Photo: RBerteig

Any visitor to South Africa will quickly become confused by our rampant overuse of the word ‘now’.

In other countries, ‘now’ means one thing: now. As in, this moment,
immediately. “I’m coming now,” isn’t really a confusing phrase. It
means, quite literally, I. am. coming. now.

In South Africa, we don’t just have ‘now’. We also have ‘now-now’ and
‘just-now’. If someone tells you they’re coming ‘now-now’, it means the
rough equivalent of ‘shortly’. Not as soon as now, but not that much
longer. In a little bit. Now-now.

If, however, someone tells you they’re coming ‘just-now’, don’t wait.
‘Just-now’ could be anything from half an hour to four or five hours.
It’s the same as saying, “I’m coming later” without qualifying when
exactly ‘later’ is.

Of course, we also know how to use watches and clocks, and will often
give a specific time for something. But if someone is having a braai (a
South African barbeque) and hasn’t specified a time, it’s quite logical
to say, “What time should I come?” and get the response, “Just-now.”

Giving you the option to arrive early and watch the wood burn down into
coals (see braais), or arrive late and miss out on the boerewors (see
boerewors rolls).