dawa ya mboga
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Swahili[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Literally, “vegetable medicine”.
Noun[edit]
dawa ya mboga (n class, no plural)
- salt
- Synonyms: chumvi, dawa ya jiko
Usage notes[edit]
In some cultures, such as the Nubians, it's considered taboo to ask for salt directly at night, so a less direct phrase is used instead.[1]
References[edit]
- ^ Luffin, Xavier (2002 September) “Language Taboos In Kinubi: A Comparison With Sudanese And Swahili Cultures”, in Africa: Rivista trimestrale di studi e documentazione dell'Istituto italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente[1], volume 57, number 3, page 358 of 356-367: “Another possibility is the use of Kiswahili language: dawa ya mboga, literally, mboga's medicine (mboga is any vegetable used as a relish for eating with rice (Johnson, 1939, 269), it can be understood here merely as "food, meal").”