A week after UK podcasters James and F uhad caught flak on social media for describing local vernac as “gibberish” while discussing how South African X users interact online, the best friends have apologised for the gaffe.
During an episode of their show Shxts’n’Gigs podcast last week, the best friends poked fun at how local tweeps had been starting their comments in English before ending in vernac, making it impossible for them to understand what’s up.
“This was a South African thread innit? These man were spitting Swahili,” said Fuhad, before imploring South African tweeps to stick to English.
“Make it universal, I wanna enjoy too. Half English, half mouth noises. South Africans we love you and we know you love us. But make it easier for us… help us and vice versa.”
They then got themselves into hot water when they added that half of the stuff on the thread was “gibberish” and they couldn’t translate it.
Following the barrage of backlash in the comments, Fuhad explained his perspective before sharing a half-ass apology.
In one of the segments, when another South African thread popped up, Fuhad decided to address the elephant in the room. “Let’s clear the air, because this week (you guys) have been getting carried away.”
He went on to add that there was a “mishap” in the intended use of the word gibberish. “We use gibberish for everything,” he said in his attempt to defend himself.
He also went on to explain that they use the term gibberish for anything they can’t understand.
Fuhad added that he was so confused by the uproar that he had to Google what gibberish means.
The definition online, he said, read, unintelligible, meaningless and nonsense. “When I read it I was like right, apologies,” he said, arms raised in the air. “It’s wrong, apologies. My bad, my bad.”