The Luo community falls among the most popular African tribes internationally. This is thanks to its rich culture, and a good supply of internationally recognized figures, especially in the political, sporting and art fields.
However, though most Luos originate in Kenya, since they are spread across Africa, most Kenyans still miss out on some details about them, especially their language.
Here are some of the nationally used Luo words, that are however wrongly used;
1. Yawa
Yawa is one of the Luo words that have been nationally embraced but is on most occasions misused by outsiders while trying to mimic or appear like a Luo.
Consequently, they use it simply to bring out the Luo nature in whatever they are saying, on most occasions on a light note, not knowing that the word is largely a regretting word.
It directly translates to 'Jamani' in Swahili and is mostly used by members of the great community to express dislike for something, regret or pity and not for fun.
2. Omera
Omera is normally used by members of other communities to catch the attention of a member of the Luo community.
However, it has a deeper original meaning, and is the word for a blood brother in Luo, and should be handled with care and not be used anyhow. A sister is therefore referred to as 'Nyamera'.
3. Jaluo
It is worth noting that this is the most used Luo word, most users not knowing that this word is not a Swahili word but purely a Luo tag.
When you say the word Jaluo, you are simply speaking the Luo language.
Many confuse it for the Luo tag and use it for all members of the Luo community, not knowing that 'Jaluo' should only be used for male members of the community. It translates to 'man from Luo land'.
A good example to cushion this would be 'Jalang'o, a name for a man hailing from Lang'o (Kalenjin land), translating to a Kalenjin man.
A female Luo is referred to as 'Nyaluo'. Therefore, the best Swahili or English word for these people is Luo and not Jaluo.
#hivisasaoriginal