Browse African Slang

Bien, bon (Well, good)

Très bien (Very good)

Esperto das ruas (Street smart)

Slippers/flip-flops, used to indicate a very relaxed or poor state.

Common fever sickness (Mosquito illness)

Experto en malaria por experiencia (Malaria expert by experience)

Malária pegou (Got malaria)

موسم الملاريا (Malaria season)

Época de malaria (Malaria season)

Malatsi (Days)

Sweet pancakes (Somali) - street food's call

A very Tunisian way to start exclamatory phrases, meaning “so/what a…!”

مالد - Mad and bald

امتياز الذكور (Male privilege)

“What’s wrong with you?” often used when someone is acting off. Usage: Malek a khouya, you look upset – something happen...

From French mal élevé (badly raised), in Creole it means a rude, ill-mannered person. Calling someone malelve is like ca...

Tsy mahery / Mora kivy (Weak / Easily upset)

Tsara fanahy / Mora indramina (Kind hearted / Compassionate)

Educational goals

Youth goals

Incompréhension (Misunderstanding)

An all-purpose “never mind/sorry/no problem.” Conveys sympathy or apology for a minor issue.

Restaurant populaire (Popular restaurant) - Lingala

Better upbringing

Good upbringing

Gold spoon

Misfortune

ملحون بويتري - شعر الملحون (Malhoun verse)

Means “mother” in Nyanja but slang-wise used to affectionately refer to any older woman or mom (like “mama”).

حدود مالي (Mali border)

Island wealth

Foreign assets

Malibu (Coconut rum)

En gros (Wholesale)

Malin (Smart/clever)

Très malin (Clever as a monkey)

Paiements (Payments)

Malipo/kutoa pesa (Payment/money giving)

Good payment

Never mind, sorry, it's okay.

Finish (also can mean to kill in context).

مالك؟ - ما بك؟ (what's wrong with you?)

In African slang, Malkop refers to a concept or object specific to local culture.

Mabenkele a maholo / Big shops

مول كرول - جولة المول (mall tour)

Cultura de centro comercial (Mall culture)

Bantfwana base-mall (Mall children)

An exclamation meaning “What a…!” used to emphasize amazement or sarcasm.

Literally “what goodness,” used sarcastically to mean “what the heck” or express disapproval.

Islamic teacher/Spiritualist (Muslim cleric)