Tuesday, August 31, 2010

African time that strange phenomenon akin to relativity

African Time
The Concept of time in Africa

Spanish singer Julio Iglesias was on television with British TV host Anne Diamond when he used the word "maƱana" (pronounced “manyana”).

Diamond asked him to explain what it meant.

He said that the term means "Maybe the job will be done tomorrow, maybe the next day, maybe the day after that. Or perhaps next week, next month, next year. Who really cares?"

The host turned to Mr. Sipho Msondtlwana who was also on the show and asked him if there was an equivalent term in his native language.

"Eish Madam" he replied. "In South Africa we don't have a word to describe that degree of urgency."

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