Thika<\/a>\/Nairobi region and here is where I heard these phrases and words. I don\u2019t claim these Kenyan slang phrases are used all across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\nRather than being an informative guide to Kenyan slang, I thought this would make for a fun and relaxed post!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The \u201cnini\u201d<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Meaning: It is basically a filler for a word they don\u2019t know or can\u2019t instantly remember.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The closest translation to American English would be \u201cthe thingy\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPass me the nini\u201d, \u201cI am searching for nini\u201d. I always found it very funny and couldn\u2019t understand why I kept hearing those two syllables. It took me a good two weeks to wrap my head around what it actually meant and suddenly everything made sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alight<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Meaning: To get out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI alighted the bus.\u201dI found it so funny when anyone said this because it sounds so damn proper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You people<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Meaning: You guys<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I had a hard time adjusting to this phrase because at first, it sounded so rude to me. I soon got used to it and even started saying it myself. It basically means you (plural).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou people\u201d are going to the party or \u201cyou people should be here at 8\u201d. It is mostly used by the younger generations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Smart<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Meaning: Beautiful<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou are soooo smart!\u201d, was one of the things Kenyan girls loved saying to me. \u201cYour hair is soooo smart\u201d, was another (they love the Western straight hair) or \u201cyour dress is so smart!\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At first, I thought they meant people were saying I was intelligent (ha!), but after some time I realized they were calling me\/my hair\/my dress beautiful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Howayu<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Meaning: How are you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sawa and Sawa Sawa<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One \u201csawa\u201d means \u201cokay\u201d (whatever you have just suggested). \u201cSawa sawa\u201d means it is more than okay, it is great!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pole<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Meaning: Sorry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you tell a Kenyan that you\u2019ve hurt yourself while walking, they\u2019ll reply saying \u201cpole\u201d even if they weren\u2019t remotely close to the incident. If you\u2019re walking with a Kenyan friend and your phone slips off your finger, they\u2019ll say apologize for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We have reached.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Meaning: We have arrived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s it. It sounds so inconclusive that I struggled so much with it at first. It means \u201cwe have arrived\u201d. But to where?! WHERE HAVE YOU REACHED? or WHAT did you reach exactly?.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Me<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMe, I have been in Nairobi\u201d or \u201cMe, I am from Kenya\u201d. Either sentence would work just as well sans \u201cme\u201d, but Kenyans like saying it for some reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fine day<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
My friend Grace was always saying this and I loved it because it sounds so proper to me. \u201cMaybe one of these fine days we can go to Mombasa\u201d or \u201cOn that fine day he told me he was coming to Kenya\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pole Pole<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Meaning: Slowly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Go \u201cpole pole\u201d, because, in Kenya, everything is pole pole.<\/em> Don\u2019t rush.<\/p>\n\n\n\nRead next:<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Things To Do in Diani Beach<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/h4>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A fun guide to phrases and words Kenyans Use<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,42],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nohurrytogethome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6119"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nohurrytogethome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nohurrytogethome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nohurrytogethome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nohurrytogethome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6119"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/nohurrytogethome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6119\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":87630,"href":"https:\/\/nohurrytogethome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6119\/revisions\/87630"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nohurrytogethome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nohurrytogethome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nohurrytogethome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}