UGANDAN COLLOQUALISMS

English is the official language in Uganda and is spoken quite extensively in all the urban areas within the country, especially in Entebbe and Kampala.  Now that does not mean everyone speaks English; far from it, actually.  Recently, the government has instructed the schools in Uganda to teach in English, and the present generation of children – at least those that are attending school regularly, will be speaking English in a few years.  At present, English is widely used in business transactions, at the banks, in the media and on advertising posters and in most hotels and restaurants.  As in most of Africa, the first language for most people, is their tribal language and that changes as one moves from one tribal area to another.  Uganda is consistent with that situation, and once one moves away from the large urban areas in Uganda, there is little English spoken generally. 

There are dozens of local languages spoken across the country, as well as some Swahili, but English has remained as the official language both for practical and political reasons.  Because of the influence of so many local languages, the English now spoken in Uganda is somewhat different from that of the British English.  In fact, recently an unofficial language was recognized, complete with a dictionary; this is called U-Glish.  Most countries that have been colonized by the British, have adopted some form of colloqualistic English, but the Ugandan English is recognized as the most deviant form of the original English. 

As such, there are numerous expressions and phrases commonly used by those Ugandans speaking English, phrases and expressions that are quite unique to Uganda.  There are literally dozens of such colloquialisms, many of which I shall mention in order to make conversation a little easier for the visitor. 

First, when one is shopping or eating in a restaurant, one rarely has the exact amount of money for the transaction and it is necessary to get change.  This ‘change’ as it is commonly known, is called the ‘balance’ in Uganda.  If someone uses money for a different purpose than it was allocated for, this is called, ‘Eating Money’.  If you are asked to move over on a bench or seat and make room for another person, the expression is, ‘Extend’.  One of the most common expressions that you hear regularly is, ‘I am going for a short call’.  This means the person is going to the bathroom.  If a person moves from one place to another, the expression is ‘shifting’.   ‘Benching’ is an expression used to tell someone that they are dropping by on someone that they many have a romantic interest in.  To ‘Flash’ someone, is to call them on the phone and let the phone ring only one time.  Another commonly heard expression is, ‘You are lost’.  This is a colloquialism that is used to tell someone that they have not seen them in a while.

In fact, there are literally dozens of such expressions used in everyday conversation; many of which have totally different meanings from that of other English speaking cultures.  How these colloquialisms developed is not easily discovered; and for most visitors, defining the expressions is the only significant issue.  Many visitors can be seen with a small notebook and pencil in hand when talking with local people in English.  This practice is highly recommended as every day new terms come up that either do not make sense to traditionally-taught English speaking people, or have a completely different meaning to what was intended.

The other difficulty that most English-speaking visitors find is pronunciation differences between themselves and the local people.  Asking directions can get very complicated only because of the difference in the way the visitor and the Ugandan pronounce a word.  Spelling words usually solves this problem.

The one thing that makes all of this tolerable, is that the Ugandan people are extremely friendly and quite non-aggressive.  Any language issues are taken in their stride, and although they are a very proud people, such misunderstandings through language does not upset anyone.  The most common response to clarifying such issues is usually laughter.  Ugandans are a happy people and it is uncommon to upset a Ugandan over his or her pronunciation or choice of words.  Usually, the Ugandan will affirm that in fact it is the visitor that is pronouncing the words incorrectly.