Uglish.
In addition to the difficulty of adapting to a new living environment, one of the difficulties we faced was the Ugandan dialect of English. The visitor very soon recognize that this version is totally different that the British or American standard.
English was the only official language until the constitution was amended in 2005; since that year Swahili became the second official one.
Right now you can see and hear the evidence of Uglish (Ugandan English) not only in conversations with Ugandans but also in posts on Facebook and in Tweets on Twitter. However, this dialect is used more often in spoken language rather than in the written one. Older Ugandans who were educated by the British and shortly after independence don't use this variety as frequently as the new generation of society, nevertheless, there were speeches in which the President Museveni used some of the phrases.
Ok, so let's take a look at some of the examples of Uglish!
- I NEED TO MAKE A SHORT-CALL
Obviously after reading this phrase you thought about making a phone call, right? Well, in Uglish this sentence means... going to the bathroom.
- EATING MONEY
This phrase also sounds weird, right? When you eat money, it means that you steal money through corruption or you spend it like there is no tomorrow, going through large amounts of money.
- YOU ARE LOST
No, you probably won't use it to help someone find his way home. We use that sentence to tell someone that we've missed him or we haven't seen this person for a long time.
- YOU GET?
When someone wants to know whether you have understood, they will ask, “You get?” meaning did you understand it?
- SIDE DISH
This phrase has nothing to do with food but it means that a man has... a mistress.
- BEEP ME
Saying, “Flash me”, or “beep me” means to make an incomplete phone call. This generally happens when you want the other person to call you back at their expense. The person is not speaking of a ‘beeper’ and by no means should you disrobe or consider any other action.
So here we are with some of the examples of the Uglish!
What do you think about it? Have you ever met anyone speaking Uglish? Share your experience in the comment! :)
It's pretty difficult to understand them just because of the accent, so when it comes to these new phrases with totally different meaning it becomes a new language which even english or americans won't get.
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