The Mauritius dictionary letter by letter: F is for…

The Mauritius dictionary letter by letter: F is for…

 

F*****mama – One of the most common linguistic marvels heard in Mauritius, and anywhere else in the world where Mauritians are present

Falooda – See Alouda

Farley’s Rusk – Biscuit-type of food aimed primarily at babies but that were eaten by everybody. Tastier than anything ever consumed but that cannot be seen nowadays for some unknown reason

Farquhar, Sir Robert – First English Governor of Mauritius after they recapture the island from the French in 1810; played an important role towards the abolition of slavery and their replacement by paid workers from abroad

Fass – Common expression used mainly by kids to declare they are not talking to someone; Opposite said to be Dos.  See also, Dos

Fenouss – Basically, milk that has gone bad. The ironic issue is that when milk goes bad by itself, it is thrown away but when we make it bad purposefully ourselves by adding some [ascorbic] acid to it, then we eat it

Fer lere – Literally translates as ‘make time’. In Creole, this is usually used to describe a situation when someone is delaying, e.g. “li p fair lere”

Fermal, Mo XXX pe – Common excuse heard from schoolchildren who do not want to go to school. Replace XXX by anything, e.g. head, belly, hair, schoolbag etc.; also a common excuse heard among the adult population who do not want to go to work

Ferme ar moi – Translates as “shut up with me”.  Usually used in a heated argument when one person wants the other to shut up.

Ferney – Historical valley in Mauritius; Also a nature reserve that houses what is probably the last standing indigenous forest in Mauritius

F*sse – Another common flowery expression shared between Mauritians; Widely use due to its easy, monosyllabic, hence easier pronunciation; Said to be theroretically less offensive than F*****mama, but more than makes up in quantity what it lacks in quality

Fezer – Usually used to describe someone as being arrogant or showing off

Filao – Evergreen tree that arbour the white beaches of Mauritius, spiky seed pods of which are the scourge of those who walk barefoot under filao trees

Fire Brigade – Legendary football team during the days when ‘football used to be communal’

Fire fire – Used to describe something exciting, e.g. ‘ene match fire fire pe deroule la’

Firinga – A cyclone in the recent few years that caused so much damage that it even managed to have houses named after it, See Firinga, Maison Type

Firinga, Maison Type – Small houses that were built for those who had lost their houses to the cyclone Firinga, but that kept on being built for people who had not lost any house to any cyclone

Fit – In the context of “pa fair fit”, i.e don’t let me down.

Fité – Usually means sharp but can be used in a more personal scenario when describing a bitter person, “so la langue bien fité” (his/her tongue is sharp)

Flacq – One of the large districts on the East coast of Mauritius. Also includes villages with the same name, e.g. “Centre De Flacq” and “Poste de Flacq”

Flic-en-Flac – Arguably the most popular beach for people who live in the centre of Mauritius

Flying Dodos – A pub at Bagatelle that  is probably the only place in Mauritius where they brew their own beer; closely resembles )in decor) the biergartens that Moricienneries™ used to visit while in Germany

Fokaire – Creole version of the very similarly sounding English term

Fond du Sac – Village in Mauritius; pronounced by many as Fan Di Sac

Ford – American car brand; Commonly seen on very, very, very old lorries

Fran Fran tou – See Fran tou

Fran tou – Local linguistic expression used to emphasise a point, or to express surprise, or anger, or basically anything. It fits anywhere

François – Language spoken by show-offs who like to pretend to be sophisticated by speaking what they [wrongly] believe is French; also the name of a tremendously brilliant friend of Moricienneries™.  Cheers mate!

Frank Frank all – Moritienglish/Moritianglais (Anglicised Creole) version of Fran Fran tou; See also Fran tou

Fraternels, Les Verts – A Political Party, even though the name sounds more like that of a ‘secret club’ created by a group of kids than anything

Fres – Popular (read cheap) mint drops with smokers; used to be available everywhere from stands in the bus station and supermarkets to forgotten deep inside pant pockets only to be discovered right before, or after, washing

Frico – Some brand of milk

Frigidaire – An electronics brand; So good that it replaced the term refrigerator for many a Mauritian long ago

 

 

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