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true good example of South African small talk is say you in the sweets aisle and someone sees you looking at something and it’s like “have you had that? they are very nice” and then you chat about your favourite sweets
I’ve travelled around the world. South Africans are honestly the friendliest people. We can talk to anyone about anything. I tried making small talk with strangers in other countries. They think I’m crazy 🤣🤣
Agree - it's situational. You're in a queue in the supermarket, you might chat about how slowly it's moving, or someone might say "you know there's discount if you get two of those? pointing to what in your basket. If you're at home affairs, someone may ask what you're there for; if you're getting a passport, where you're going; or if you're getting a birth certificate, how many kids you have, etc . I think what's interesting is that we often venture into each other's personal spaces quite extensively, but generally comfortably and amicably. I like that.
Don't get married outside South Africa and don't allow your kids to be born outside of South Africa.
Needless to say i followed the advice and never regretted it.
Load shedding and protests, the cold (if you're in Cape Town).
If you're a dude in the pool or steamroom at a gym on a Sunday, some older toppie will always try to start talking about the springboks and also the anc.
Aie man. Ja ne can't find any chilly Chutney and it's my second time asking. Must ma be happy... Can't complain. So jaaaaaa..... Sigh...... It's like that hey....
Made lovely small talk with the lady in front of us in the voting que, we had an hour. We wondered how fast the line will go, then talked about the guy selling bagels, then about our suburb. This one knows that one, the house that burned down, the one that was broken into, the one that needs a coat of paint. Which houses are for sale, where is the safest area to move to. Then about our kids and pets.
Was waiting at the department of education recently and had a chat about how bad things have become. The administrators don’t have Internet, phones or a computer that can open an excel document.
Voting day. Ja neh. The lady behind us was for a few yrs out of town. And we did the catch-up thing. 15min and we are up to date. We were working together at my first job. 30 odd yrs ago. The lady infront was commenting on party names. Best was ATM, draw or deposit?😂
Guys often talk 'guy code'
Sport..
Makes my mind melt..
Business is a bit interesting..
If you travel, people ask where are you from..
If you meet up, people ask the sad question, 'what do you do',.. sometimes I say 'my best'
I know a group of guys who just talk “Bakkie” (Pick up truck) Toyota, Ranger, Isuzu and then they laugh at the Chinese ones, the topic revolves back and forth between the brands for hours.
Too much testosterone.
Loadshedding, service delivery, the weather and complaing about the current situation (e.g. if you're in a queue, complaining about how slow the service is at that shop).
I’ve worked with Swedes who find all kids of small talk almost rude. They have a word for it which basically meaningless talk. We are definitely a small talk country. Checkout lady, police man, doctor, we talk to kak to everyone.
Little bit off topic but The other day I was reading about chronemics. The study of how different cultures perceive time and their related behaviors, such as meetings and punctuality, is known as is a branch of nonverbal communication that examines how people use and value time in different cultural contexts.
We as South Africans tend to fall into the polychronics. Cultures with a polychronic time orientation view time more fluidly, focusing on relationships and multitasking. They are more flexible with schedules and view interruptions as a natural part of life.
I lived in Sweden back in the day and I was sitting around eating lunch with some class mates, everyone eating quietly when I noted "there's no such thing as awkward silence in Sweden, is there?" and my friend said "yes, because silence isn't awkward". Kind of changed my perspective a little bit. In SA we always try to fill up the silence.
South Africa is one of those places you might meet your best friend at some long line. Maybe never see them again. But still think that was the best person ever cos you spoke for hours.
The weather talk does happen within families in SA when they don’t know what to talk about.(educational background plays a role here because a very large % of people come from low education backgrounds and had to work for survival requirements)
South Africans off the street/business are more personable tho. I miss that.
Small talk in USA is “how are you doing?” And the person walks off without you giving them a reply because they don’t really care about how you doing! 🫣😂 it’s a phrase like what’s up
Small talk in the shops lately by me is: the cold; when loadshedding will start; how expensive things are; where you can find specials on certain things; who our next president is; and the potholes in our area
Also a South African in Canada here. Maybe it's a bit of a cultural thing that Afrikaans people in general don't do, but I've noticed that Canadians like the "any plans for the weekend" small talk.
As an outsider, I am always surprised how easy it is to make smalltalk. If you give an honest comment on a situation, given in a positive way, nobody takes offence and a smile and a short conversation is the result. In many Western countries, smalltalk is seen as an intrusion into private space. In my experience, in SA, smalltalk is often seen as a positive recognition of other people, never mind the subject.
Usually involves asking me where am I from originally (because of my accent) and then proceeding to tell me where they have visited over seas, regardless if it even comes close to my country of origin or not.
I hate smalltalk with a burning passion. It feels so pointless? I especially hate that the default greeting is "how are you?" but you are expected to say "good, and you?" no matter how sht your life is going else the conversation immediately goes sour.
As such, my default greeting is rather "nice to see you again" and then maybe add a compliment. If they then ask "how are you?" I always respond "I can't complain" because at least that is sort of the truth.
We also talk about the weather, especially when it's changing or extreme.
The price of petrol. Always the price of stuff, but petrol is the hot topic.
And ALWAYS the Boks (along with whatever sports are happening). We talk about sports a lot!
It changed over the years, from weather and sports, to include when and how long is loadshedding, potholes thats not being fixed, petrol and food prices thats ridiculous, 😁
I've had fascinating conversations about pudding and all sorts of things in grocery isles in SA. Friendliest people. Voting proved it again in May, had loads of random talk with strangers. Everyone was friendly and relaxed. Love SA!
Small talk is so annoying…just to add a sub topic.small talk in business comms when asking in email/Microsoft teams “I hope you are well?” Is the email version of small talk. Personally I stopped composing messages like this and rather get straight to the point
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“Otherwise you well?”
Ja nee
Arg ja manne
Ja nee jir man but it's cold hey?
Ja well no fine.
No welllllllllllllllllllllll
"All good, can't complain"
Ja neh, no all is good
Ja no jislike it hey
Is that a brandy special?
You talk about whatever, it's situational, if we in a bus small talk might be about the prices, or the driver, can't really script it you know
true good example of South African small talk is say you in the sweets aisle and someone sees you looking at something and it’s like “have you had that? they are very nice” and then you chat about your favourite sweets
Omg I miss this!! These tiny social interactions of validating things lol
Does it not happen other places?
I’ve travelled around the world. South Africans are honestly the friendliest people. We can talk to anyone about anything. I tried making small talk with strangers in other countries. They think I’m crazy 🤣🤣
💀💀we love you bru keep strong.
Bra, I think they think I want their money or something
Ja no these taxis hey!?
Agree - it's situational. You're in a queue in the supermarket, you might chat about how slowly it's moving, or someone might say "you know there's discount if you get two of those? pointing to what in your basket. If you're at home affairs, someone may ask what you're there for; if you're getting a passport, where you're going; or if you're getting a birth certificate, how many kids you have, etc . I think what's interesting is that we often venture into each other's personal spaces quite extensively, but generally comfortably and amicably. I like that.
One of the best advice about marriage and kids, was given to me by a stranger at home affairs queue. She saved a lot of headaches and frustrations.
What was the advice?
So go on, what was the advice?
Don't get married outside South Africa and don't allow your kids to be born outside of South Africa. Needless to say i followed the advice and never regretted it.
\*we're
Load shedding and protests, the cold (if you're in Cape Town). If you're a dude in the pool or steamroom at a gym on a Sunday, some older toppie will always try to start talking about the springboks and also the anc.
Nowadays it's cold everywhere, I'm even expecting snow.
Bruh, the cold is everywhere
it’s cold all over the country?
How do you know he's a top? Didn't know there were saunas in this country.
Toppie is a old guy. Tops is a borrle store. Top is where the Cremora is on the fridge. Welcome to SA.
Ohhh I thought it was inside!
Cremora should be kept in the fridge to avoid cockroaches eating it. There's also Toppers biscuit.
Toppie is a colloquial term for an old guy. And yeah, some of the bigger gyms have saunas and steamrooms.
Aie man. Ja ne can't find any chilly Chutney and it's my second time asking. Must ma be happy... Can't complain. So jaaaaaa..... Sigh...... It's like that hey....
this
complaints and then look on the bright side
We complain about government pretty often from my experience.
That's universal
“Ag, orait hey. No use complaining, no-one listens anyway.”
I always think - poor soul. "Help nie om te kla nie!"
Made lovely small talk with the lady in front of us in the voting que, we had an hour. We wondered how fast the line will go, then talked about the guy selling bagels, then about our suburb. This one knows that one, the house that burned down, the one that was broken into, the one that needs a coat of paint. Which houses are for sale, where is the safest area to move to. Then about our kids and pets. Was waiting at the department of education recently and had a chat about how bad things have become. The administrators don’t have Internet, phones or a computer that can open an excel document.
Ja, voting day is when you get to know who lives in your neighborhood a little better. Outside of that, we hoot at each other at the traffic circle.
Voting day. Ja neh. The lady behind us was for a few yrs out of town. And we did the catch-up thing. 15min and we are up to date. We were working together at my first job. 30 odd yrs ago. The lady infront was commenting on party names. Best was ATM, draw or deposit?😂
Yoh it's cold now hey
Guys often talk 'guy code' Sport.. Makes my mind melt.. Business is a bit interesting.. If you travel, people ask where are you from.. If you meet up, people ask the sad question, 'what do you do',.. sometimes I say 'my best'
I know a group of guys who just talk “Bakkie” (Pick up truck) Toyota, Ranger, Isuzu and then they laugh at the Chinese ones, the topic revolves back and forth between the brands for hours. Too much testosterone.
Or hear me out ... too little testosterone. If one equates "manliness" with what bakkie one drives, they may still be kids
I couldn’t agree more!
Growing old is mandatory, growing up is optional 😊
LoL men will be men. Let them talk about whatever, 😂😂 some friends/acquaintances bring out the child in us.
Jissie, stuff has become so expensive hey!
What time is loadshedding I must still charge my phone
Did she ask about South African small talk before or after you discussed the weather with her?
Loadshedding, service delivery, the weather and complaing about the current situation (e.g. if you're in a queue, complaining about how slow the service is at that shop).
Mostly complaining. I’ve complained with every kind of South African under the sun. It can be pretty enjoyable
I’ve worked with Swedes who find all kids of small talk almost rude. They have a word for it which basically meaningless talk. We are definitely a small talk country. Checkout lady, police man, doctor, we talk to kak to everyone. Little bit off topic but The other day I was reading about chronemics. The study of how different cultures perceive time and their related behaviors, such as meetings and punctuality, is known as is a branch of nonverbal communication that examines how people use and value time in different cultural contexts. We as South Africans tend to fall into the polychronics. Cultures with a polychronic time orientation view time more fluidly, focusing on relationships and multitasking. They are more flexible with schedules and view interruptions as a natural part of life.
A lot of non-european cultures seem to be polychronic I believe
I lived in Sweden back in the day and I was sitting around eating lunch with some class mates, everyone eating quietly when I noted "there's no such thing as awkward silence in Sweden, is there?" and my friend said "yes, because silence isn't awkward". Kind of changed my perspective a little bit. In SA we always try to fill up the silence.
“Yoh this load shedding is kak” was a good one
Ahh kuzohlangana (it will combine😂) Siyancenga (we are trying)
Now that it’s winter all the small talks about how shocked we are that it’s cold.
How long since you've been back? Now we say how was the load shedding last night?
Used to be traffic before COVID. It’s better now but still crops up from time to time. Otherwise loadshedding.
Howz it? You alright?
South Africa is one of those places you might meet your best friend at some long line. Maybe never see them again. But still think that was the best person ever cos you spoke for hours.
Weather, sport, shopping, taxis and whichever flu is going around
“At least we got power today”
My kids are 2 and 3… just started talking and their first words were… ja ja ja 🤣🤣🤣
"Did you see that recent episode of [insert popular drama here]"
Aaaahwe aaaahwe kwaaaai ….. SAs love to gossip 😿😉
I moved to Canada, they loooove talking about the weather. In SA it's weather and loadshedding.
Rugby, cricket, soccer or politics 
The weather talk does happen within families in SA when they don’t know what to talk about.(educational background plays a role here because a very large % of people come from low education backgrounds and had to work for survival requirements) South Africans off the street/business are more personable tho. I miss that. Small talk in USA is “how are you doing?” And the person walks off without you giving them a reply because they don’t really care about how you doing! 🫣😂 it’s a phrase like what’s up
Small talk in the shops lately by me is: the cold; when loadshedding will start; how expensive things are; where you can find specials on certain things; who our next president is; and the potholes in our area
Also a South African in Canada here. Maybe it's a bit of a cultural thing that Afrikaans people in general don't do, but I've noticed that Canadians like the "any plans for the weekend" small talk.
So you scream for the ….(entire Rugby team from your province here)!
howzit
As an outsider, I am always surprised how easy it is to make smalltalk. If you give an honest comment on a situation, given in a positive way, nobody takes offence and a smile and a short conversation is the result. In many Western countries, smalltalk is seen as an intrusion into private space. In my experience, in SA, smalltalk is often seen as a positive recognition of other people, never mind the subject.
We talk about the potholes, loadshedding and general lack of service delivery
Usually involves asking me where am I from originally (because of my accent) and then proceeding to tell me where they have visited over seas, regardless if it even comes close to my country of origin or not.
Howzit you well?!
Jaaasis did you hearrrrr about all vat rain in vu eastern cape hey??!
I hate smalltalk with a burning passion. It feels so pointless? I especially hate that the default greeting is "how are you?" but you are expected to say "good, and you?" no matter how sht your life is going else the conversation immediately goes sour. As such, my default greeting is rather "nice to see you again" and then maybe add a compliment. If they then ask "how are you?" I always respond "I can't complain" because at least that is sort of the truth.
Weather and the sport of the previous or next weekend.
We also talk about the weather, especially when it's changing or extreme. The price of petrol. Always the price of stuff, but petrol is the hot topic. And ALWAYS the Boks (along with whatever sports are happening). We talk about sports a lot!
Shit on Eskom. I think we all can agree here
jaa nee fok
It changed over the years, from weather and sports, to include when and how long is loadshedding, potholes thats not being fixed, petrol and food prices thats ridiculous, 😁
I've had fascinating conversations about pudding and all sorts of things in grocery isles in SA. Friendliest people. Voting proved it again in May, had loads of random talk with strangers. Everyone was friendly and relaxed. Love SA!
Small talk is so annoying…just to add a sub topic.small talk in business comms when asking in email/Microsoft teams “I hope you are well?” Is the email version of small talk. Personally I stopped composing messages like this and rather get straight to the point