Tsotsitaals are a variety of
mixed languages mainly spoken in the townships of
Gauteng province, such as Soweto, but also in other agglomerations all over
South Africa.
Tsotsi is a Sesotho slang word for a "thug" or "robber" (possibly from the verb "ho tsotsa" "to sharpen" — whose meaning has been modified in modern times to include "to
con"; or from the
tsetse fly, as the language was first known as Flytaal, although "flaai" also means
cool or
street smart) and
taal is the Afrikaans word for "language".
