Oh please god let it be Ghana

June 22, 2010 4:26 PM

Akan, Dagaare/Wale, Dagbane, Dangme, Ewe, Ga, Gonja, Kasem, Nzema filter:

does anybody know how to say "Go Ghana!"/any other football phrases in one of the Ghanaian languages apart from English?

posted by runincircles to Writing & Language (4 answers total)

Best answer: Short answer:
If you're not a singer or a dancer, just say "Osee, osee, Black Stars ei, forward ever!"

Long answer:
I harassed my dad (native Ga speaker) at a medical conference for a response:
"We don't actually say anything like 'Go Ghana'. We usually sing songs to support the Black Stars. There is a semi-official song, and a lot of modern songs to cheer the team on. Let me get back to my hotel room and send you some MP3s."

He e-mailed me a MP3 (in Twi) and a link to a music video. I'm a little gobsmacked that my 60-something-year-old dad listens to hiplife, but I guess it's for the Black Stars, so that makes it okay!

I'm still waiting for a response from my mom (native Ewe speaker). She is usually more helpful.

(I was born and raised here in the U.S. with only English as my native language. All I personally have to offer is this webpage found through Google searching.)
posted by marteki at 7:49 PM on June 22, 2010 [1 favorite]

Best answer: My mom:
"Oh, um... well... you can say 'Ghana mi du dzi!', which means 'Ghanaians, win!'"

That's Ewe, and it's pronounced: Ghana, mi doo jee!

(She also started singing several songs at me, one of which was "Osee, osee, Black Stars ei...".)
posted by marteki at 8:25 PM on June 22, 2010 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: BRILLIANT, thank you marteki and family!
posted by runincircles at 10:42 PM on June 22, 2010

What marteki said!!!
posted by ramix at 3:39 PM on June 2, 2011