Bakkie: pickup truck
Black Label: a mainstream South African beer often associated with the working class
Bra: similar to bro or dude
Braai: outdoor barbecue
Bukkake: genre of pornography originating in Japan in which several men ejaculate onto a woman or another man
Chinas: friend, pal, buddy. Considered outdated in some circles where bru or bra is more common.
Dipheko: the Setswana word for muti, meaning traditional medicine or magic
Eish: interjection expressing resignation
Entjie: half a cigarette; see also stompie
Eskom: originally the Electricity Supply Commission (Kommissie, in Afrikaans) of South Africa, and the official name of the company since 1987
Fong kong: slang for a cheap knock-off
Hai, baba: similar expression to “no, sir,” hai means no, while baba is a deferential term of address
Hamba’ofa: comparable to fuck off Hawks: special investigations unit of the South African Police Service
Hayibo: expression of disbelief, sometimes expression of irritation
Hectic: slang expression indicating amazement or shock
Heita: hello
Iz’nyoka: snake, also slang for electricity thieves
Ja: yes
Jelly tot: soft fruit-flavored sweets
Jozi: short for Johannesburg
Kachi abadi: shanty town
Kak: feces, used as an expletive comparable to shit
Karoo: a semi-desert region of South Africa
Kawaii: the quality of being cute, Japanese usage
Kif: slang expression similar to cool
Kloof: a ravine or valley
Kombi: minibus used to transport passengers
Koppie: a small hill rising from the African veld
Kraal: a traditional African village or extended settlement, also an enclosure or contained area for domesticated animals
Kwaito: a popular genre of music, a mixture of South African disco, hip hop, R&B and raga, with a heavy dose of house-music beats
Laaitie: younger person, esp. a younger male such as a younger brother or son
Llandudno: a popular surf beach and surrounding wealthy suburb in Cape Town
Los: to leave something or someone alone, to drop a matter
Lucas Radebe: a famous South African soccer player, retired in 2005
Madoda: term for a friends/guys
Mal: expression similar to crazy, mad, nuts
Mashambas: the countryside, rural plots, homesteads
Matric: short for matriculation, refers to final year of high school or Standard 10
Mealies: maize or corn
Mfecane: a period of chaos and warfare among indigenous communities in southern Africa between 1815 and 1840.
Midrand: an area between the expanding city limits of Johannesburg and Pretoria
Miggies: midges, fruit flys
MK: uMkhonto we Sizwe, the former armed wing of the ANC
Moeshoeshoe: a Sotho chief and contemporary of the Zulu king Shaka, famous for military victories against white settlers
Moffied up: from moffie, a derogatory term for a gay man
Mos: used as an interpolation, similar to after all, of course, you know
Msunu ka nyoko: comparable to fuck your mother’s cunt
Mqombothi: a home-brewed low-alcohol beer made from maize and sorghum
Mugu/s: fool/s, idiot/s, sometimes spelled moegoe/s
Muti: traditional or herbal medicine, or of medicinal or magical charm
Musina: border-crossing town between South Africa and Zimbabwe
Muso: a musician or extreme music fan
Mxit: South African mobile social network
Ndincede nkosi undiphe amandla: Please, God, give me strength
Necklacing: the mob-justice act of killing by placing a tire around the neck and lighting it on fire, used on political informants in townships during apartheid
NikNaks: common brand of packaged snack made from corn
Nguni: a breed of cattle indigenous to South Africa; also refers to a group of peoples and languages
Nkosi: thanks
Nqali: a traditional speakeasy that serves sorghum beer
Oke: Similar to china, bra, bru and boet
Oni: from Japanese folklore, often translated as demons, ogres or trolls
Ordentlik: well-behaved, proper
Otaku : a Japanese term for people with obsessive interests, commonly anime and manga fandom
Panga: machete
Pantsula: a young urban black person (usually male) whoseattitudes and behavior, especially regarding speech and dress, are trendy and current. Also a style of dance.
Rof: rough, especially do with character
Rondeval: a circular building with a conical roof, often thatched
SAPS: South African Police Service
SASKO: a ubiquitous South African bread and flour company
Scope: a weekly men’s porno magazine in South Africa, published from 1966 to 1996. The nipples on the centerfolds were concealed with stars.
Scorpions: the special investigations unit of the National Prosecuting Authority, with special powers above and beyond the police, preceding the Hawks. Controversially dismantled and merged with SAPS in 2008.
Shebeen: an informal drinking establishment in a township
Shongololo: millipede
Simunye: “We are one,” a saccharine slogan for TV channel SABC1 used just after the end of apartheid playing into the notion of South Africa as a “rainbow nation”
Skaam: embarrassed, remorseful, shamed
Skabenga: a gangster, bandit, or robber; a scoundrel or rascal
Skeef: sideways, askance
Skollies: hooligans, criminals, unsavory characters
Spaza: a small unofficial store, often operating out of a private house
Springkaan: grasshopper
Stompie: a cigarette butt; also a bit of gossip, as in “picking up stompies”
Swak: literally, weak; bad
Tata ma chance: I’ll take my chances, a slogan for the National Lottery
Telkom: a wireline and wireless telecommunications provider in South Africa
Tjank: whine, whimper
Tjoep-stil: completely silent
Tsotsi: a criminal, gangster, thug or robber
Tsotsi-taal: a mixture of several languages mainly spoken in South African townships
Unagi: Japanese for freshwater eel
Vaya: go
Yiba nam kolu gqatso: Be with me in this race
7/7 bombs: series of coordinated terrorist bombings utilizing the public transit system during London’s morning rush hour on the 7th of July, 2005
About the Author
Lauren Beukes (The Shining Girls)is an internationally award-winning and best-selling South African author. Her critically acclaimed writing ranges within crime, noir, mystery, thriller, horror, science fiction, nonfiction, graphic novels,screenplays and literary fiction.
Beukes’s novels include Broken Monsters, Zoo City and Moxyland, and she was the editor of the anthology Maverick: Extraordinary Women from South Africa’s Past. Her graphic novel work includes Vertigo’s Survivor’s Club, an original horror comic with Dale Halvorsen and Ryan Kelly; the Fables spin-off Fairest: The Hidden Kingdom with Inaki Miranda; and a Wonder Woman issue, “The Trouble with Cats,” in Sensation Comics 9, written for kids and set in Mozambique and Soweto.
Beukes’s nonfiction has been published in international magazines including the Hollywood Reporter, Nature Medicine and Colors, as well as the Sunday Times Lifestyle, Marie Claire, Elle and Cosmopolitan. Her film and television work includes directing the documentary Glitterboys & Ganglands, which features Cape Town’s biggest female-impersonation beauty pageant.
Among her many honors, Beukes has received the Arthur C. Clarke Award, the University of Johannesburg Prize, the August Derleth Award for Best Horror, and the Strand Critics Choice Award
for Best Mystery Novel, and her books have been regularly featured in best-of-the-year roundups by outlets such as NPR, Amazon, and the Los Angeles Times. Her fiction has won praise from the likes of Stephen King, George R. R. Martin, James Ellroy and Gillian Flynn, and her writing has been translated into twenty-six languages.
Lauren Beukes lives in Cape Town, South Africa.
Extended Copyrights
“Muse” copyright © 2010 by Lauren Beukes. First appeared in Weird Tales #356, Summer 2010.
“Slipping” copyright © 2014 by Lauren Beukes. First appeared in Twelve Tomorrows: MIT Technology Review SF Annual 2014, edited by Bruce Sterling (MIT Technology Review: Cambridge, Massachusetts).
“Confirm / Ignore” copyright © 2010 by Lauren Beukes. First appeared in Chew Magazine, Issue #1, December 2010.
“Branded” copyright © 2003 by Lauren Beukes. First appeared in SL Magazine, 2004.
“Smileys” copyright © 2005 by Lauren Beukes. First appeared in The Big Issue, 2005.
“Princess” copyright © 2008 by Lauren Beukes. First appeared in Open: Erotic Stories by South African Women, edited by Karin Schimke (Oshun Books: Cape Town).
“My Insect Skin” copyright © 2003 by Lauren Beukes. First appeared in Urban 03: Collected New South African Short Stories, edited by Dave Chislett (Spearhead: Claremont).
“Parking” copyright © 2005 by Lauren Beukes. First appeared in 180 Degrees: New Fiction by South African Women Writers, edited by Helen Moffett and Ceridwen Morris (Oshun Books: Cape Town).
“Pop Tarts” copyright © 2004 by Lauren Beukes. First appeared in Laugh It Off Annual Volume 2, edited by Justin Nurse (Laugh It Off Media/Double Storey Books: Cape Town).
“The Green” copyright © 2012 by Lauren Beukes. First appeared in Armored, edited by John Joseph Adams (Baen Books: New York).
“Litmash” copyright © 2012 by Lauren Beukes. First appeared in the Twitter Fiction Festival 2012, www.twitterfictionfestival.com.
“Easy Touch” copyright © 2009 by Lauren Beukes. First appeared in Touch: Stories of Contact, edited by Karina Magdalena Szczurek (Zebra: Cape Town).
“Algebra” copyright © 2006 by Lauren Beukes. First appeared in African Road: New Writing from Southern Africa, edited by J. M. Coetzee (New Africa Books: Cape Town).
“Unathi Battles the Black Hairballs” copyright © 2010 by Lauren Beukes. First appeared in Home Away: 24 hours, 24 cities, 24 writers, edited by Louis Greenberg (Zebra Books: Cape Town) and SFX, June 29, 2011.
“Dear Mariana” copyright © 2004 by Lauren Beukes. First appeared in Donga, edited by Alan Finlay and Paul Wessels (BLeKSEM: Cape Town).
“Riding with the Dream Patrol” copyright © 2011 by Lauren Beukes. First appeared in The Mail & Guardian, July 29, 2011.
“Unaccounted” copyright © 2011 by Lauren Beukes. First appeared in Further Conflicts, edited by Ian Whates (NewCon Press: United Kingdom).
“Tankwa-Karoo” copyright © 2014 by Lauren Beukes. First appeared in The Sunday Times, http://www.timeslive.co.za.
“Exhibitionist” copyright © 2006 by Lauren Beukes. First appeared in African Road: New Writing from Southern Africa, edited by J. M. Coetzee (New Africa Books: Cape Town).
“Dial Tone” copyright © 2005 by Lauren Beukes. First appeared in Itch, June 2005.
“Ghost Girl” copyright © 2008, 2011 by Lauren Beukes. First appeared on Novel Idea, http://novelidea.bookslive.co.za/blog. Also appeared in Fantasy Magazine #46, January 2011, http://www.fantasy-magazine.com.
“Adventures in Journalism” © 2005 by Lauren Beukes. First appeared in Spirit of Place, 2005.
“All The Pretty Corpses: On Violence” copyright © 2013 by Lauren Beukes. An earlier version of this piece, “Trying To Let Go,” appeared on Books Live on May 17th, 2010; this version appeared on The Richard & Judy Bookclub, Autumn 2013, http://blog. whsmith.co.uk/richard-judy/.
“Judging Unity” copyright © 2006 by Lauren Beukes. First appeared in The Sunday Times.
“Inner City” copyright © 2013 by Lauren Beukes. First appeared in Granta #124, June 24, 2013.
“On Beauty: A Letter to My Five-Year-Old Daughter” copyright © 2014 by Lauren Beukes. First appeared in Real Beauty by Jodi Bieber (Pagina Verlag GmbH: Germany).
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