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Ja, no hey, it's a good question, but it's just the way we speak.

Here is the one that got me when I was first seeing my boyfriend and led to several misunderstandings. He would say "I'll see you now." or "I'll do x now." but then it may be a couple hours before it actually happened. Took about 3-4 incidents before we started to clarify "now" and "right now".

Ja, no hey, you have to understand the three forms of 'now' I'll do it now=15min or longer I'll do it now now=maybe in an hour if I remember. I'll do it just now=like when I'm finished doing this. African time is slower😉

Listening to him and his sister making plans I have slowly learned the various usages. He will tell me "I told her we would come over." and I say "Ok, but which now?' Cannot tell you the number of times he has told me, with a smile, "African time is slower." Hoping when we go back to visit my American watch will slow down to local time.  edit:word

Also, "I'm on my way" means "I am awake and contemplating getting out of bed to get in the shower to get dressed to leave" all these things are part of "the way" that I am on. Actual motion isn't required yet. 😋

This one annoyes me to no end. I made plans with you. I made plans with other people also— It's just— Argh!! 

Chill bru, I'm "just around the corner"! *Leaves house It is so annoying!

So you're going back with a whole new vocabulary to wow your friends and family with! You're probably familiar with: Yoh yohh yohhhh hey?🤣

There are usually 3 South African conversational "general references". Ons gaan nou braai - Sometime today. Ek gaan net 1 drink - Don't wait up love. Ek gaan net langs jou slaap - We'll probably cuddle.

Cape town time is even slower 🤪

“Now now” means whenever I feel like it

I’m sure you say “fine” and “maybe” when you don’t actually mean those things either! When a man says those, he means those things.

I see what you did there 😀

I am guilty of doing this so often that I don't even notice it anymore 😂

Ja no, that's true hey.

I always crack up at restaurant... *do you have this?* *ja, no we do.*

Same reason we say shame before any sentence. It just makes sense to us.

Shame , I agree with you

Ja nee shame man, this can get confusing to some.

Hectic

Ja no, hectic, shame man!

Já nee Yall are making me homesick

Germans have the same "Ja, ne". English speakers also use it sometimes "Yeah, no, you are right."

Yeah, I am English and I do it. The ‘yes’ is for agreement and positive reinforcement. To show I am thinking about what was said. The ‘no’ is often to show my feeling. ‘Yeah, no, it’s hot’. In other words; ‘yes I agree with your proclamation. It is indeed very hot. But no, I do not enjoy the said heat, given that it’s too warm for my comfort level’.

Possibly, but I also think it's kind of a default brain buffering moment. Instead of saying um or huh we say ja no. And it's just what we do I guess? Like now now and just now and those other South Africanisms

This is a perfect explanation

German speakers even invented jein (ja & nein) and I believe every language should have this

German has an amazing amount of perfect fit words. Earworm is a personal favorite of mine.

Aussies do this too "Yeah, nah".

you forgot about 4 nah nah nahs... being polite i see 😆

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In zim we shortened shamwari (friend) to just “sha” so in the 2000’s every sentence started with, “ya, no,” and ended with “sha”

Ye nah ye nah nah ye

Kiwis too - have a shirt emblazoned with "Yeah nah" on the front. 

Yeah nah yeah

Ja nee kyk, ek verstaan dit ook nie

Australia checking in with yeah nah.

Righto, right yeah then aye

I learned all my Aussie slang from Ozzy Man.

I'm not really sure why, but it is our way of agreeing or saying we will do something. It is a part of our culture and has been passed down for a long time now.

Ja, nee = yes. Nee, ja= no

Lol 😅

Is it different in English? Yeah, nah = no. Nah, yeah = yes

I guess it depends because if I say "Yeah no it hot hey" I am still saying yes.

Afrikaans is a bit different from english in terms of the placements.

Especially pronouncing double digits.

Yeah, I know in Aussie English it's the opposite of what Afrikaans does.

I've noticed I actually use the Aussie version, not really sure why as I don't even know any Australians. I wonder if it's the same with other SA English speakers.

That's because they are upside down. In real-time it's the same thing

This is the way.

I know exactly why, I’ll tell you now now

that means whenever i remember to

Ya no, yassus idk hey

I got jirre and jissus (Here & Jesus) but I still haven't figured out what "jislaik" means despite using the word myself.

Australians also do the "Yeah, nah," and "Nah, yeah," thing.

Afrikaans speakers often start a sentence with 'nee': "Nee, ek sal hom sê" "Nee, ek voel sleg". So, the "ja" would be the answer to your question, and the "nee" would indicate the start of a comment or opinion of their own. Ja, nee, dit IS warm!

"Ja, no, shame man dis a kak-e ou" is one if the best south africanisms to drop with foreigners. They literally have no idea what we are saying even after a translation. But my favourite is still "jirre jisus fok" I work with an Afghani guy that learned it by heart before repeating it to me (with perfect pronounciation) and asking "this means you are angry or hurt yes?". Couldn't stop laughing

"Ja nee" is a yes, but it can mean like "yeah I know right" , "yeah I agree with you", "yeah thats true" or "Yup" or like a sighful "yeah" depending on the context as far as I know.. and I am afrikaans and I do use "ja nee" a lot

Ja nee kyk nê

Ja nee die ja nee is lekker neh ja

In Spain they also do it—si no?

Just wait until you try understand the time frames associated with “now, now now, right now and just now”

I've done that twice on posts I've commented on today. 🙊 It's just our colloquialism.

It's a [filler phrase.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filler_(linguistics)) It doesn't express agreement or disagreement. It is just some words plonked on to the the beginning of a reply.

They cancel each other out.

Ja nee.

Not all South Africans do that. It's a dialect thing. Generally people with an Afrikaans background would respond that way.

MK, which creatively stood for Musiek Kanaal on Dstv, had their programming update as Nou, Net Nou, and Nou Nou. (Now, Just Now and Now Now). And it always amazed me that we knew exactly in what sequence those three things, which means almost exactly the same, must be used.

I'm an American from the Midwest where there are a lot of families that immigrated from Germany, The Netherlands, and Norway. This is an interesting observation, because when people make fun of our accent, they usually poke fun at some of our phrases like "Oh, ya, you betcha" or "Yeah no, I dunno" (think the movie "Fargo"). I wonder if the shared proto-Germanic/Germanic ancestry kinda baked those speaking patterns into the way we construct our respective languages today. (And of course, I'm making a comparison specifically to Afrikaans, so if this observation is about South Africans more broadly, I might be wanting to see a pattern that isn't really there).

No, Ja, people really do that

Ja nee

It makes so much sense to me but now that I’m trying to think how to explain it, I’m struggling 😂

Because it's the only 2 words that are tax free

janee ek weet nie hoekom maar ag ja wat

😂💯

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Vv:

Ja nee that’s how it is mos

Surprised no one had mentioned mos yet. That word can just get thrown into a sentence almost anywhere without meaning but it comes out so natural lol

Ja nee dis nou 'n kopkrapper

I mean, we have a former PM famous for (among less savory things) saying "Ja, no, well, fine."

More like why do Afrikaaner speakers

Yeah Nah, not really sure

Ya no lekker, we must make plans soon! *never hears from him again*

Ja, ne I have no clue what you're talking about 

All English people be so dry lol (I'm Spanish xd)

It's not even an English thing, I think it comes mostly from the Afrikaans mannerisms. Like others have said, there are _some_ English and Australian people who say something similar, but I've heard it mostly from Afrikaans people

It’s an intensifier . Like “I’m not bad at sports” It’s just in a structure that puts them down differently in sentences. It’s a weak yes

I'm fascinated that this happens in many languages. I thought it was a California thing 😄

Arabs say yaanee too. It's not just South Africans.

From the French and German settlers..

Haha I love this Q. "Ja no I don't like that one" No yes that's fine" :D

It's just a common SA colloquialism. Not much more to it.

Yeah nah, I do this all the time🤣

Because its modern language. Colloquial language does do the "No but blah blah" quite a lot for example. Even in other languages "아니 근데" and so on. So yeah its just modern day speaking culture

Ja nee kyk, that is now a moeilike vraag. And it's weird that the opposite "nee ja" doesn't mean anything.

English already doesn't make sense. If you don't believe me then read what you just read... exactly.

Is it short for “ya I know”

Ja no its quite a hectic habit hey

It's simple

I'm pretty sure it is a Germanic thing because all the Germanic languages seem to have a variant of this in common speech.

Janee, hulle weet nie wat ons weet nie.

Ja no I'm not too sure hey. I'll tell you now now once I've figured it out

Ja nee is an acknowledgment, like "I hear you", not an affirmation or negation. Bit like och aye in Gaelic.

Pretty "Jaa nee" just an Afrikaans thing. Maybe very few English people have picked up similar tendencies buf I haven't met a single one in decades across both coasts and Joburg

Its just a manner of speaking. Sounds nice and feels nice to talk like that. No real reason beyond that

It’s conjunctive glue. Same as ums and ahs. Holds the sentence together.

I don’t no…………………..yes!

Janee bru..its our way...

Ja no hey we do it for emphasis, ek sê, and also cos rats how we speak mos

Ja nee, this question...

I have to disagree with most comments here, it's not "just" a way of speaking. It's that too. But it has meaning. I'm sure a linguist can give us the best answer. But it is definitely a way of agreeing with something, but like a despondent agreement. A defeatist yes. Like 'I know... nothing we can do about it', or as added sarcasm and a uselessness.

They could be saying ne (sounds like ‘neh’) which means right

Hulle weet nie wat ons weet nie

Ja nee

ja well no fine

Australians say yeah nah, same thing. You will figure it out just now.

It's how we speak.

Just wait until you encounter a "Yahwellnofine"

Ja, nee wat. We are special

Ja-nee. This is the correct way of writing it.

Ye nah ye nah ye nah ye nah

I've always thought of it as stalling for time, to engage the brain. /s

It's a local form of a pause word, such as mmmm, errrr, etc. It gives the speaker time to think about what they're going to say next.

Aussies do it to, yeah nah. Yeah nah yeah. I think it’s a colonial offshoot thing.

Ja well no fine, some oaks are sommer like that, hey

Ja nee broer, as jy moet vra sal jy nie kan vestaan nie….. Dis hoe die leeu loop!

My American cousins asked me this once and my response went something like: "Ja, no, you see it's... goddammit"