Ale gaule

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

Slang for 'to lie to someone' or 'to fool someone'. The full phrase li pe bez twa dan bass means 'he's lying to you,' li…

An informal 'go on, man!' or exclamation of disbelief (like 'get out!'). Creole speakers use 'Ale do!' to express amused…

Literally 'jealous tongue,' referring to trash talk or bad-mouthing due to jealousy. If someone is spreading rumors beca…

A Creole phrase meaning 'there's a problem here' or 'things are messed up'. Literally bézé came from 'beating,' but now …

A funny phrase used when kids misbehave, roughly 'spank the package' (meaning give a good spanking). Parents jokingly sa…

Means 'forget it', but in slang usage it's like telling someone to drop the matter or 'yeah right' sarcastically.

A hugely popular Creole intensifier meaning 'very' or 'extremely'. It's placed before adjectives (from French marier – t…

(Lingala) The word for 'love' in Lingala, a language spoken in D.R. Congo. It's often hear…

Umgidi (traditional ceremony)

Shower yemwenga (bridal shower)

Pati yevakomana (bachelor party)

Nhaurirano dzeroora (lobola negotiations)