss for words, used especially when shocked at something or by someone. Derived from the phrase, "Nilibe mau" meaning I've got no words or I've got nothing to say.
- Mat - to leave - Mat ek se
- Ma Bono - Local Buns
- Milochi - kissing.
- Michopo - Grilled steaks
- MuZungu - Nyanja Word for White Person.
- Mukalad - Nyanja Word for a Mixed Race person (coloureds).
- Mwenye - Nyanja Word for Indian.
- Nailos - Copperbelt slang used by Kaponyas. See the meaning of Falisis
- Nikisi - Comes from the German "Nichts" and means "Nothing", or "NO".
- Ntakuko - Booty.
- Njumi - Cute girl.
- Nyaps - NSA[No Strings Attached] Partner.
- Ponyo Ponyo/Kanjansa - Masturbation
- Ndule - Girls.
- Nkeche - Girls/Girlfriend.
- Ngwele - side kick .
- Nakata line - To get to know the trade.
- Own - Guy e.g. "Tune" that own to "lash" me my "tong" - Tell the guy/person to give me my money.
- One Piston - One who easily gets Drunk.
- Open - to burst out into laughter e.g Ek-se, I opened! (I really laughed)
- Opan - to take a girls virginity e.g I opaned the cherry! (I was her first sex) ;,the a is stressed when pronouncing.
- Page - to give a "miss call", usually due to a lack of pre-paid funds on a mobile phone. e.g. I'll page you so that you know I'm here.
- Peg - to die. e.g. This "own" pegged because of drunk driving.
- Perch - To sit
- Pin - denomination for a thousand Zambian kwacha e.g. 1 pin - K1,000 ,50 pin - K50,000
- Prang - crash, normally the action of being in a motor-vehicle accident
- Queen - mother
- Rasta - Any person with dreadlocks
- Remix - A Lie.
- Ride/whip/G - car
- Sawa - K1,000(One Thousand Kwacha)Commonly used by Bus conductors/passengers.
- Saat/Sut - No
- Scale - Steal
- Scan - to look
- Skim - to think
- Swine - a vest/waistcoat.
- Sheets - in reference to sheets of money
- Span - plenty, a large number.
- Shansha - Hustle, stay strong.
- Shadow - Dark like Ronish
- Skat - shoe
- Spalour - Home
- Scene - Club or event
- Scoop - Get
- Shanks - Toilet
- Strap - Walk e.g. I had to strap all the way home because the car broke down.
- Skwale! - To Run Away, normally leave the scene in a rush.
- Susu - K10,000(Ten Thousand Kwacha) Commonly used by Bus conductors/passengers.
Tune (Choon)- To tell/say. "I tuned that kama bali" Originally from South African Slang.
- Tune Out - To Tell Off
- Turbulence - Distraction/Confusion in a Group.
- Tong - Money.
- Two (2) Pulls - short duration / amount for something. "Shani ko ka fwaka ... two pulls fye."
- Wire [waya] - 1) to beat or cause harm to somebody 2)An Old/vehicle in bad condition.
- Weeve - Beat/Fight.
- Zali - A Hundred kwacha(K100). Or a Hundred thousand kwacha(K100,000). e.g. 2 zali = K200,000
- Za yellow - A Person with bleached skin or is light skinned.
- Zambia Airways - Refers to a chicken Wing.
- Zed - Literally 'Z' Short for Zambia. a. Zedians-Zambians
- Zigolo - water and sugar
- Zigs - Short-hand form of Zigolo
- Zooker - Beer vulture.
- ZNS - Refers to Green Flies (green bottle fly) in relation to the Green uniforms Worn by Zambian National Service men and women.
- Zimandola - AKA Kopala. Peoples of the Copperbelt province particularly from Ndola town
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