Tatum Fullard
8 min read ▪ October 3, 2025 ▪ Gallo/Getty images
Dive into the slang archives as we travel back and forth to see how South Africa’s casual lingo has evolved over time
‘Skrr-skrr’ is not only the sound your brakes make, but a term used to refer to the slang of the youth of today — the Gen Zs or ‘Ama2000s’.
While tsotsitaal in the 1980s and 90s was influenced by kwaito music, this new generation looks to hip-hop and pop culture for inspiration in how they dress and communicate with one another. This includes creating new phrases and using slang to build a sense of shared identity, and to differentiate themselves from the older folk.
Lingo of the urban jungle
When Amo (surname withheld for privacy) moved to Newtown in 2023 to live with her mother, she was a small-town girl from Limpopo, looking forward to finding her golden ticket in the big city of Johannesburg.
The proud Pedi girl was completely immersed in a melting pot of different languages, cultures and religions as she attended a private school in Mayfair.
“It was interesting to meet and make friends with people from Soweto, other provinces and even neighbouring countries. But the funny thing is that when we met, we were all trying to communicate in isiZulu, even though none of us were Zulu,” she says.
Later on, the group of young friends discovered a new lingo that embraced all their languages with catchy phrases and expressions re-created to meet modern cultural trends.
“Unlike the older generation, we do not identify ourselves by our traditional language or culture. We use English as our main language and embrace other languages as well. In this way, no one feels left out,” she explains.
According to a Sabinet African Journals study called `Translanguaging in ‘kasi-taal’, the mixing and melting of languages is part of South Africa’s apartheid history, in which languages were used in resistance and defiance campaigns against the government.
Flaaitaal, which means ‘street’ or ‘smart’ language, and tsotsitaal, which is defined as the ‘language of a thug’, were used interchangeably to refer to the mixing of African languages and Afrikaans in the mos. Iseamtho dates back to the early woos and derived from Nguni language groups, and is now used by the Sotho language groups.
Just like the skrrr-skrr generation of today, the use of flaaitaal, tsotsitaal and iscamtho shows how the mixture of African tongues can be re-appropriated by users as markers of urban identity and being streetwise.
Therefore, slang can be defined as a language of a specific location, age group or era that is used as a preferred means of communication, because it weakens the boundaries between languages.
A new cultural identity
In 2022, the EY ‘Gen Z International Research’ report shared that this generation is a highly interconnected group of young people whose identity and behaviour is shaped by family, friends, mass media and digital platforms. These environments also play a key role in their communication habits and slang usage.
“This generation’s communication style is influenced not just by immediate family but also extended social networks, fostering a shared cultural experience and an alignment with societal norms. Moreover, the constant exposure to media and digital platforms further reinforces these trends. Media, especially social media, serves as a powerful tool in shaping Generation Z’s perceptions and behaviours,” the report stated.
Platforms like Instagram, TikTok and Facebook contribute hugely to how slang is used in social interactions. “This interconnectedness within the digital landscape supports the idea that their language, including slang, is a reflection of the social environment around them, with trends often spreading rapidly through these channels and further highlighting the importance of societal and familial attitudes in the shaping of Gen Z’s language.”
Breaking the language mould
Slang has become such a common feature among young people that it has infiltrated schools, universities and professional settings. This has raised concerns about its impact on academic language standards, according to educators in a 2025 study published in the IOSR journal of Humanities and Social Science.
“Students are increasingly forgetting the distinctions between informal and formal language, which is crucial in educational institutions. The pervasive use of slang in academic writing compromises the expected formal tone and word choice, leading to a degradation of writing quality.”
Young people’s constant exposure to social media and informal text messaging is said to be the main contributing factor of this alarming trend, which blurs the line between what is acceptable in formal and informal settings.
Dr Ellen Hurst-Harosh is a linguistics lecturer and researcher at the University of Cape Town, who has shared her thoughts on whether young people’s play with language and words may have a permanent effect on language as we know it, especially with the move by many from rural to urban societies.
“My answer is: of course it does. Language has always changed, and we have no right to stop it. In fact, if we tried to arrest the evolution of language, we would end up with a dry, dead thing,” she says.
“To freeze African languages in a particular moment in time and prevent their evolution is one way to ensure they will be marginalised,” she adds. “I would go even further and argue that the languages taught in schools need to be reconsidered and updated in the light of the ‘less standard’ languages that many young people are growing up speaking in South Africa today.”
In the early 2000s, French-born linguist Dr Pierre Aycard looked at the use of iscamtho among children in White City, Soweto, for his University of Cape Town master’s thesis.
Among his findings, he learnt that iscamtho is not just a language spoken by males or adults, but used by children in informal settings and preferably on the street and when communicating with their peers.
He also found that these children mixed languages to form a new native language, which is not considered ‘street lingo’ but is accepted and widely spoken in the home as well, without leading to corrections from adults.
The use of slang is a strategic performance, a way of positioning oneself within a particular social field.
“It is the natural language of all children and their families. It still coexists with three varieties: isiZulu and Sesotho as primary languages, in their urban mixed forms, and English as a secondary language. But as these languages are all mixed, they draw on local mixed ways, as the local mixed variety draws on these languages,” he shared.
Slang and social standing
In sociolinguistic studies, slang can be viewed as a powerful tool to elevate yourself in society or to set yourself apart from others.
According to the Sustainability Directory, “the use of slang is not simply a matter of personal preference; it is a strategic performance, a way of positioning oneself within a particular social field.” It further states that “those who are able to master the latest slang are able to demonstrate their cultural competence and to claim a certain level of social prestige, while those who are not, on the other hand, risk being seen as ‘out of touch’ or `uncool’ — a form of social sanction that can have real consequences for young people.”
10 Slang words you should know
Every year, new terms are added to the dictionary as they emerge and gain popularity:
young money (SASSA\social grant)
the yarchy (patriarchy)
bible juice (wine)
underground gang (ancestors)
poverty weed (incense)
the theid (apartheid)
housemates (family)
birth crew (parents)
the extra hun (stepmom)
sky daddy (God)
There is also ongoing discussion on the connection between slang and social class, with slang usage frequently linked to disadvantaged or subcultural communities.
Some linguists add that slang terminology that comes from minority or working-class communities is sometimes taken up by more privileged groups, who may use the slang to convey a certain amount of ‘street cred’ or originality. This often results in certain slang being deprived of its original context and meaning, and reinforces negative stereotypes.
The future of slang
The urban playground presents both challenges and opportunities for the evolution of slang. On one hand, English has become the main language of the internet and popular culture, while the use of traditional and local languages is losing its dominance in the bid for a more linguistically diverse society.
However, speaking more than one language, or forming a new one altogether, appears to offer more benefits for young people. That’s because they are not limited to a single language or cultural code. This new generation of linguistics geniuses is more daring, socially flexible and inclusive than ever before.
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