kemboi
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Swahili[edit]
Etymology[edit]
After Ezekiel Kemboi, a Kenyan runner.[1] Despite Kemboi being a runner, the word is not used for run but to run away from a bad situation.
Verb[edit]
-kemboi (infinitive kukemboi)
- (Sheng) to run away, flee, escape (from an employer or a bad situation)
- 2023 October 23, Irene Kinja, “My Boss Kids Used To Insult Me And Beat Me Up, Pritty Vishi's Mom Says”, in Waza News[1] (in English):
- Pritty Vishi's mother shared a heartbreaking account of the severe mistreatment she endured from her employer in Saudi Arabia for over a year before she made the courageous decision to escape which they call "Kukemboi".
- 2023 February 27, Audrey Travère, “Who are the ‘dalalas’? The middlemen preying on trapped domestic staff in Saudi Arabia”, in The Observers[2] (in English):
- Kemboi can also be used as a verb, meaning to flee one’s employer.
Noun[edit]
kemboi (ma class, plural makemboi)
- (Sheng) a domestic worker who left their employer and who is now undocumented
- 2023 February 27, Audrey Travère, “Who are the ‘dalalas’? The middlemen preying on trapped domestic staff in Saudi Arabia”, in The Observers[3] (in English):
- In Kenya, women like them are known as “kembois,” domestic workers who have left their legal employers in the Gulf States and are now undocumented.
- 2022 April 8, Grace Kerongo, “From Waiguru to Kemboi: Popular slang used by Kenyans in Gulf”, in Mpasho[4] (in English):
- Kemboi - these are Kenyans who decide to run away from their place of employment and break the contract and seek out employment without the agency.
- (Sheng, by extension) a person who ran away from a bad situation
Usage notes[edit]
The term is particularly used for Kenyan workers escaping bad working conditions or treatment in the Gulf region but it can be used more generally to run away from a bad situation.
The word is not used for running in general.
References[edit]
- ^ Audrey Travère (2023 February 27) “Who are the ‘dalalas’? The middlemen preying on trapped domestic staff in Saudi Arabia”, in The Observers (in English): “The nickname comes from Kenyan runner Ezekiel Kemboi, winner of the 3000-metre steeplechase at four World Championships and two Olympics.”