eish

Eish is a South African exclamation for surprise, frustration, sympathy or resignation, a bit like “wow,” “yikes” or “ugh,” depending on the tone. Load-shedding again? Eish.

What eish means

It’s one of the most versatile words in South African English. Collins describes it as an exclamation of surprise, agreement or disapproval, and Wiktionary adds “phew” and resignation. A long, drawn-out “eiiish” with a head shake usually means something has gone badly wrong.

Examples

• “The traffic on the N1 is a nightmare.” “Eish.”
• “Eish, I forgot my wallet at home.”
• “Eish, that’s a lot of money for a coffee.”

Where it came from

Collins traces eish to Zulu, while Wiktionary lists it as borrowed through Afrikaans. Either way, it’s thoroughly South African.

Related terms

• Eina: ouch.
• Ja: yes.
• Yikes: the American version of “that’s bad.”
• Oof: a wince in word form.

More South African words are in our South African slang guide.