kali (KA-lee)

In Swahili, the adjective kali can mean many things: 

jua kali - hot sun

mwalimu kali - strict teacher

kisu kali - sharp knife

mbwa kali - fierce dog

vitunguu kali - sharply favored onions

So in very general terms, kali is used to convey the idea that something or someone is intense or potent.

We see this pattern popping up again and again; nzuri generally means “good”, but also “pretty”, “nice”, “well”, “better” and so on.  This ‘one-word-fits-all’ approach makes life easier for language learners like us--when in doubt, use a word that might be remotely related to what you want, and it just might work! But it seems to have some frustrating implications for Duncan and his fellow doctors who rely on precise language to do their jobs. 

“Malaria” is used indiscriminately by just about everyone to explain just about ANY set of symptoms they may have.  A person who comes to the hospital claiming to have malaria, may truly have malaria but then again, maybe not. A parent might bring their child into a clinic "for malaria" and sometimes this is the case, but in Duncan's experience, it's more often than not a different condition entirely.                                                        


The rampant use of the word malaria without precision can lead to dangerous consequences; it's hard to convince even trained doctors and nurses NOT to immediately treat every patient who says they have malaria for malaria. We do wonder how much of this is related to patterns in the language of Swahili.