Moz A.W.O.L.

Not like him to miss both big weekend games.

Hope all is well.

Hope so too. He is a gentleman and not idiotic like so/me of our oher members,

K.M.A

Wtf Mike?

Sea cruise ?

Thanks Chaps….I’m in great shape for the shape I’m in.

Hope you ain't misbehaving ...

Welcome back, Moz

You'll note that Mike believes you to be a gentleman.

Thank Jesus

Moz - I thought you died.

Apparently it was just to see Cruz,

Jirre, Chippo!

What? it was a genuine concern.

The oke is like 90 in the shade. These things happen!

I'm gonna use that for rating girls in future...she's a 3 in the shade!

haha.

you remind me of the time i was walking past these 3 white chicks in Umhlanga.. they were proper mooi.

But they were rating guys as they walked past.

So i walk past and i hear 7, 8, 8...

So I turn to them and i say 3, 4, 2.5 and i walk away.

They were so upset and started swearing me.

Anyway... they were actually like 10, 10, 10

7.66 isn't a bad aggregate, but screw them anyway.

Well played!

To your tactfully phrased point about my demise chip-ou, the amusing incident I recall with a bunch of chirpy girls occurred after the Cardiff/Springbok game in 1969. The Betoger Tour.

I had taken the train up from London and had lunch with some Welsh family friends. They had found me a seat for the game, by myself as their section was full.

There was a lot of vitriol being thrown at the Boks by regular fans as well as groups of protestors. A particularly loud fellow behind me finally prompted a response. I simply said ‘if you feel that way, why are you even watching the game’.

This prompted a new tirade and the other fans had enough so they told him to cork it.

Later on the station some Afrikaans girls saw me with my surfer hair, I suppose looking a bit like a betoger. They started commenting on how the crowd had shut me up, assuming the comments were intended for me. I listened with some amusement as they went on about me.

The train arrived and I chose a spot close to them and as the insults continued to flow I asked them politely in the taal how they had enjoyed the match. The consternation was hilarious.

What a pointless story.

Welcome back Moz.

Chip...nothing is pointless...ever...

You really don't get Chippo's humour, Draad

Lees tussen die lyne

No, I actually do...and then feel guilty about laughing...but still stand by my comment...

I have a similar story.

I was walking on a residential sidewalk in England and this young coloured girl comes out of a house while talking on the phone.

Clear as day, I hear her say to the person on the other end of the phone "...dit jeuk verskriklik". And she emphasised the J in jeuk like only coloureds can.

I looked at her and said "Jy moenie krap nie, jy moet was."

She stopped in her tracks, looked like she'd seen a ghost. I kept walking and after about twenty paces I looked back and saw she was laughing and shaking her head.

Haha…the taal isn’t always safe. My daughters have picked up a few choice words. ‘Bedonered’ is a favorite.

I'm sure there are other places in the world where a mixture of languages has created a unique culture. But South Africa is special in that regard.

Take the following sentence as an example...

"Wena, your stukkie is mos gonna moer you."

For all our problems, I do find a sort of comfort and joy in how uniquely us Saffas communicate with each other. Difficult to describe, but it feels to me as though there is always this undertone of humour which is impossible to understand unless you grew up grew up here.

And not to make this longer than it needs to be, but growing up and learning these things naturally, we do tend to take them for granted. And I've wondered, once expats have lived here for a good long while and they start to pick up on it, how they assimilate the realisation. I've never really asked anyone, but I would like to know how long it takes for them to realise that there is this deeper layer of communication happening beneath the obvious.

Just some ramblings.