kagablog

The following are words which have become accepted terms on the massively-selling tabloid known as the Daily Sun, through everyday usage, but which spellcheck has great difficulty in coming to terms with:

Bakkie: bake, bookie, bike, biddy, buddy, buggy, beakless, bookish, backless, bookcase, bakehouse, battle, beauty, beak, body, bogy (a bakkie is a car with a small cab at the front and an open section at the back (the ‘bak’, prounounced ‘buck’) for holding goods, also known as a pickup).

Bliksem: botulism, balkiest, bulkiest, blitzes, batsmen, blacksmith, blitzing, blitzed, botulisms, bulgiest, backslide, boldest, backslid, backside, bloodiest (to bliksem someone is to hit them, hard).

Condomise: condones, condoms, comedians, comedowns, condense, comediennes, continues, contemns, conjoins, Cantonese, contumides, condemning, condolence, Canadians (to comdomise is to wear a condom when having sex; it’s a term frequently used in campaigns combating HIV/Aids, as in A,B,C: Abstain, Be faithful, Condomise).

Gogo: go-go, gigo, gaga, gauge, toga, goody, good, dodo, dojo, gage, googly, agog, gigolo, gauge, Diego, Gouda. (a gogo is a grandmother).

Inyoka: inky, Yankee, innate, unity, annoyed, nook, unlike, India, ingot, into, enmity, inmate, amnity, noddy, unlock, Yank (inyoka literally means ‘snake’ but is the common term for people who cost the state millions by stealing copper electrical cables – plural izinyoka)

Malema: mammal, mama, Malayan, mélange, meanly, Manila, namely, manual, Miami, manly, menial, memo, malign, melon (Julius Malema is the vocal leader of the ANC Youth League. After he maligned Democratic Alliance Leader Helen Zille of being ‘racist, colonial and imperialist’ she countered by accusing him of being an un-manly ‘inkwenkwe’ – an uncircumcised boy, a deep insult for the Xhosa – and an academic melon, who failed his woodwork course at school, and should perhaps be involved in menial labour, rather than politics).

Mkhulu: meekly, muddle, mutual, module, moduli, milky, mutely, medulla, mulch, meddle, mettle, middle, multi, mould, moult. (an mkhulu is a grandfather).

Msholozi: mashies (Zulu nickname for Jacob Zuma, ANC president and soon-to-be president of South Africa. It means ‘you can’t sneak up on this guy’ or ‘be careful, this guy can sneak up on you’).

Muthi: mushy, mouths, mouth, maths, meths, moths, myths, mashie, moth, myth, mashy, meshy, muzzy, Meath, methyl, mush (muthi is medicine that witch-doctors use in their spell-casting and muthi (often made up of human body parts) is often buried in people’s yards, sometimes to invoke tokoloshes – see tokoloshe).

Sangoma: samoan, sanguine, snowman, sangria, seaming, synonym, slamming, salmon, seamanly, assuming, someone, summing. (a sangoma is a healer. Their primary task is to heal – if they use body parts for spells, or do harm to others, they are not sangomas but witch-doctors).

Takkies: takes, toadies, teddies, toddies, tykes, tackles, tickles, titties, tattles, tidies, tattoos, daddies, takeaways, teaches, attacks (takkies are canvas sneakers).

Tokoloshe – ticklish, toehold, touchholes (a tokoloshe is a small, evil gnome, often sent by jealous rivals or witch-doctors, which sometimes has sex with the unfortunate affected person and glows with a bluish or greenish light).

Venda: vend, veined, vandal, viand, vended, fined, veins, evened, find, fanned, vented, vent, fanged, fawned, finned (Venda is a small place in the North-Eastern corner of the Soutpansberg in Limpopo).