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Click
here to view Swahili Videos
(Click here to
read some of the Slang Swahili words used)
Swahili Sayings
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| Kikulacho kinguoni mwako - | What "eats" you is within your dress - | It means that the source of your problems is those close to you. |
| Paka chume mtaani kwenu, halahala vitoweo vyenu - | A stray cat is wandering around your neighbourhood, watch out with your "vitoweo" (fish or meat) - | It is a caution given to lovers to watchout against wanderers lest they snatch their partners off. |
| Shanuo baya pale linapokuchoma - | A comb becomes bad when it hurts you - | An otherwise useful thing or a good person becomes bad to you when it/he/she harms you in whatever way. |
| Msilolijua litawasumbua - | You will be troubled with what you have no knowledge of - | Normally said to discourage those who wish to know the affairs of another person. |
| Machoni rafiki, moyoni mnafiki - | Friendly in the eyes, a hypocrite in the heart - | |
| Ukali wa jicho washinda wembe - | An eye is sharper than a razor - | The effect of a look is very strong in sending the desired message across. It can be a friendly and inviting look or a threatening look. |
| Ala! Kumbe! - | I see!! That is so! - | A common expression used to show that one is suprised by some information that he or she has just come to know of. |
| Halahala mti na macho - | Beware, a stick and your eyes! - | It is a caution given against an impending danger. |
| Pekepeke za jirani, hazinitoi ndani - | Unwarranted spying by a neighbour does not take me out of my house - | |
| Mtumai cha ndugu hufa masikini - | He/she who relies on his/her relative's property, dies poor - | Encourages self-reliance. |
| Mdhaniaye ndiye kumbe siye - | The one whom you think is the right one is the wrong one - | You are barking up a wrong tree. |
| Vishindo vingi sio kutenda jambo - | Fumbling around doesn't accomplish anything - | |
| Kila jambo na wakati wake - | There is an opportune time for everything - | |
| Mama ni mama japokuwa rikwama - | A mother is a mother even if a "coolie's cart" - | Even a bad mother is still a mother worthy of respect, love and care. |
| Neema ya wazee furaha ya watoto - | Economic success of parents is a joy to their children - | |
| Mti hawendi ila kwa nyenzo - | A log moves only with proper tools - | You need to have proper facilities to carry out any task. |
| Moyo wangu Sultani, cha mtu sikitamani - | My heart is like Sultan, I don't long for anybody else's property - | I am satisfied. |
| Mama nipe radhi kuishi na watu kazi - | Mother, give me your blessings; living with people is really tough - | |
| Usisafirie nyota ya mwenzio - | Don't set sail using somebody else's star - | Everyone has his or her own destiny. If someone has become successful by doing something, it is not necessarily right to assume that you will also be successful by doing the same thing. |
| Asiyekujua hakuthamini - | He/she who doesn't know you, doesn't value you - | |
| Naona ni shoga yangu, kumbe ni mke mwenzangu - | I thought of you as my girlfriend, but alas! You are my co-wife - | |
| Nilikudhani dhahabu kumbe adhabu - | I thought of you as gold but you are a torment - | I regarded you as the most precious thing I have ever had, but you have proved to be nothing but torture and torment to me. |
| Tamu ya mua kifundo - | A sugarcane is sweetest at the joint - | What seems to be hard to achieve in real life is often times the best. |
| Mso hili ana lile - | A person missing this has that - | There is no useless person. Likewise, there is no person that is absolutely perfect. |
| Mpaji ni Mungu - | God is the Sustainer - | Mostly used by the have-nots to console themselves. |
| Tulia tuishi wazuri haweshi - | Calm down and live with me, pretty ones are never in short supply - | |
| Hata ukinichukia la kweli nitakwambia - | Hate me, but I won't stop telling you the truth. | |
| Moyo wa kupenda hauna subira - | A heart deep in love has no patience - | |
| Usikumbuke uovu ukasahau fadhila - | Don't remember the evil things only while forgetting to be thankful for the good deeds - | Make a judgement based on both, good and bad side of everything. |
| Halua ya lozi imemshinda mdokozi - | An almond sweetmeat is a formidable challenge to a petty thief - | Sweetmeat is a famous dessert in Zanzibar and along the coast of East Africa. It is made of starch, sugar, oil and sometimes nuts or sesame seeds are used. Depending on the way it is made, it can be as soft as a jelly but sometimes it may be very hard to cut with fingers. The saying above is meant to laugh at someone who has attempted in vain to do something especially to win over somebody else's lover. |
| Ukiujua huu, huu huujui - | If you know this one, you don't know this (other) one - | Sometimes interpreted as a gesture demonstrated by flies when they rub their legs forward and then they repeat rubbing their legs backward. i.e if you know the forward one, you don't know the backward one. In other words you will always find that there is something you don't know. |
| Mchezea wembe humkata mwenyewe - | He who plays with a razor, cuts himself - | If you get involved in a dangerous exercise, you are bound to get harmed physically or emotionally. |
| Mchimba kisima, huingia mwenyewe - | He who digs a well, gets himself inside - | A person who sets a trap often times finds himself caught in it. If you have bad intentions against others, chances are, you'll be the first to be affected by those intentions directly or indirectly. |
| Haba na haba, hujaza kibaba - | Little and little, fills the measure - | Small things, when combined together make up big things. |
| Wajenga kwa wengine kwako kwabomoka - | You build somebody else's place while yours is falling down - | |
| Njaa mwanamalegeza, shibe mwanamalevya - | Hunger weakens, but food satisfaction intoxicates - | When one is hungry, he becomes weak but when he is stomach-full of food he becomes too lazy to work. |
| Kazi mwanamandanda, kulala njaa kupenda - | Work is an obedient child, sleeping hungry is one's choice - | When you work hard, it is certain that you will succeed. On the other hand, if you don't work hard, you are bound to have a miserable life. |
| Pema usijapo pema ukipema si pema tena - | A good place is one where you have not dwelt on, once you do that it ceases to be good - | Often times you get fascinated with things you have little knowledge about. Once you have knowledge and experience with that thing it ceases to interest you. |
| Mzaha mzaha hutumbuka usaha - | Too many jokes bursts out the pus - | If you joke with someone too much, you may easily do or say something that will anger him or her. |
| Nimekisaliti kidole na jiwe, liwalo na liwe - | I have betrayed a toe against a stone, let it be! - | I am prepared to bear the consequences of my own mistakes. |
| Usiache mbachao kwa msala upitao - | Don't abandon your old rug for a passing mat - | Value more what is yours and more permanent rather than a temporary thing that is not yours even though it appears to be better looking than yours. |
| Akipenda chongo huita kengeza - | When in love with a one-eyed person he/she gets to be called skew-visioned - | When a person is in love, he or she hardly sees the bad attributes of his or her lover. |
| Mgaagaa na upwa hali wali mkavu - | A person who walks and searches thoroughly around a beach never eats "dry" rice (rice with no fish stew) - | If you work hard looking for something, you will never come out empty handed. |
| Utamaliza limau shaba haiwi dhahabu - | You will run short of lemon juice (rubbing), but never will copper turn to gold - | Don't wish for the impossible. |
| Nazi mbovu harabu ya nzima - | A bad coconut renders good ones bad - | A bad person or thing in the midst of good ones can easily spoil either the attributes or even the character of the good ones. |
| Ukistaajabu ya Musa utaona ya Firauni - | If the acts of Moses make you wonder, wait until you see the acts of Pharaoh - | Get prepared for the worst! As the Americans would say: You ain't seen nothin' yet!! |
| Usinione nasinzia uyasemayo nayasikia - | You see me dozing but I hear whatever you say - | Don't think that I am not aware of what you do in my absence. |
| Chanda chema huvikwa pete - | A favourite finger gets a ring on - | An award or privilege usually goes to the one who deserves it. c.f Mcheza kwao hutunzwa. |
| Ukiona vyaelea vimeundwa - | When you see them (vessels) afloat, somebody made them - | Nothing comes out of nothing! One has to work for whatever he or she wishes to achieve. |
| Jogoo wa shamba hawiki mjini - | A country rooster would not crow while in town - | Usually meant to despise country people but its wider meaning is that some things only fit in some environments. |
| Mke mwema pambo la nyumba - | A good wife is a home's adornment - | |
| Kuelekeza si kufuma - | To aim is not to hit - | Good intentions alone serve nothing if not followed by tangible results. |
| Kanga nenda na urembo, shani urembo na shani - | Kanga, go with embellishment; wonder, elegance and wonder - | As if talking to kanga the writing goes with the whole idea of giving kanga as gifts to loved ones. Here the gift giver "instructs" the kanga to go to his or her lover with the message to confirm the relationship. |
| Kupata si werevu, na kukosa si ujinga - | Getting something is not necessarily because of cleverness, and missing something is not necessarily because of ignorance - | c.f Mpaji ni Mungu - God is the Sustainer. |
| Vidole vitano, kipi bora - | Five fingers, which is the best? - | It is an indirect way of saying that it is difficult to say which finger is better than another since fingers work together to accomplish a task. In other words, it is a call for unity. c.f Kidole kimoja hakivunji chawa - One finger is not capable of smashing a flea. |
| Mtoto umleavyo ndivyo akuavyo - | The way you raise a child is what he/she will grow to be - | The upbringing of a child is what moulds his or her character. It is a lesson given to parents to raise their children well for them to have better future. |
| Wangu wa ubani nimemuweka ndani - | I am securely holding my lover inside - | "ubani" (incense) is something that when burnt gives out a very pleasant fragrance. It is commonly used in large gatherings especially in religious (Islamic) ocassions where believers say prayers. It is very customary to burn "ubani" in a small earthen container called "kiotezo" filled with hot charcoal. Burning "ubani" in Swahili culture is held to be a necessary thing for a prayer to be answered. The custom is thought to have been brought to East Africa by the Persians (Iranians). Associating a lover with a word "ubani" is likely due to its nice fragrance or the fact that it requires a hard task of burning "ubani" in a prayer to have a lover. Statements like, "Humpati hata kwa ubani", (You will never win her even if you burn "ubani") are common in Swahili. |
| Mie langu jicho - | To me, my eye! - | He/She is prepared to do nothing but look at the way things go! It is the same as saying, "I don't care!". |
| Mcheza kwao hutunzwa - | An award goes to a home-player - | He/She who brings "the bacon" home is the one who gets recognition and favour. |
| Mke mwenza!! haa!! mezea! - | Co-wife! Ha! Just swallow it! - | A wife tells her husband to never even think about having a second wife! The statement "mezea" (just swallow it) is Swahili slang which means, "let it pass" or "just tolerate" or like they say in US, "Forget it!" |
| Je! iko namna? - | Is there a way? - | This is slang which is usually used when there is something suspicious happening. |
| Siku ya kufa nyani miti yote huteleza - | The day a monkey is destined to die, all trees get slippery - | There is no escaping one's fate. |
| Chokochoko si njema mchague la kusema - | Provocation is not good, you should choose what to say - | A warning against those who use their tongues to incite chaos and misunderstanding between people. |
| Kasheshe unalijua unalisikia? - | Do you know of "kasheshe" or you just hear about it? - | "kasheshe" is a rather new word in Swahili which refers to a serious crisis situation. |
| Mtupie Mungu kilio, sio binadamu mwenzio - | Throw saddening stuff to God, not to your fellow human being - | The logic is, God can handle any situation, not so with an ordinary human being. |
| Wape wape vidonge vyao, wakimeza, wakitema shauri yao - | Give them their medicine tablets; It is upon them to swallow or to spit them off! - | Usually said when one proceeds telling someone things that he or she would not like to hear. Maybe someone is complaining about what he or she did or just an attempt to intimidate him or her. |
| Usibadili nia kwa jambo la kusikia - | Don't change your mind because of a hearsay - | People do speak lots of things which are not always the truth. This is a piece of advice not to take hearsay seriously. |
| Penzi la mama tamu, haliishi hamu - | Mother's love is so sweet that you never have enough of it - | Can't say it better! |
| Situmai uzuri wangu, natumai bahati yangu - | I don't rely on my beauty but my luck - | c.f beauty and the beast! |
| Zawadi ni zawadi, usichoke kupokea - | A gift is a gift, don't get tired of receiving - | c.f "Kutoa ni moyo usambe ni utajiri", (Giving is from the heart not from the wealth). |
| Chokochoko mchokoe pweza, binadamu hutamweza - | If you want to poke (provoke) someone, then poke an octopus; you will fail with a human being - | The word "chokochoko" actually means "provocation" but it is derived from "chokoa" which means to poke or to fork. The way fisherman fish octopus in East Africa is by forking them in their holes with pointed wooden sticks. |
| Usitake ushindani huniwezi aslani - | Don't compete (with me), you can never beat me - | War of words! |
| Dua la kuku halimpati mwewe - | A chicken's prayer doesn't effect a hawk - | This saying is normally used when crying for injustice done to powerless people by those with power. Had the prayers of the victimized be of any effect on to the victimizers, then certainly the oppression would end. But the way things are, it is never like that. A prayer alone would not do it. |
| Fadhila za punda ni mateke - | The way a donkey expresses gratitude is by giving someone a bunch of kicks - | This saying is used when one gets bad treatment in return to a favour he or she gave to someone. c.f "Mtenda wema kijuki, mwishowe hutiwa moto", (A bee gets burnt in return for the favour of making honey). |
| Kuku mgeni hakosi kamba mguuni - | A new hen would always have a rope tied to its leg - | You can always easily identify a new person in town through his/her appearance, actions and behaviour. There will always be something that he/she will have or do that is not common in the town. In other words, each stranger comes with an identity! |
| Pilipili iko mtini yakuwashia nini? - | A chilli pepper on its plant, how could it make you hot? - | The issue is none of your concern, how could it bother you? In other words, "This is none of your business!" |
| Ukila nanasi, tunda lingine basi - | Once you taste a pineapple, you'll never go for any other fruit - | It is very common in Swahili to use sweet fruits to signify things associated with love. There are songs and songs about such fruits as "nanasi" (pineapple), "zabibu" (grapes), "tofaa" (apple) etc all having nothing to do with the fruits themselves but love. Hence such sayings as, "Ukila zabibu, utaleta majibu", (Once you taste grapes you'll definitely respond), obviously talks about things associated with love. |
| Hasidi hana sababu - | An envious person requires no reason to practice envy - | He/she would practice envy for no reasons at all! There is something within him/herself that makes him/her practice envy. The inner urge is all by itself enough reason! |
| Dunia duara - | The Earth is round - | Go wherever you go, but you'll return to the same old place. In some cases this saying is used to discourage over-indulgence with other peoples' affairs - the Earth is round, everything revolves, and you'll never get to the bottom of everything! Some would add, "Dunia duara, ukiichungua utahara!!" (The Earth is round, you'll end up catching diarrhoea if you investigate it!). Try not to get bothered, worried and concerned with everything - afterall, the Earth is round! |
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 |Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 |
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