jawellnofine

English

Interjection

jawellnofine

1. (South Africa) Alternative form of ja well no fine
   • 2010, Jerusha Sukhdeo, The jawellnofine book that is the epitome of everything South African‎^[1]:

     Need to say “whatever”? ‘Jawellnofine’ is offered as the perfectly legitimate South African alternative.

   • 2011, Guy Lodge, THE LONG SHOT: Jawellnofine‎^[2]:

     ...it could just be that I’m in a commemorative mood, but the endlessly useful South African idiom “jawellnofine” has been on my mind rather a lot this week. It’s a versatile Frankenstein term that, like a more finely calibrated “whatever,” can express everything from dispassionate approval to passive-aggressive indifference to reluctant acceptance — or any combination of these at once.

   • 2019, R.J.B. Wilson, Dictionary of South African English‎^[3]:

     ...coined in 1978 by R.J.B. Wilson of the SABC (‘My youngest brother was in the habit of saying “no fine” to everything that really required a “c’est la vie” or “that’s the way the cookie crumbles”. It had a nice South African feel to it. I added “Ja, well...” to it to reinforce the South Africanism when I was looking for a title for my radio series “Jarwellknowfine” (my original spelling)’)], an expression equivalent to ‘all right’, ‘c’est la vie’, ‘that’s life’: used to indicate a non-committal, resigned, or ironical response, or parodying South African English speech.