Zambian expressions and buzzwords
on Andrew Sacret (Zambia), 25/Sep/2010 14:35, 34 days ago
Every culture has distinctive expressions– Zambia is no exception. All professions have their share of jargon too. In this post I thought I'd introduce you to some of the common expressions and buzzwords that make me either smile, laugh, frown or shake my head.Are we together?= Do we agree? (or when said with authority:“This is settled. Next.”)this side= somewhat close to where we are (e.g. I think the office is this side).that side= somewhat farther away than where we are now (e.g.“Where is so-and so?” “Oh, he's gone that side.”)just now= very soonnow now= now“...and what what.”= and so on, and the like, and such.“How did you move?”=“How was your trip?”“Progress”=“Let's move to the next issue”“What is the way forward?”=“What are the next steps?”sensitisation* = public education and awareness building (sadly, projects appear to remain at this stage for years)“Gender balance!”= an exclamation of“unfairness” made by some man in a meeting when women appear to be gaining some infinitesimal advantage for once (you can tell how much I love this one).empowerment= at best: a concept Council would eventually like to embrace whereby disadvantaged people have some say in municipal decisions; at worst: the term some Council officers use to describe the generous sitting allowances they receive for meetings.personal emoluments= salaries and benefitsmainstreaming(e.g. issues of gender, HIV/AIDS, environment) = making certain issues part of everyday policy discussions/decisions (in practice, often means that there is no clear lead person/department on the issue).* The third "s" in sensitisation is not a spelling mistake in this former British colony.  :-)