I wouldn’t know anything about being a girl, especially not when it comes to being on the receiving end of a not-so-well calculated flirting session. Through social media, especially Twitter, we have learnt that not everything a guy says sits well with girls and preferences are also a big factor.
With that in mind, one Kenyan lady on Twitter, assuming that it’s not a catfish account, highlighted what she terms as problems of dating a guy from the Eastlands sides of Nairobi. In the tweet thread that is in Sheng, she says that the pet names given are the problem:
Shida ya kupenda vijana wa eastlands ni majina we huitwa..
Girldem
Mroro wa me
Kifaru
Fine thank you.
If you know you know. (thread) – @TiffieTiffie_
Miss Biggboootay, that’s her username btw, goes ahead to explain the context of each pet name mentioned above.
Kifaru – a Swahili word for Rhino, in this context, used to refer to the girl. Loosely translated to, “this is my girl, brother“:
Huyu ndio kifaru wa me mabrathe.
Like what the actual fuck! pic.twitter.com/59J60O2MzW
— Biggboootay 🇰🇪👅 (@TiffieTiffie_) September 2, 2018
Girldem – Is this a Jamaican or something? I honestly don’t know but in this context, the statement translates to, “My girl kills you all like Hessy” – to explain, Hessy is a brutal police officer that has been responsible for taking down a number of hardened criminals:
Girldem wa kwangu anakuwanga anawauwa design ya hessy 😭😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/85HAJXdby7
— Biggboootay 🇰🇪👅 (@TiffieTiffie_) September 2, 2018
Mroro – Okay, this one sounds like some chant to you but it really isn’t. I believe Mroro is the tweng version of Mtoto, as in calling your girl Baby. In the context below the guy says, “Let me go home with my girl so that I get to know tonight’s plan“, I am doubting myself on this one, kindly help me out:
Wacha niingizie kejani na mroro wa me nijue form ya reggae majioni 😭😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/YaYGWkrxiN
— Biggboootay 🇰🇪👅 (@TiffieTiffie_) September 2, 2018
Fine Thank You – This one is just proof of how much sheng is influenced by English and other languages. This one is picked directly from the response, “I am fine, thank you”. In the context below, it is used to refer to a pretty girl, more so, your pretty girl. “I am home with my girl, what do you want?“:
Niko janake nimetulia na fine thank you..unasemaje?? 😭😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/LTB2SKFOev
— Biggboootay 🇰🇪👅 (@TiffieTiffie_) September 2, 2018
What do you think? Is this true or true? I have grown up in Eastlands and even back in the day, references to girls were always names that left you wondering about their sources and history, all in all, we have to agree that sheng is a beautiful language.
