The Many Meanings of the Word "Now" and other insights into South African Culture:

If I were to ask you what the meaning of the word "now" was, you would look at me like I was crazy.  Now means now.  As in right now, in the present moment, or currently.  At least, that's what I thought now meant!  That word has taken on a whole new meaning here in South Africa, and I think it's pretty interesting.  You see, "now" doesn't mean what you and I think it means.  It is most often used to mean something like "later" or "in a bit."  For example; I was in the kitchen today, and Brendan, a South African man who works in the office, was talking on the phone.  He said "Yeah, I'll be there now."  What's wrong with that statement?  Well, in American English, you can't be somewhere now if you're speaking in the future tense.  It just wouldn't make sense.  I was at the hospital the other day, and I called to tell them that the baby and I were finished, and were ready to be fetched.  (side note; you don't get "rides" places here.  You get a lift to somewhere, or you get fetched from somewhere, but if you ask for a ride, you get a funny look.)  Vivienne, another South African woman who works in the office, said to me "I'm there now to get you."  My small American self couldn't figure out what she meant!  Was she already outside waiting for me?  If so, why?  I pondered for a bit, and finally realized that what she had meant was "I'm coming to get you" or something like that.  Are you confused yet?  Yeah, me too, but it gets better.  Because the word "now" has lost its meaning, what word do you use when something needs to be done "now" as in "at this very moment?"  Well, in that case you would say "now now."  Yes, if you say the word twice, then it means what we Americans understand it to mean, more or less.  For example, Viv would say "Amanda, that baby needs to be fed now-now," and she would mean that I should feed the baby.  Got that down?  There's still more.  There's a particularly South African phrase that drives me crazy.  You might have guessed that it involves the word "now."  This phrase is "just now," and is technically supposed to mean "right now" or "getting right on it" or "soon."  What it means in real life is "when I get around to it, and there are no guarantees that I'll get around to it anytime in the near future"  As in " the builder says that he will fix the leaks in the roof of your cottage just now."  I've been told that I shouldn't hope for anything sooner than December.  As you can guess from the evolution of the word "now", no one around here is in much of a hurry to do anything.  It's so different from home, where everyone rushes around with to-do lists and 87 things on their mind at any one time.  Things are slower here, which is both nice and frustrating.  It's frustrating to feel that things just don't get done.  It feels inefficient much of the time.  But the people seem so much more relaxed, and like they take time to enjoy things a bit more.  This is something that I enjoy much of the time, but it takes some getting used to!  So there's my insight into South African culture.  I have no doubt that there will be more to come!