Browse African Slang

ዋቃዮ/አምላክ (God - Oromo)

መቀስቀሻ ጥሪ/መቀስቀሻ ጥሪ (Mekeskesha tiri) - wake up call

ዋልያ/ዋልያ (Walia)

ዋኪ ቶኪ/ዋኪ ቶኪ (Walkie talkie) - walkie talkie

የእግር ርቀት/የእግር ርቀት (Walking distance)

የታጠበ ቡና/የታጠበ ቡና (Yetatebe buna) - washed coffee

ልብስ ማጠቢያ/ልብስ ማጠቢያ (Libs matebia) - washing machine

ዋሽንት/ዋሽንት (Flute)

ዋሽንት ተጫዋች/ዋሽንት ተጫዋች (Washint techawach) - flute player

ሰዓት ጥገና/ሰዓት ጥገና (Seat tigena) - watch repair

የውሃ ማሞቂያ/የውሃ ማሞቂያ (Yewuha mamokiya) - water heater

ውሃ እባክህ/ውሃ እባክህ (Wuha ebakeh) - water please

ውሃ ማጠጫ/ውሃ ማጠጫ (Wuha matecha) - watering can

ሸማኔ/ሸማኔ (Shemane) - weaver

ሽመና/ሽመና (Shimena) - weaving

የሰርግ ኬክ/የሰርግ ኬክ (Yeserg cake) - wedding cake

የሰርግ ግብዣ/የሰርግ ግብዣ (Yeserg gibza) - wedding invitation

የሰርግ ፎቶግራፈር/የሰርግ ፎቶግራፈር (Yeserg photographer) - wedding photographer

ወደ ጓደኛ/ወዳጅ (Friend/buddy)

ወደ ኋላ/ወደ ኋላ (Wede huala) - backwards/late

ረቡዕ/ረቡዕ (Rebu) - Wednesday

የሳምንት መጨረሻ ጉዞ/የሳምንት መጨረሻ ጉዞ (Yesamint mecheresa guzo) - weekend trip

እንኳን ደህና መጡ/እንኳን ደህና መጡ (Enkuan dehna metu) - welcome

እንኳን ደህና መጣህ/እንኳን ደህና መጣህ (Enkuan dehna metah) - welcome home

ብየዳ/ብየዳ (Biyeda) - welder

ወለዶ/ልጅ (Child - Tigrinya)

ወንበዴ/ወንበዴ (Wenbede) - criminal

ወንድሜ/ወንድሜ (My brother)

ወንዝ/ወንዝ (Wenz) - river

An exclamation similar to “uh oh” or “dang,” usually said when something bad happens.

Literally “bad luck” (wey = alas, gud = bad). Used when someone experiences misfortune.

ወያላ/ወያላ (Weyala) - minibus conductor

ምን/ምን (Min) - what

መቼ/መቼ (Meche) - when

An Ethiopian proverb illustrating that to a person in love, even the most dangerous or difficult situation (a cliff) see...

የት/የት (Yet) - where

ዋይት ቦርድ/ዋይት ቦርድ (Whiteboard) - whiteboard

ለምን/ለምን (Lemin) - why

ውድድር/ውድድር (Wibdr) - inflation

ወይን/ወይን (Weyn) - wine

ጥበብ/ጥበብ (Tibeb) - wisdom

ወይራ/ወይራ (Olive)

ወላይታ/ወላይታ (Wolayta) - Wolayta people

የወሎ ዳንስ/የወሎ ዳንስ (Wollo dance)

ሱፍ/ሱፍ (Suf) - wool

Amharic for “dog,” a general mild insult (like “jerk”).

የስራ የመጨረሻ ጊዜ/የስራ የመጨረሻ ጊዜ (Yesira yemecheresa gize) - work deadline

ወያላ/ረዳት (Conductor)

ውድ/ውድ (Expensive)

ውሃ ልማት/ውሃ ልማት (Wuha limat) - water development