The way I talk has certainly changed a bit since arriving in Ghana. Morning greetings are usually done in the local language and from time to time I break out the little Twi I know mostly to make people laugh. However, it’s the little changes that are really actually quite funny. Having my good friend Richard visiting from Canada has made me realize how hilarious I sound sometimes.
The first thing he noticed is how much I say sorry. In Ghana people apologize for everything. If you trip on a rock (which is a daily occurrence for me) everyone apologizes for your trouble. If you hit your head on the roof of a tro-tro (also part of my daily routine) the entire tro-tro will apologize. Since his arrival, I’ve probably apologized to Richard about 40 times. Oh, sorry yo.
Another thing that is often said is “go and come”. If you plan on returning you always let people know that you are going to go and come. It’s hard not to giggle when saying that but I’ve become so used to it. I also regularly say that “I am coming”, “I’ll come” or “Ida go come” which is the mix of Twi and English.
My favorite saying, which has caused me great frustration but excitement at the same time, is “the this thing”. When Ghanaians forget what they are talking about they’ll say “you know, the this thing”. My boss will regularly call me and ask me to bring the this thing. She often won’t even try to elaborate on what ‘the this thing’ could possibly be. Most of the time I just hang up and bring her what I think she wants because I figure I can use the exercise but after a couple of trips I give up and ask her what ‘the this thing’ actually is. She just asked me to grab the book by ‘the this thing’ so I better go.
On that note I’d like to wish you all a happy holiday season! I am going to go and come and get the this thing now. Oh, sorry yo!
Colleen
The first thing he noticed is how much I say sorry. In Ghana people apologize for everything. If you trip on a rock (which is a daily occurrence for me) everyone apologizes for your trouble. If you hit your head on the roof of a tro-tro (also part of my daily routine) the entire tro-tro will apologize. Since his arrival, I’ve probably apologized to Richard about 40 times. Oh, sorry yo.
Another thing that is often said is “go and come”. If you plan on returning you always let people know that you are going to go and come. It’s hard not to giggle when saying that but I’ve become so used to it. I also regularly say that “I am coming”, “I’ll come” or “Ida go come” which is the mix of Twi and English.
My favorite saying, which has caused me great frustration but excitement at the same time, is “the this thing”. When Ghanaians forget what they are talking about they’ll say “you know, the this thing”. My boss will regularly call me and ask me to bring the this thing. She often won’t even try to elaborate on what ‘the this thing’ could possibly be. Most of the time I just hang up and bring her what I think she wants because I figure I can use the exercise but after a couple of trips I give up and ask her what ‘the this thing’ actually is. She just asked me to grab the book by ‘the this thing’ so I better go.
On that note I’d like to wish you all a happy holiday season! I am going to go and come and get the this thing now. Oh, sorry yo!
Colleen
3 comments:
I've picked up some of the local expressions, apart from the Arabic ones.
When Sudanese people want to say the day after tomorrow, they say "next tomorrow", which is actually a lot less awkward than "the day after tomorrow".
When they are refering to a group of people who are associated with someone, they will say "those of --". For example, we would all be "Those of Rupen".
I find myself saying "Insh'allah" quite a bit (God-willing), and "Al hamdu li'allah" which means "all praise and thanks to God". The latter is said when anything moderately positive occurs, for example, after sneezing, or as a response to the question "Tamam?" (how are you?, literally "good?").
In Uganda they say "next tomorrow" as well. And they also say "sorry" all the time (ie. if you stub your toe, bump your head, drop something, etc).
One thing that really threw me off at first (but now really enjoy) is the way they throw around "what?". They use this as a filler while trying to bring to mind any given word that they want to convey. Like us using "ummm" or "uhhh" or "ahhhh".
For example, we might say "I heard about Bush getting shoe bombed in the, ahhh, the Winnipeg Free Press." Here they would say "I heard of Bush being shoe bombed in the what? ... The Daily Monitor." Initially I thought I was being asked to guess the answer in these situations, haha.
Also there is always talk of how much jam there is downtown. Downtown is always full of jam. If you're going to be late it would be polite to call in and let them know "there is a lot of jam" and that is why you are late.
Also if something is described as "very ok" it actually means exceptionally good, not resoundingly average.
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