kif, adjective
- Forms:
- Also kief, kiff.
- Origin:
- English, ArabicShow more Transferred use of English underworld slang kef, kif cannabis, from (in Morocco and Algeria) kief, keef cannabis or any other substance smoked to produce a state of well-being, from Arabic kaif (colloquial kef) good humour, pleasure, well-being.
slang
- Note:
- The similarity in sound between kief and Afrikaans gif (poison) perhaps led to the use of ‘poison’ as an adjective expressing approval; see quotation 1978 (where Afrikaans gif is suggested as the source of kif), and cf. Durban poison (see Durban).
Especially among schoolchildren: good, nice, fine; ‘cool’; great, fantastic. Also as interjection, ‘great’.
1978 L. Barnes in The 1820 Vol.51 No.12, 19One should not forget that Durban is the home of Durban poison, the best dagga (cannabis) in the southern hemisphere...And while on the subject of poison, it..appears in expressions like she’s a poison bokkie, or in its translated and further transliterated forms gif and kif — she’s a kif chick. That means..she’s an attractive girl.
1993 C. Tilney in Rustenburg Girls’ High School Mag.She called him over and they had this kiff rap and they both put in some major spadework.
Especially among schoolchildren: good, nice, fine; ‘cool’; great, fantastic. Also as interjection, ‘great’.
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