Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Kif Kif

I really like phrases with double sounds. Here are some of my favorites:

Kif kif (same same - Arabic)
Shweya shweya (small small - Arabic)
Seda Seda (small small - Pulaar)
Joni Joni (soon soon - Pulaar)
Tuti tuti (small small - Wolof)
Sawa sawa (ok ok - Swahili)
Ndanka ndanka (slowly slowly - Wolof)
Waw waw (yes yes - Wolof)
Cheb Cheb (cheap cheap - Mauritania) This phrase generally means that it was pieced together. So if you are doing many jobs, you can say your work is "cheb cheb" or if you buy something 2nd hand or slightly damaged you can say it's "cheb cheb." It can also be used to mean something of substandard quality. A cheap, knock-off phone, is often called "cheb cheb."

I guess in English we have "bye bye"!!!

Can you think of any more?



4 comments:

  1. I know several of these and they are all related to transportation in various countries:

    Ghana: tro-tro
    Thailand: tuk-tuk
    Sierra Leone: poda poda
    Canary Islands and Cuba: guagua
    Guinea Bissau: toca toca

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