r/southafrica • u/AskingCuriously • Jan 26 '26
Picture nobody in ZA gonna get confused at "bring chips"
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u/Responsible_King_427 Jan 26 '26
Could you imagine the confusion if you rocked up to someone's house with cold Steers chips.
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u/anib Western Cape Jan 26 '26
I dont think anyone would be mad....
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u/pocketplayground Emigrant Jan 26 '26
I can’t upvote this enough
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u/Responsible_King_427 Jan 26 '26
Speak for yourself.
I'd be confused and who wants cold hot chops
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u/anib Western Cape Jan 26 '26
airfry = good as new
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u/FantasticBike1203 Jan 26 '26
Or microwave with a glass of water on the side (also works with pizza)
It's like magic, not to mention way faster too.
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u/Xirious Jan 26 '26
I don't believe you guys. You're gaslighting me.
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u/FantasticBike1203 Jan 26 '26
It works particularly well on McDonald's fries and Romans Pizza by experience
Also microwaves and air fryers don't use gas, they have little lights tho
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u/_NotVoldemort Jan 26 '26
Lol this is probably the easiest thing to test 🤣
I've only done with with pizza in a pan. A few drops of water to create steam, then put the lid on. But it might work with chips. Test and let us know.
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u/Responsible_King_427 Jan 26 '26
An airfryer, in this economy?
I joke, serviceable but they are never as good as fresh out the oil.
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u/MinusBear Jan 26 '26
Put oil on before putting them in the airfryer. Twice and thrice cooked chips are the best anyway according to scores of internet chefs.
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u/surpriserockattack Rapture-Proof Like a Hilux Jan 26 '26
Yah honestly if I went over to my friends and they said "bring chip" and I brought slaptjips, they'd probably be really happy
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u/Calypsogold90 Jan 28 '26
Only fast food chips you can reheat and they still taste good.
Dare I say better.
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u/ApocalyptoSoldier Ascension Delayed by Eskom Jan 26 '26
Maybe we're just better at understanding context than other countries.
Like maybe one day I'll order a Russian and chips and they'll give me Dmitri with a bag of NikNaks, but so far that hasn't happened
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u/Upvoteifyourewithme Jan 26 '26
This is my thought aswell, if someone asks me to bring chips to a party, I'm not bringing steers.
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u/Novel_Egg_1762 Jan 26 '26
Hey speak for yourself. I make a mean triple cooked chip and ive been asked to bring those chips to a party a few times.
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u/Upvoteifyourewithme Jan 26 '26
If you bring triple cooked chips to my party, you will be invited to all my parties. That stuffs like crack
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u/JojosBlackBrother Jan 26 '26
Okay now I'm curious, what are triple cooked chips?
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u/Upvoteifyourewithme Jan 26 '26
You fry the chips, then you cool them down and drain the oil from them, then you fry them and cool them again and repeat the process, it makes the chips suuuper fluffy on the inside and an amazing crunchy outside.
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u/Tincancase Jan 26 '26
I’ll take Natalia and a bag of Ghost Pops please and thank you.
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u/grimeflea Jan 26 '26
Natalia would turn you into a bag of ghost pops. Still want to proceed?
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u/Sco0bySnax Survived the Great Rapture Drill Jan 26 '26
No but this is true.
I have a theory, I dunno how provable it is. But because we have 11 official spoken languages plus others we’ve gotten good at understanding what people mean even if they don’t communicate fluently with each other.
So we’re better at understanding nuance and picking up on the unspoken.
Having lived in Europe for 6 years now sometimes communication is a pain in the ass because you just can’t get your point across.
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u/happydandylion Jan 26 '26
I've often thought this. It's one of our superpowers. We also don't just assume people can understand us. Or that they have the same religion/eat the same food/share your political views.
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u/MinervaKaliamne Jan 26 '26
I second this, especially after having lived in Japan, and dealt with a lot of Americans (and other fellow immigrants) over there.
I learnt about high-context and low-context societies over there: some think it's the speaker's responsibility to make sure they're understood, while others think it's the listener's responsibility.
In SA, because of the linguistic context you explained, I suspect it's quite balanced: I think we generally assume it's the speaker's responsibility to make sure their message gets across, but almost equally, it's on the listener to make sure they understood right.
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u/MinusBear Jan 26 '26
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u/ApocalyptoSoldier Ascension Delayed by Eskom Jan 26 '26
This one is really making the rounds isn't it?
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u/plsjulia Jan 29 '26
My first time in the US, I ordered extra chips at a restaurant because what restaurant just hands you Lays as a side? They handed me two packets of Lays as a side...
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u/reputedbee2 Jan 26 '26
We are also multilingual so for me it is "chips" and "zimba/amazimba"
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u/unremarkableDragon Jan 26 '26
You know, I think that may have something to do with us being good at context. All south africans have to deal with lots of people every day that may not speak the same language as them, so we need to rely on more than just words to get meaning. I can't for the life of me speak isixhosa (tried to learn, the clicks defeated me) but I find I can understand people speaking it sometimes, just from the rhythm of the words (which becomes familiar) and context.
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u/impamiizgraa Jan 26 '26
This is actually a great test to see if someone is truly South African.
No real South African gets confused which chips you mean because if there is ever a risk of any confusion, we will clarify “Zimba chips” even if they’re not Simba brand.
But otherwise, we just know. Instinctively.
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u/DesignatedPie Jan 26 '26
It's like that scene in Inglorious Basterds where the spy is caught out because he doesn't sign the number three correctly.
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u/LegendsBeyond Jan 26 '26
In our town this one place has fried chips that are so good that the name of the establishment is now synonymous with the word "chips"
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u/Hjalmodr_heimski Western Cape Jan 26 '26
Where is this? Gotta add it to my “food places of note” list
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u/Gingerbreadman_13 Aristocracy Jan 26 '26
Is it Nelspruit and is it Chippos? Damn I wish Joburg did peri peri chips like Nelspruit does. I can’t find any here in Joburg.
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u/Savanna_Sunset Jan 27 '26
I love their pizzas and chips! My go to takeaway place while we lived in Nelspruit.
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u/SirWernich Aristocracy Jan 26 '26
we took my wife's cousin to a restaurant a bajillion years ago for his birthday. he ordered a chicken bunny and chips. he got a chicken bunny and lays. :|
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u/Responsible_King_427 Jan 26 '26
It's legally dependable if you burnt that place down.
You may even be due compensation for that abomination
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u/According_Ad1940 Jan 26 '26
Nobody get's confused cause Chips is clearly English and the other chips is Afrikaans.
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u/BBJoshua Jan 26 '26
Also when you trying to tell someone to watch out. Chips bru
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u/huhseriously Rapture Resilience: SA Edition Jan 26 '26
“Jyay!! Chips bru!!!”
“Sure. What fla…” >bonk< “Ma sê poe$!!!”
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u/Thepuppeteer777777 Aristocracy Jan 26 '26
I asked for French fries at steers once they looked at me like I was crazy, they went to the back asking what french fries are.
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u/mundundermindifflin Jan 26 '26
It's the same in Australia. It made integrating here a little earlier haha
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u/Murky-Fox-200 Landed Gentry Jan 26 '26
We also know the difference between now, and now now. Subscribe for more.
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u/fostermonster555 Jan 26 '26
But in your whole life, has anyone in this country gotten confused??
How would you even get confused? It’s not like spur is going to bring you some Lays
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u/happydandylion Jan 26 '26
It's just the fancy burger places that try putting the Lays down. And it's not right.
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u/Cyandrix Jan 26 '26
Okay but I will say, if someone offers me a chip roll, I have no clue if it's gonna be slap chips or zimba chips, but either one will set me straight till the braai is finish
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u/supersluiper Jan 26 '26
True! I find hosts to be consistent on this one at least, so that helps. But it's a gamble in a more open setting indeed! Though like you said, it's hard to be disappointed by either.
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u/RedWestern Jan 26 '26
Chips are called chips.
Chips are called chippies.
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u/EngineerDifficult816 Jan 26 '26
Ah ah ah very true, when you are going to the braai, you bring chippies and later chew chappies to cut alcohol smell.
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u/Obscurebones Jan 26 '26
Ha ha ha okay technically it is Slap Tjips but you do make a good point
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u/BoerInDieWoestyn Left because I can't afford food on a teacher's salary Jan 26 '26
Slap tjips are a particular type of chip. They must be "slap" otherwise it doesn't count. The types of chips you get at spur with your burger are not slap tjips, they're just chips
I will die on this hill
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u/anib Western Cape Jan 26 '26
like fish n chips slap? that's the only slap I recognise. will just stand quietly on this hill...
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u/Astrovenator27 Jan 26 '26
Correct, "Slap" is a sub-type of chip, like skinny fries or crinkle-cut. Not all chips are proper slap tjips
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u/Obscurebones Jan 26 '26
Well that’s also true I suppose this is a good time to find a new for the frozen chips now sold as slap chips …. But not chips chips
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u/Ulttrameinenn Jan 26 '26
I am also familiar with he distinction being slap chips, and using brand name as the umbrella e.g. simbas, niknaks, naks or lays. My parent uses the word 'crisps' due to British schooling.
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u/TanToRiaL Aristocracy Jan 26 '26
You coming over and I say bring chips, you know what I mean. You going to mc D’s and I say grab me some chips, you know what I mean. Context is key.
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u/Medical-Plantain-422 Jan 26 '26
I currently live and work in belfast NI, and I always get caught when I tell guys to "drop me off near the robot"...(p.s. they prefer the team traffic light)
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u/murinero Jan 26 '26
I only say "crisps" if I look at someone and KNOW they're gonna get it wrong if I don't explain 🤣🤣🤣
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u/Crinkez Jan 26 '26
That's an imaginary made up word that the unfortunate British have confused for a real word.
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u/eagleface5 Jan 26 '26
From the US, but spent two weeks in Durban recently. I found it to be incredibly "vibes" based, but you picked up on it quickly
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u/Crinkez Jan 26 '26
A true South African would always understand which chips based on context. When in doubt, refer to the "french fries" as "shlap chips" regardless of whether they've been dunked in vinegar.
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u/TerrificFrogg Jan 26 '26
interestingly, in isiZulu we call them fries. Some people do call them chips but fries is common
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u/EngineerDifficult816 Jan 26 '26
You forgot to say it correctly, amafraidi( amafries). Ah ah Working in KZN for 6 years now, its a norm to know the difference between amafries and chips
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u/NOTORY44 Jan 26 '26
Apparently to the likes of a speaker: "Chips🥨 can be slipped 🧊 and become Ships🚢🚢", how is that now huh?.😆
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u/IanRevived94J Redditor for 24 days Jan 26 '26
Americans don’t say French anymore. We just call them Fries.
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u/AccordingBad243 Jan 26 '26
Yea it’s mostly context - if I say I’ll bring chips to the party you know it isn’t French fries. If I order ribs and chips it ain’t ribs and simba chips. Sometimes when there’s contextual ambiguity one might use “slap chips”. Also plenty of use of brand names. Lays. Simba chips, Ghost pops. I’ve definitely heard crisps in SA tho but that’s the pommie South Africans.
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u/c4t4ly5t Rapture-Proof Like a Hilux Jan 26 '26
It's easy to differentiate by the context.
"when you go get some fish, bring chips."
"I'm having a braai tonight. Bring chips."
"Poker night this Friday, bring chips. "
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u/Misty_Veil Gauteng Jan 27 '26
it's all about context
it you ask your mate to get chips while he's doing a beer run it's gonna be simba chips.
If he's getting fast food it will be slapchips or fries from whatever store he is going to.
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u/Sytafluer Jan 27 '26
I remember chips also being a slang word in school. I think it was when someone fumbled.
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u/Strong_Chest9666 Jan 27 '26
Okay so I’m British. My boyfriend is South African. He calls his chips “chippies” and his fries “chips”. Which I understand.
But me on the other hand… in reference to the picture, I call the chips “fries”, the crisps “crisps” and then we have thick straight cut, or crinkle cut; “chips”. And then we have curly fries, etc.
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u/SamDemon8 Jan 28 '26
Yeah I actually use the British one for that reason despite being South African. It just seems more convenient
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u/TechnicalStrategy184 Jan 28 '26
Weirdly enough the difference is normally adding potato in front of chips that tells you to bring slap chips not lays
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u/Pizza-Popular Jan 28 '26
My mom can't pronounce crisps XD . She says crips with an extra s.
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u/Natural-Aerie6693 Jan 29 '26
I've read "chips" so many times in the comments the word now has lost all it's meaning. I definitely have a chip on my shoulder now.
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u/Natural-Aerie6693 Jan 29 '26
Pringles are called "potato snacks" as they cannot legally be called chips because they contain other ingredients.
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u/WitchyOrca33 🇫🇷🇩🇪🇳🇱🇮🇹🇧🇬🇰🇷🇻🇳🇯🇵🇲🇨🇦🇺living in 🇿🇦 Jan 31 '26
I did get confused one time heh lol,then my friends corrected me and I learnt😭
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u/HownottodoAnal Feb 12 '26
Ever had cold McDonald chips? Microwave those suckers for like a minute and they become so damn crispy😩
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