Browse African Slang

ሌብልስ/ስያሜዎች (Labels)

ላቦራቶሪ/ላቦራቶሪ (Laboratory) - laboratory

ላዳ/የቆየ ታክሲ (Old taxi)

Funny term for gossip or chitchat (from “launch” ironically, like launching a convo). Usage: They sat for hours in lanch...

የቤት ስልክ/የቤት ስልክ (Yebet silk) - landline

ላስቲክ/ላስቲክ (Lastik) - eraser

Means “dropped out” or “quit” (literally “he said ‘lay’ (no) and left”). Usage: He was on the team but lay yalesh after ...

ሌይኦቨር/የበረራ ማቆሚያ (Layover)

ሊዝ/ሊዝ (Lease) - lease

ቆዳ/ቆዳ (Koda) - leather

የቆዳ ኳስ/የቆዳ ኳስ (Yekoda kwas) - leather ball

Means “thief” but slang for someone who’s slick or a player. Usage: Don’t trust that leba with your secrets – he’ll use ...

Literally “thief/robber,” used teasingly for a friend who takes your stuff or a clever person who sneaks things.

ሌሊት/ሌሊት (Lelit) - night

ለማት/ለማት (Lemat) - traditional carpet

እንሂድ/እንሂድ (Enhid) - let's go

ለውጥ/ለውጥ (Change)

ልብ/ልብ (Lib) - attention/heart

የመጽሐፍ ቤት ጊዜ/የመጽሐፍ ቤት ጊዜ (Yemetshaf bet gize) - library time

ልብስ ተራ/ልብስ ተራ (Libs tera) - clothes section

ፍቃድ ቢሮ/ፍቃድ ቢሮ (Fikad biro) - license office

ባቡር/ባቡር (Babur) - light rail

መብረቅ/መብረቅ (Lightning)

ልማት/ልማት (Limat) - development

ላይን ታክሲ/መስመር ታክሲ (Line taxi)

ሊትር/ሊትር (Liter) - liter

ቀጥታ ሙዚቃ/ቀጥታ ሙዚቃ (Ketita muzika) - live music

ቁልፍ/ቁልፍ (Kulif) - lock/key

ሎሽን/ሎሽን (Lotion) - lotion

የምሳ ሰዓት/የምሳ ሰዓት (Yemisa seat) - lunch break