billion - as in the UK this officially means a million million. Nowadays the American usage (one billion is one thousand million) is almost exclusively used.
biscuit - same as tea biscuit
bonnet - hood of a car
brinjal - eggplant (from Portuguese berinjela, also used in Indian English) Known as biriganya in Kiswahili.
bundu – (slang) a wilderness region, remote from cities . Same as in South Africa.
call - when someone says that they will "call" this typically means that they will make a telephonic call, not visit in person, phone and (less commonly) ring are also used.
candy floss - as in Britain this is used for cotton candy
chang’aa – cheap and illegal alcohol with an extremely high alcohol content. It is made from various ingredients which can include methanol, antifreeze, and has been known to cause blindness and death.
chang’aa den - illegal drinking establishment.
chemist - besides meaning a scientist specializing in chemistry the term is also used for a pharmacist and for a drugstore (short for chemist shop in the latter case)
chips - used for french fries
chop – intelligent person (probably outdated)
costume - besides meaning attire worn to a dress-up party/play it also refers to a bathing suit (short for "swimming costume" or "bathing costume"), sometime abbreviated cossie
crisps - potato crisps are what Americans refer to as chips.
globe - as formerly used in Britain, a light bulb.
housegirl(boy) or maid – domestic worker, usually female.
jam - a fruit preserve spread whether containing pieces of fruit or not, never called a jelly in South Africa similar to use in UK
jelly - when referring to food this always means what in American English is called 'jello', ie. a flavoured gelatine dessert never a fruit preserve spread
Parking boy - homeless boys found mostly in the cities. Also abbreviated to ‘parkies’ or chokora – coming from the Kiswahili phrase ‘chokora mapipa’ (scavenges in the rubbish bins). There a many girls found within these groups today hence chokora is more commonly used.
pound – in addition to it’s other uses, in Kenya slang for 20 shillings
samosa – Indian meat samosa, it is rare to find a vegetarian samosa Kenya
shamba boy - a male gardener (of any age). Another vestige of colonialism. The Kiswahili name : ‘mfanyi kazi’ i.e. ‘worker’ is more respectful.
shilling - currency, divided in to 100 cents.
shop - as a noun the same as American store
skive/ skiving - (slang) playing hooky, skipping school/class
spit - as a verb this is only used for the present tense unlike in America where it is also used for the past tense. The form spat is used for the past tense.
standard - besides other meanings referred to a school grade for primary school children. Currently there are Standards 1-8.
sweets - confectionery, candy (singular sweet used for an item of confectionery)
tea room, tearoom - has the same meaning as 'cafe', a corner shop or convenience store
thorn – (slang) ugly person (i.e. thorn in my eye) also thwack (probably outdated)
ugali - the staple food of Kenya made from maize meal. It is somewhat similar to American grits, and is known as pap in South Africa
up-country – refers to the rural areas from where most people have their homes. This is usually where their families are originally from and where their parents/grandparents still reside.
