RVA “Shang”
“Are you eating at the cafo today?”
“The titchies are going to be singing in the service on Sunday.”
“Jagbags need to be picked up from the laundry.”
RVA is a genuine third culture. As Phil Dow put it, “It is not American (though some would rightly argue that it is in some ways more American than America); it is not Kenyan (despite its location, its many Kenyan staff and significant number of Kenyan students); and it is not British (although it retains many British traditions). Nor is it Korean, Canadian, Scandinavian or any other “ian”. Rather, RVA is a unique and always evolving blend of all of these.”
Which means those of us who are relatively new to this ever-evolving culture must learn the way of life here and even the language. Yes, RVA has it’s own unique slang, or “shang”. Care to learn a few words?
Here are just a few examples…(not all of these are still in use)
- bog – Noun, verb, or adj./ Bad or crusted, struggles
- cafo – The RVA cafeteria
- chafes/chaffage – Verb or Noun/ Something you don’t like
- graoul – Verb or noun/ To eat something, usually in large proportions or quickly; or the thing being eaten. Sounds suspiciously like “growl”
- jamaa – Noun/ Male, synonymous with “guyo”
- Mathae – Noun/ Mother
- paca – A crude sentence introduction. Slightly above a grunt but lower than the oft-used, “Ya know what?”
- plot – Verb, noun, or adj./ (1) To have done something (or believed yourself to have done something) worthy of praise; (2) Good.
- shika – Verb/ To steal
- titchie – Noun/ A child or an elementary student
Try to translate the following sentences?
- Mathae hooked me up with some plot graoul tonight.
- Paca, the cafo chafed because bog jamaas shikad the plot graoul.