Long before emojis and voice notes became the standard for communication, South Africans had their own vivid and animated ways of expressing themselves. And if you grew up back in the day, chances are you tuned your mates, popped a wheelie, and thought anything remotely cool was just “kiff, my bru!”

On HOT 1027’s Just Plain Drive, we took a nostalgic trip down memory lane, revisiting some of the quirky, colourful slang that defined a generation. There was a time when everything and everyone got tuned – from your car to your buddies. “I tuned my binnit I want to go my pozi to doss” might sound confusing to today’s teens, but to many Joburgers, that phrase once made perfect sense.

Back then, tjol was the go-to word for absolute nonsense – often delivered with an eye-roll and an “ag tjol, man!” If you had a lekker hairstyle, people would admire your kuif. And of course, showing off on your BMX by lifting your front wheel? That was popping a wheelie, and it earned instant playground points.

The magic of these phrases isn’t just in the words themselves, but in the memories they evoke – late afternoon rides with your mates, that beat-up car you called a jammy, or crashing on a friend’s couch, aka your pozi, when you were meant to go home and doss.

These old-school slang terms are a joyful reminder that language doesn’t just communicate – it connects. And if you’re lucky, you’ll still hear a few of these gems on the streets today… or on the Just Drive Show 🙂