So, as you might guess, Swahili-to-English often is not a direct translation. For example, the word piki piki {pron: pee-kee pee-kee} encompasses both mopeds and motorcycles, so its hard to distinguish between the two.
My latest endeavors have been to try and uncover the mysteries of the word mboga {pron: m-boh-gah}. In all dictionaries, the word translates as "vegetable," but I had been told that the real translation is actually "anything that goes with ugali" (ugali being the staple food here, a congealed mix of flour and water that's dipped in various things).
One particularly lucid conversation I had in Swahili went as such:
Me: "So mboga means 'vegetable?'
Dickson: "Yeah."
"But it also means 'anything that goes with ugali'?"
"Yeah."
"Okay, but what about meat? Meat goes with ugali. Is meat a vegetable?"
"Yep."
"What?!? Really? Alright, but doesn't everything go with ugali? Does that make everything a vegetable?"
"No."
"Okay so whats not a vegetable?"
"Corn."
"Seriously?"
"Yes, why Brian?"
"Nevermind."
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2 comments:
that sounds pretty reasonable, I know a lot of people who consider meat a vegetable.
dammit I hate it when sarcasm is lost over in this internet!
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