What I learnt in America and other stories.
Cribas are crisps but are actually chips. And chips which are chipos are actually fries. Bikis are crackers which are biscuits. But biscuits are actually like scones.
Boots are for feet and trunks are found in cars and on elephants. The roundabout is a rotary and since there be no zebras walking, we dodge cars on crosswalks. The bonnet is the hood and the exhaust is the muffler and well prepared chicks should have at least one wrench which is is a spanner.
Ketchup is for fries as tomato sauce is for cooking pasta. The kio or the shop is the store. Petrol is gas and still costs over $2 a gallon. The first floor is the ground floor and no one uses the lift as they’re all on elevators.
Peanut butter and jelly is peanut butter and jam and what we call jelly is Jello- which means that jam is probably preserves. Purus which are sweets are candy but sometimes chocos are also candy. We don’t take leave, we go on vacation.
Jungus are not Europeans but Caucasian (at least during censuses).
TGIF, thank God, is still “Thank God it’s Friday”
Barikiweni.
funny & true observations. And may I add:
- “What’s good?” and/or “What’s going on?” are greetings
- biscuits are scones for human consumption when on the dinner table but the same “biscuit” word refers to dog snacks
- crackers is a racist term referring to jungus but also refers to biscuits…hmmmm? wonder why!?
- Over here: Things “catch on fire” and friends coming over to see you on weekends are not visiting you but “visiting with you”
- sneakers are tennis shoes in the US while in France we called them “baskets” even when we played tennis in them,lol!
Good one Aikey- I hadn’t remembered the dog snacks and I’m LOLing at the jungu reference… See I KNOW my audience!! Annnd do they actually call shoes ‘baskets’ in France? Haiya!
Comment by akiey — December 8, 2006 @ 10:59 pm
funny & true observations. And may I add:
- “What’s good?” and/or “What’s going on?” are greetings
- biscuits are scones for human consumption when on the dinner table but the same “biscuit” word refers to dog snacks
- crackers is a racist term referring to jungus but also refers to biscuits…hmmmm? wonder why!?
- Over here: Things “catch on fire” and friends coming over to see you on weekends are not visiting you but “visiting with you”
- sneakers are tennis shoes in the US while in France we called them “baskets” even when we played tennis in them,lol!
Comment by akiey — December 8, 2006 @ 11:04 pm
Athletics which refers to track and field sports elsewhere is any sport, track and field included, here. When you reverse you are actually backing up and when stopping on the side of the road you are pulling over.
and you park in your driveway!!!
Comment by egm — December 9, 2006 @ 9:07 am
Food is good never nice. Nice is a word you use to describe that guy at the grocery store. Also you cannot love food but only like it!
Interesting post.
He he he… I had never noticed that food good/nice thing but now that you mention it… and speaking of ‘nice guys’ everybody (depending on location of course) is an endearment… here it seems to be ‘hon’ or ‘honey’. Makes for easy shopping I do say!
Comment by AK — December 9, 2006 @ 10:39 am
My word! Notebook karibu inajaa! Now how about when an alarm rings - it is going off, getting a leg over - hmmmm, feel free to let your mind wander off and fall into the gutter.
…is knocking boots! and maybe getting off… ermm… it’s actually calling on the name of the Lord in vain!
Comment by aegeus — December 9, 2006 @ 1:27 pm
Blogsome spammed my comment!I was here nonetheless!We are still waiting for the rest of the alpahbet.
Blogsome sucked thuthas big time today. I could not log onto my own webpage for the whole day bwana!! What it is. Alhphabet inakuja…
Comment by Acolyte — December 10, 2006 @ 5:12 pm
a vest can be a vest but its called a “wifebeater”. you are not reading when you are chopping but you are “studying” (pronounced: study-ying).
OK on the wifebeater thing I stayed a while before I got it. I mean, we all have this store of American colloqualisms (sp.) but this one I had to actually go and look it up…
Comment by mchokozi — December 10, 2006 @ 10:21 pm
Going home finally? Me too: to stay.
si you hit me on e-mail before you do so.
Comment by Kyalo — December 11, 2006 @ 8:29 am
HA HA made my day man…and ask is axe in the USofA
Comment by Quintessential — December 12, 2006 @ 2:14 pm
*smh*, that is a discriminatory post haki! Sasa me now with my education under a mugumo tree, how do I hack?
I have friends who keep up that whole tomato sauce ketchup business…..arrrgh, me ketchup is heinz, the rest is tomato ssauce halafu for spags is tomato PASTE. mwehhe, kulahiyo.
Lakini, eh, I have this jamaa dude amigo of mine who errrm, well, his githungu is a bit spanish-ised, so eti, when he wants to say the equivalent of “i swear”, haki ya mungu/ ma ngai! to you and me, , he says “I promise to you”. Lool, file that under Fifi’s power kamum!!
Halafu….arrrgh, wacha I rarua the guy a little bit more…this time we were having a conversation, and he meant to say “that your prerogative”, he said “thats your privilege”, ehe, yes, and I love him to bit mimi, smh, I wonder who does grammar checks for his considering his job haki….Me, yes, in a basket to hell, I converse with him just for laughs, yes, this might digress to how he pronounces peach as peash, touch as toush (as in tawsh).
Yes, I’m on my way out.
tiga kunyingata ninjui fara, pris.
Halafu, i sense there in a good bye, karibu nyumbani ukifika…yaani I’m the only one holding the kimwaki for you here, kina Ms K they went to play tapo, mwehehe, so yeah, I’m with kimuri, aka, keeping the fire alive aka, the guys who walked from coasto to thogoto with a burning torch 9not tawsh, torch) yeah, ok…I’m out.
Hugses sweetio, I hope you are keeping wellest and have a fabulous holiday and abundance, yaani, thy cup shall filleth and overfloweth kind of blessings hun.
Comment by KM — December 14, 2006 @ 4:20 am
May i also add:
-When someone is well dressed you say:”You look sharp” not “You look smart”
-When asked how you are doing, You have to say “I’m Good” not “I’m Fine.”
-You don’t say “I feel like throwing up.” more like “I’m gonna be sick.” Took me a minute to understand that.
- A napkin is what we call serviette, toilet roll is tissue paper.
-Paper bag is the brown bag, Plastic bag is what we call paper bag.
Comment by Kelitu — December 16, 2006 @ 2:40 pm
When you order food the cashier asks you “will that be all?” (Hell no, not until i get my food!) the food is “forhere or togo” which is utakula hapa ama utabeba.
Even after you say what you want to eat, they still “ask how would like that!”
Cashier: Would you like to try one of our combos
Alexcia: I want the number 1 (in kenya) May i have the number 1 please (in America)
Cashier: How would like that?
Alexcia: Ha!
Cashier: How would like that?
Alexcia: Ha! Just give me everything?##?!
Cashier/Server: Is that like “well done” or medium done…
Alexcia: Ha! well done
Cashier/server: What kind of cheeze?
Alexcia: Ha! just give any
Cashier/server: Do you mean like swiss, american?
Alexcia: Ha! American
Cashier/server: Would like that with chips… ??? Onions??? Mustard????,
Alexcia: WTF wacha kumiaibisha (in kenya), yes please (in America)
After you eat you ask for the check which is your bill. and you pay by cash or credit. Of course you HAVE to tip.
When you want to “bank some money” you make a deposit, and when you get money from your account you are actually making a withdrawal. The casher who is actually a teller will ask you “will that be all” before s/he hands over the mbesha (hell no, not until you give me my money)
Comment by alexcia — January 31, 2007 @ 2:40 am
at least one thing is the same. Getting head is getting head even in Mandarin or cantonese. LOL
Comment by udi — February 7, 2007 @ 12:53 pm