Kinyarwanda fun

Steve tries to teach a Rwandan boy how to skip rocks, in Kinyarwandan of course.

Kinyarwanda is a crazy language, and exceptionally difficult.  A future blog post will discuss the rules of Kinyarwanda and simple words, but for now I thought I would give you a sampling of some the fun words and phrases in Kinyarwanda.  Enjoy.

Kwandika umunani (kwa-ndi-ka  oo-moo-nan-ee)  Literally: “to write the number eight in the ground.”  Translation: to be drunk.

Umukobwa afite nyuma ya inzu  (oo-moo-ko-ba  a-feet-e  nee-oo-ma  yah  in-zoo)  Literally: “to have the back of a house.”  Translation: she has a big butt.

Umunyamashengo  (oo-moo-nya-ma-she-ngo)  Literally: clown

Ikibonko  (ee-chee-bo-no)  Literally: fat person

Ikibonko afite amtarasi  (ee-chee-bo-no  a-feet-e  ah-ma-ta-ra-see)  Literally: “the fat person has terraces.”  Translation:  The hills of Rwanda are all terraced in order to be able to farm on the land at steep slopes.  The back of a fat person’s head will have fat rolls that look like the terraces of the land. 

Ikirara  (ee-chee-ra-ra)  Translation: party boy

Umujama  (oo-moo-jah-ma)  Translation: gangster

Ikiguri  (i-chee-goo-ree)  Translantion: midget

Umusupastar  (oo-moo-su-pah-sta)  Translation: superstar

Umufubuzi  (oo-moo-foo-boo-zee)  Translation: gigolo  Literally: “a sexual technician”

Indaya  (in-die-ah) Translation: prostitute

Umupagani  (oo-moo-pa-ga-ni) Literally: “pagan”  Translation: One who doesn’t believe in God. 

Ingarama kirambi (in-ga-ra-ma  ki-ra-mbee) Translation: A man who should be married, but still lives with their parents and doesn’t have his act together

Kumviriza  (coo-mva-ri-za)  Translation: To listen to a man having sex to make sure that he is performing well

Gukama  (goo-ka-ma)  Translation:  To milk a cow with one hand

Kuvuruganya  (coo-voo-roo-ga-nya)  Translation:  To milk a cow with two hands

Nyamuryabana (nya-moo-rya-ba-na)  Translation:  A semi-mythical creature, normally a white person, well known for eating small Rwandan children.  It also has a secondary definition as a pedophile.

Ifigi  (ee-fee-gee)  Translation:  A rat that sneaks around your house at night eating your money that is hidden in your mattresses. 

Umukeba  (oo-moo-che-ba)  Translation:  A second wife

Igitangangurigwa  (ee-gee-tan-gan-goo-ree-gwa)  Translation: spider

Umukorerabushake ( oo-moo-ko-re-ra-boo-sha-chee)  Translation: volunteer

Gusara  (goo-sa-ra)  Translation:  To pray as a Muslim.  To go crazy.

Gusura  (goo-soo-ra)  Translation:  To visit.  To fart.

Umukekuru  (oo-moo-che-chu-roo)  Translation:  Old lady.  This is a term of respect in Rwanda.  Elderly ladies loved to be called old woman.

Gucira amazi  (goo-chi-ra  a-ma-zee)  Literally:  “To spit water.”  Translation:  She is so beautiful that everything that comes out of her mouth is perfect. 

Imbangukiragutabara (im-ba-ngu-ki-ra-gu-ta-ba-ra)  Literally:  “The thing that goes quickly to take you when you are sick”  Translation:  Ambulance

Umuhinzi (oo-moo-hin-zee)  Literally: A farmer who has a lot of fields to plow.  In this case, the farmer is a man and he has a lot of fields to plow.  These fields are women.  Translation:  Player