Hhayi bo (haibo)
It is not Xhosa but Zulu phrase meaning to disapprove an act. It goes together with phrases like, kahle no, musa bo, woza bo, mana no, etc
Hhayi bo wnzani?
Rha
Rha
Pronounced (ggggaaah); is a Khoikhoi word for “plenty” or “enough”. Used in Xhosa as a term for “That’s enough”often in anger and sometimes in disgust hence mistaken for “ew”.
In Khoikhoi: There is a river in the Eastern Cape called Birha. Bi is milk, and rha is plenty. Hence “a place of milk”. Another use is in the Xhosa chief Gambushe’s nickname: Rharhabe meaning “Minister of Plenty”.
In Xhosa it varies:
In a Dismissal Manner
Someone: I’m going to out race you.
Me: Rha! That would be the day.
To stop a child who is hitting another child a parent could say “Stop it. Rha! That’s enough”
In a Disgusting Manner
When a child see poop usually they used to say “Rha! Poo”
When people hear, smells, or see a disgusting thing they can say “Rha!”
In an Elated Manner
A person recounting an exciting moment of thriumph can say “Rha! I out did myself”
Feeling pretty? “Rha! I’m beautiful”
Ikati ilele eziko
This is a Xhosa figure of speech that describes hunger or poverty. It directly translate to "a cat is sleeping in the fire (cooking) place (or stove if you may say)". So the cat is sleeping where people are supposed to be cooking because there's no fire and no food to cook.
Grandma had to send the kids back to their mothers because ikati ilele eziko.