List of South African Slang Words - Words From Portuguese

Words From Portuguese

• a luta continua! – a rallying cry used during the anti-Apartheid struggle (and during Mozambique’s war for independence).
• brinjal – eggplant, aubergine
• caldo verde – traditional recipe of Portuguese sausage (Port. "chouriço") and kale nestled in a thick potato soup.
• Cape of Good Hope – a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula.
• catembe – a drink made by mixing red wine and coca-cola.
• chouriço – traditional sausage made with pork, fat, wine, paprika and salt. It is then stuffed into tripe (natural or artificial) and slowly dried over smoke. Similar to Spanish chorizo.
• dom pedro – drink made by mixing ice cream with whisky.
• espetada – a typical Portuguese dish made usually of large chunks of beef rubbed in garlic and salt, skewered onto a bay leaf stick.
• kraal – enclosure for livestock.
• jerepigo – a usually red heavy dessert wine.
• mielies or mealies – maize.
• mielie meal – In sub-Saharan Africa, a relatively coarse flour (much coarser than cornflour or cornstarch) made from maize (mielies or mealies; from Portuguese "milho".)
• padece – derogatory word for Afrikaners used by South African-Portuguese.
• padrão – a large stone cross inscribed with the coat of arms of Portugal that was placed as part of a land claim by numerous Portuguese maritime explorers in South Africa and elsewhere.
• peri-peri – chili pepper.
• pikinini – a black child
• porra – slang for a Portuguese person or language, usually derogatory but sometimes used affectionately depending on context.
• porraland – slang and affectionate term for Portugal used by South African-Portuguese.
• portuguese roll – a light Portuguese bread roll with a crisp crust sprinkled with flour and popular amongst South Africans.
• prego roll – steak sandwich made with piri-piri (chili) sauce and served on a Portuguese roll.
• trinchado – a popular spicy meat dish of Angolan and Mozambican origin.
• vai – literally go in Portuguese, but often combined with other languages, for "let's go" as in, "let's vai," or with Sotho, "a re vai." Especially common in Johannesburg.
• viva! – long live!