h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Excellent article. I love finding out about word usage all over the world. I'm learning dutch at the moment and a few words seemed very dutch to me - sometimes more dutch than Afrikaans. Others were very familiar to me for other reasons.

Ag - In Scotland and in dutch we say och all the time with the same meaning as ag.

Bioscope - The Dutch word for cinema is bioscoop, pronounced beeoscope

Blooming - sounds very English to me, maybe from the London area? Bloody is very english too - I've read that it comes from "By our Lord" from the time when even a slight reference to god was blasphemous. At least that's what Bill Bryson wrote in His book "The Mother Tongue"

China - from Cockney rhyming slang. china plate = mate (me old china is a well known expression in Britain, meaning my old mate)

Dummy - also used in Britain, as a short form of dummy tit (pacifier is never used).

Dustbin / Rubbish Bin - both used (never garbage)

Doll - very popular in Glasgow. Also used by James Cagney and other gangsters from old films (dollface). I don't think it has anything to do with darling. More likely to stem from a childs toy, I think "baby doll" has been used in the same way.

Lekker - also Dutch meaning nice (usually with food)

Marmite - well known in Britain too

Skat - The dutch word Schat is closer to your word than the Afrikaans (strange eh?)

Well I don't know if any of that is of any use to your article but I hope you found it at least a bit as interesting as I do.

Cheers
chiefaberach

Thanks for the feedback since SA was colonised by both the Dutch and the Brits it makes sense that most of our slang has dutch or breittish origins. Unfortunately now with TV and hollywood however you hear americanisms more and more. yuk!

What's nice to see is more Zulu and Xhosa words pitching up in sland all over - across all cultures so there's annother demonstration of the "melting pot" of SA. the only other place I've ever experienced such a melding was in London.

Thanks again

KPOW

Kosh