His work has appeared in Black Fox, Misfit Magazine, Green Briar, Quiddity, The Daily Drunk, and elsewhere. His passions are reading, writing both poetry and prose, movies of all kinds, and travel. Jambo Bwana was originally a Kenyan song released in 1982 by Them Mushrooms. Gene Goldfarb lives in Manhattan, a recent transplant from Long Island. Or decided to use lower context language with his homies before leaving for a long vacation.Įxperienced Writer: “Ungawa! Which also means you learn fast.” Newbie: So, as a writer I’d make sure that Tarzan never took a vacation without Jane, and watched his tone when he got back. And then when she got home to the treehouse and said, “Ungawa” to the elephant who took it to mean, “Elevate me,” but might try to satisfy her request in the wrong way, or said, “Ungawa” to the monkey up in the tree house who took it to mean “Friend,” but induced him to take liberties with Jane?Įxperienced Writer: Yeah, I see what you mean. Krystaal Music - Wastahili Wewe Bwana Wastahili Wewe Bwana Lyrics. Newbie: But what if all these people and animals got confused when Tarzan was away for a while? And Jane said, “Ungawa” to the native chief without smiling, who took it to mean “Hey monkey, get me a banana,” who’d be more than a little insulted. Then if Tarzan sits down at the table there all worn out, he may look at his chimp, and say, “Ungawa,” which would mean, “Hey monkey, get me a banana.” And the chimp would oblige. It obviously means “friend.” If he then goes home to his treehouse, gets hold of the rope on the ground and says to his elephant “Ungawa” it means “Elevate me,” so the elephant obliges him, pulls the rope and gets him up to his treehouse. It is taught to Swahili learners and sung by Kenyans to welcome tourists. It goes like this, Tarzan meets a native chief in the jungle, holds up his hand and says, “Ungawa.” The chief holds up his hand and answers, “Ungawa” and both smile. Let’s start with a quote: A 1982 pop hit, Jambo Bwana is the most recognizable Kenyan song outside the country. What you’re left with is called high context language.Įxperienced Writer: It means everyone involved is from the same neighborhood and knows what you mean from the surroundings, with no need to spell everything out. I still don’t understand.Įxperienced Writer: Because in Hollywood, you don’t have much time as a writer to invent a language with different words for different things. So Ungawa can mean different things even though it’s the same word. How come?Įxperienced Writer: That’s because he’s speaking Hollywood Jungle Language. Newbie: In those old films you watch, Tarzan says, “Ungawa” a lot. respectful or reverential form of address in East Africa, 1875, from Swahili.
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