could someone please enlighten me.is the African term for cape buffalo duggaboy or daggaboy? it was my understanding that dagga was the slang term for marijuana and the word dugga was a tribal word for mud(as in mud boy, referring to mud on a buff). if i am correct, then some posts here are a bit confusing.

Its simply an issue of spelling that getting you.

Dagga = slang for pot (the gg is not pronounced phonetically but more like you are trying to spit someting up)

Daka (uDaka) = mud in Zulu (the k's are pronounced like g's)

This word I am assuming is the same in other regional Nguni based indigenous languages like Swazi, Xhosa and Ndebele.

In some others the pronunciation is the same but there may be nuances in the spelling in other languages. perhaps the shona, swahilli etc speakers can weigh in?

So you are right on both accounts, just the work 'dugga' is spelled differently and used interchangably.

Cheers

Go with Nyati, it simplifies your life, or does it!!

Ray:

Nyati was the word I learned in the Chirisa District of Zimbabwe years ago. I always assumed it was a Shona word. Other words I learned were mzou,mbadr,shumba, which I always assumed were Shona words (but, of course, I stand ready to be corrected)

Don't forget "mbogo".

Dave

The term in question is derived from two Bantu based languages, Zulu and Xhosa, and in particular from the word "mdaka" - which is a word shared by both of these languages. This word means "muddy" or "muddy colored."

The word is pronounced "dugga," or so I have been told, as I am no linguist.

"Dagga," on the other hand, means marijuana.

Trackers I have hunted with, who have mostly been Maasai, have never said "mbogo" when referring to cape buffalo. They have always called them "nyati."

Dagga Boy or Dugga Boy?

Or Nyama, along with everything else on 4 legs...