Thursday, December 15, 2011

What is a common nickname for Grandad in South Africa or Zimbabwe?

For example, 'Pappie' is a common nickname in the States and 'Gramps' in the UK.|||mkhulu...|||English-speaking South Africans = Gramps, paps(pronounced pups - more of a term of endearment), grandpa, et cetera.





I, (English-speaking Indian South African) call my grandfathers, Papa (hindi speaking grandpa) and Thatha (for my tamil-speaking grandpa) but when we speak ABOUT them and not TO them we refer to them as gramps. :-)





Afrikaans speaking is pretty straightforward - it's Oupa.





Amongst African ethnic groups there are many languages and names for grandpa so I can't name them all.|||Well... I, and alot of my friends, call our grandads 'oupa', which is afrikaans for grandfather. We don't speak any other afrikaans though lol.





Anyway, South Africa is very diverse so it all depends on the culture/traditions of the family.





Some kids I know call their grandpas pa or abi (arabic for father)|||No easy answer to this - South Africa has 11 official languages and many more cultural groups. Here are the three that were used where I grew up:


1. English South African - Grandad (yep, we're very imaginative) or Gramps


2. Afrikaans - Oupa


3. Zulu - Baba|||In Sa it is just Grandad or grandpa. My son as a baby use to hear me calling my mother, "ma", and afterwards she became "Mark". It stuck until the day she passed away. In UK. it is gampi, gramps.|||it is "oupa". Directly transleated it means old father. Ignore all the other stupid languages. this is the only one that the rest of the world can associate with|||English terms


Paps


Grampa


Grandfather


Gramps


Pops





Afrikaans


Oupa said oh-paa (best I can break it up to)





Most people I know either use Oupa,Gramps or Gramps





Hope this helps|||Sotho: Ntate moholo


Zulu/Ndebele/Siswati: Mkhulu ("baba" on the other hand is Dad)


Afrikaans: Oupa|||Oupa or sometime i call him Oupies.|||Oupa, grandpa and mkhulu is the ones most people know and use





Add .. Hi Tsepo|||All of the above and "Old-Timer"|||Opah?

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