zimbabwe

Huku yechibhoyi {chishona} Definition: organic chicken that is a least let out during the day by poultry farmers to wander around unlike chicken confined to live in a cage for the most part. Note: free-range chicken does NOT mean it's organic. This is perhaps a common confusion some people...

mubikirwa or chimubikirwa means either fake news, gossip, or propaganda that is presented as true facts albeit that isn't the case. Consequently, the story fails to add up due to a lack of convincing evidence to prove any claims made to convince a target audience. This word is also used as a...

Abaiwa Ngaabude, is a ChiShona phrase which means: if you are really butthurt and in your feelings with what's going on right now perhaps it is you who should hit the road -- ain't nobody will miss you more than you think. Also in life, there are some people who get themselves into a...

kufeja-feja means to throw mud on a wall hoping some of it will stick when a series of repeated attempts are made to achieve a particular goal. This normally happens when a person or a group of people have run out of ideas so they end up anticipating by chance of a fluke everything will fall...

means "veisalgia" or in other words, what most people commonly mek reference to as hangover effects wish a aaftin experienced afta yu drink laika fish. The formal chiShona word for veisalgia is actually bhabharasi. Bai di wie, (wey som a yu oandem aredi nuo) dark liquors/alcoholic drinks soch...

"Tambai Mese Mujairirane" is a popular Shona saying which means if you are to get accustomed to someone or a group of people there is no better way than to spend a great deal of time in a prolonged interaction with them whilst attentively studying how they move & operate. Note: this saying is...

If you are wondering how to count numbers in the ChiShona language (or Chivanhu), look no further. So why don't we jump right in and get to work? Ayyy... English Chishona Zero Ziro One Motsi Two Piri Three Tatu Four China Five Shanu Six Tanhatu Seven Nomwe Eight Sere Nine...

chibhubhubhu Definition: to do things in a higgledy-piggledy fashion without any sense of direction or any principles of being organized. For example, in Zimbabwe when people are lined up in a queue for basic commodities e.g. bread (chingwa), cooking oil (mafuta), mealie-meal (hupfu) when a...

kwarup means something has been fully consumed or it's dead e.g., the state of a product or service reaching a point of complete utilization such that normal access is cut off and temporarily terminated until it's renewed. Example usage 1: Example usage 2: P.S. Everything is now a...

"Ma settings" is a Shonglish general term that is meant to address the current situation at hand or the present nature of how things are happening in realtime as you experience them. For example, one might say, "Ma settings akamira sei pazvinhu izvi?" and this here is a case of someone...

kushaudha Definition: to put another person or a group of people on full-blast in retaliation for what they did wrong whether they were throwing shade on social media, spreading rumors and lies behind your back, etc. Note: the literary translation of kushaudha to the English language is: "to...

n'anga ("asekuru" or "godobori") means a witch doctor, traditional healer (sangoma), fetish priest, or sorcerer. A female traditional healer may also be referred to as nyahana or nyahanda; however, this should not be misconstrued as being a synonym of Nyamhita Nehanda (i.e., a mhondoro spirit)...

"Gukurahundi" or otherwise known as "Hukurahundi" in the Shona language primarily means the rains that come after the agricultural process of extracting or threshing harvested material from the stalk -- (in other words, early spring rains in Zimbabwe). However, due to the historical Five...

kuchenura zita this is an apologetic customary practice that is done by a person who wrongfully charges another individual with an act of witchcraft (kuroya), theft (kuba), or in contemporary times things like legal slander or libel (defamation). The plaintiff will usually seek public...

There is a recurring range of commonly read Shona literature books in Zimbabwe schools and colleges that are often picked as set books. In this particular post, I will list down the best-known and easily remembered literary works from the learned popular Shona authors in Zimbabwe. Akada Wokure...

Bhazhe, in Zim slang, means domestic pig or swine ("sus scrofa domesticus"), whilst a young suckling pig (or piglet) in Shonglish is known as bhazhlet. Sometimes this word is also used in reference to a wild boar (or wild pig/sus scrofa) including the general use when talking about different...

"Kubhilivhisa Bhebhi" is a Shonglish/Chivanglish phrase that describes the action taken by a man with the main objective of doing sweet lovey-dovey things to show that he truly loves his new squeeze. However, this routine isn't always sincere since a man in question may only be running game on...

chitubu means a water spring or a natural site where water emerges to the earth's surface due to pressure that occurs in an aquifer i.e., a body of porous rock saturated with groundwater. Note: Another Shona synonym for chitubu is "chisipiti." Popularization The most notable use of the word...

Fi dis haatikl, mi da guh hexpagorate nof difrahn animal (mhuka) az piipl kaal dem iin chiShona langwij (ah Chivanhu). Mi nuo deh a nof a dem pon oert, an fi dat riizn, mi nuh guh rait dong di les papiula wan habrij pesin wudn nuo fram di tap a fi dem ed. Pets EnglishChiShona Cat (felis...

To what extent do y'all oans agree with Ginimbi Genius Kadungure's statement when he said: "handsome doesn't pay bills?"