When someone asks if “you are coming with” to establish whether you are joining an activity or event, it’s a sure-fire sign they hail from this great Mzansi of ours. Try saying that elsewhere in the English-speaking world, and you may get an “I beg your pardon?” – with the listener probably wondering whether you skipped high school English.

South African English is rich with unique expressions, some of which have found their way into major English dictionaries and are now part of the vocabulary of countries where natives of Mzansi are now part of the population. I imagine in the UK, Canada and Australia – the popular destinations of South African emigrants – “Eish!”, an exclamation used to express surprise, frustration or sympathy, similar to “Wow!” or “Oh no!”, no longer sounds foreign and has likely been embraced in the local parlance. Ditto for bakkie, or pick-up. Whether it’s for transporting goods or taking the family on a road trip, the bakkie has become a familiar vehicle in the international lexicon, showing how language evolves with cultural exchange.

Other South Africanisms that have long been part of mainstream English include “robot”, a traffic light; “just now”, when referring to something that will happen soon but not necessarily immediately; and “lekker”, which can be used to describe anything positive and may mean “good”, “great” or “tasty”.

These are now bona fide English words proudly listed in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), joining dozens others added since the dictionary started publishing updates.

The latest additions, published last month, include the interjection “Yoh!”, which, according to the OED’s lexicographers, can be traced to 1855 as an imitative utterance after the Afrikaans “Jo!” or Xhosa “Yho!” Its inclusion in the OED means that when its usage causes raised eyebrows or confused expressions, South Africans can now simply say: “Look it up in the OED!”. There, those unfamiliar with it will learn that it expresses various emotions, including surprise, wonder, admiration, shock or distress.

Another “untranslatable” South African word published in the 2025 update is gatvol, a popular slang term originating from Afrikaans that expresses feelings of frustration or anger. I’ve used it in this column before – several times – but what I did not know is that it is a fairly recent coinage, with the OED tracing it to the 1980s. I wonder what South Africans who were fed up or extremely annoyed said before that.

The Afrikaans language has a couple of other contributions to the 2025 update. One is hell-in, a colloquial phrase modelled after the phrase die hell in, which literally translates to “in the hell”. Traced to 1996, it is used to describe someone who is furious. The other is tjoekie, which originated in 1977 and means jail or prison. Although it was first introduced into South Africa by English-speaking immigrants from India, who referred to a jail as chockey – a variant of chowki, which traced its roots to Hindi and ultimately Sanskrit – it made its way into South African English through Afrikaans.

Borrowings from Sotho in the latest update are seshweshwe and shweshwe. Originating in 1956 and 1973 respectively, these words refer to a type of printed cotton fabric originally dyed in indigo but now available in various colours.

Another word which the OED says comes from an unknown Bantu language in South Africa is makarapa, which originated in 1999 and refers to a hard hat originally worn by construction workers or miners but which is now commonly worn by sports fans – especially soccer supporters – who elaborately decorate these hats at matches to show support for their favourite teams.

South Africans also no longer need to explain the meanings of zol, moggy and sharp-sharp to outsiders – they are now all in the OED. For the uninitiated, a zol was originally a marijuana joint but now also means a hand-rolled cigarette, a moggy is someone who is extremely irrational or out of touch with reality, and sharp-sharp is a casual way of saying “okay” or “alright” and also a way to complement someone’s style or just to comment on how generally excellent or fantastic he or she is.

At this rate, it won’t be surprising to find someone writing in the Fleet Street newspapers in London: “I was absolutely gatvol after a stressful week, so I threw on my makarapa, jumped into the bakkie and drove to the stadium. As we drove past the robot near the big tjoekie, I remarked: “Yoh! Tonight’s going to be lekker!”