bulijjo, edda n'edda lyonna, ennakuzonna, buli kaseera.
e- always plur. (ki/bi) roughness and skin irritation caused by shaving.
e- always plur. (ki/bi) bowlegs, with the -a of rel. bowlegged. Wa bitege. He is bowlegged. Gye twakyadde baatufumbiddeyo enkoko, ekyemisana ne kigenda bitege. They cooked chicken for us where we went to visit, and it turned out to be a wonderful meal.
e- always plur. (ki/bi) string of beads.
e- always plur. (ki/bi) tears in the eyes.
o- always plur. (bu/-) scraps of firewood, cf. oluku.
adj. & pron. each; every; all; everyone, buli kiseera, all the time, always, buli kimu, everything, buli kyonna, everything. buli wonna, everywhere, buli wantu, everywhere, na buli kati, even now, up to the present time, buli gye bagenda, everywhere or wherever they go. buli lwe bagenda, every time or whenever they go. buli ayagala okujja, everyone or anyone who wishes to come.
omuntu owa bulijjo, the common man, the man on the street, enkola eya bulijjo, the usual practice, the normal policy, mu ngeri eteri ya bulijjo, in an unusual way. cf. buli, jjo.
e- adv. long ago, in former times; (with a future verb) in the future, eddako. a short time ago; (with a future verb) later on, in a short time, afterwards, edda n'edda lyonna, always (only with the past). Edda n'edda lyonna wali oli ludda wa? Where were you all that time? Tulibiraba edda. We will see them in the distant future. Tunaagenda edda. We will be going later on (in the near future).
e- (li/ma) egg. amagi amasii ke, fried eggs, kukuba za ku magi, to be a coward, act in a cowardly way, lit. strike the hens (enkoko is implied by za) (who are sitting) on the eggs. Kiriba kya nsonyi bwe mulirya eggi. lit. It will be a shame if you eat the egg. This derives from the proverb okulya eggi okwesub.ya omuwula, to eat the egg and miss the meat. The implication is that if one allows an egg to develop into a chicken the gain will be greater. Bulijjo afuna magi mu kubala. He always gets zeros in arithmetic, cf. ekigi.
(la) lit. protruding structure, something huge/gigantic/sensational. kakundiiri w'olubuto, a huge stomach, kakundiiri w'ennyindo, an enormous nose. Eri embaga yabadde kakundiiri. That wedding reception was a magnificent event.
e- pej. augm. of liiso, eye. Kiiso kya mbuzi kirekera omussi ne kitunuulira omu- baazi. (prov.) The eye of the goat turns away from the one who is killing it and looks at the one who will skin it. Perhaps this means that we do not always realize who our real enemies are.
flow down, run down (usually, but not always of liquids); fig. pass (of time), okukulukuta kw'ettaka, erosion of the soil.
e- (ki/bi) act of arson /always of houses), cf. yokya, yokerera.
o- (lu/n) soft, mushy mixture (often, but not always, of food), cf. tabuka.
o- plur. empombo (lu/n) a young leaf of the banana plant which, after being softened by exposure to the sun, is used in cooking vegetable sauces. The sauce is inserted into about four layers of empombo and then steamed in the pot along with the main food dishes. Amagezi luwombo, bwe luyulika ng'osala olulala. (prov.) Wisdom is a luwombo; when it gets torn you can always cut another one. If one method fails, a wise person will adopt an alternative solution. oluwombo okulufumitamu akati, lit. to pierce a luwombo with a stick, i.e., throw cold water on someone's plans, ideas, etc. cf. ekiwombo.
a- always plur. (li/ma) the initial stages of an operation, the beginning. Gakyali mabaga. Things have only begun. We still have a great deal to do. cf. baga.
a- always plur. (li/ma) fat (particularly on the hips), okubinnla amabende, to put on weight.
a- always plur. (li/ma) amabo- neka g'omwezi, the new moon. cf. boneka (under bona).
a- always plur. (li/ma) burial garment, grave clothes, shroud; gift (usually of money) to the family of the deceased. cf. olubugo.
a- always plur. (li/ma) sides of the stomach; middle, center; middle of a container. Amazzi yataddemu ga mu mabutobuto. He only half filled it with water. cf. olubuto.
a- also amalalalala always plur. (li/ma) pride.
e- always plur. (mu/mi) the period of the reign of Kabaka Ssuuna.
e- always plur. (mu/mi) head of the bed, headboards of the bed. also as adv. akasomero akali emitwetwe wa Kampala, a small school which is north of Kampala, cf. omutwe.
e- (n/n) described in previous dictionaries as: sternum, sternal cartilage; pit of the stomach; internal bodily part. It is now used almost always in a figurative sense: heart, soul, seat of the emotions. It occurs in hundreds of phrases and expressions of which the following is a sampling: mu ngeri ya kawanika mmeeme, in a frightening way. kwekuba mmeeme, to reconsider, emmeeme n'enfa, and my heart sank/I was utterly distressed. Nze emmeeme yangwa wala. I became very depressed. Otukubye wala emmeeme. You have really given us a scare. Emmeeme yamudda mu nteeko. He felt relieved, lit. his heart went back in place, ow'emmeeme etawaana amangu, one who is easily nauseated. Emmeeme entye- muse. 1 am terribly anxious/concerned/ shocked. Kino kyali ng'ekyawanula emmeeme ye. This seemed to relieve him/ calm him down. Emmeeme katale, ky'esiima ky'egula. (prov.) The heart is like going to market — it buys what it wants. Emmeeme gy'esula, ebigere gye bikeera. fprov.J Where the heart sleeps is where the feet- go in the morning, i.e., when you sleep with the intention of doing something, that is what you do. Emmeeme etefumba kigambo ekwo- geza munno ky'atagenda kwerabira. (prov.) lit. The heart which does not fashion well the spoken word makes you say what your friend will never forget. The spoken word can never be retracted.
e- (n/n) food. Yamumaza emmere. He killed him, lit. made him finish (his) food. Taggya mmere ku mumwa. He is always eating, kutunula ng'emmere eremye abagenyi, to look terrible, appear to be in bad shape (of persons), lit. look like the food left over from the guests, cf. mera, obumere.
be always, okusenguka.
a person with large protruding ears; a stubborn, obstinate person.
o- plur. abaana (mu/ba) child. When referring to the young of animals mwana is sometimes, but not always, shifted to the mu/mi class, omwana gw'endiga, lamb, but omwana w'embuzi, goat, kid. mwana wattu, friend, my friend/pal (often used as a term of address), cf. akaana, ekyana, olwana, lyana, nnabaana.
cf. tukula, -etukuza.
e- always plur. (n/n) eyebrows, oku- tikka ensige, to raise the eyebrows (esp. in contempt), cf. ekisige.
go sour (e.g., of milk), kufa mwoyo, to become disheartened/depressed. kufaako nsonyi, to die of shame/embarrassment. (Ebintu) bifa bantu. You cannot always win/be successful/get what you want (said in self-commiseration after a failure). Akanaafa tekawulira nnombe. (prov.) lit. The little (animal, akasolo, implied) who is to die does not hear (the sound of) the horn. Danger comes unawares. The infinitive okufa or okufa obufi serves as an intensifier for a preceding verb. Yazina okufa. She danced a great deal/ with great intensity. Omuwala yafaanana Nnambi okufa obufi. The girl resembled Nnambi in every detail. She was the very image of N.
seize (often, but not always, as surety for a debt), cf. -bowe, embowe, omuboyi.
(la) Mr. Edible Rat. Ekkubo limu lyassa Wamusu. (prov.) lit. One road killed Mr. Edible Rat (since because of the regularity of his habits the hunters were able to determine his position). It is always desirable to have more than one way of solving a problem, cf. omusu.
e- always plur. (n/n) trouble; sorrow, sadness, eky'ennaku, unfortunately. Ennaku zaamulaba. He had trouble. Troubles came upon him. Ennaku zinzimbyeko akayu. 1 have nothing but trouble. I am up to my neck in trouble, lit. troubles have built a little house on me. cf. -naku, obunaku, omunaku, nakuwala.
despise; discredit; discard. Naavve ogadyagadya nnyo ebya banno. You too, you are always belittling what others do/other people's things or affairs.
v.i. be or become ugly (often but not always referring to persons); put on a sour/ugly face. Leero ate ng'obudde bubizze bulala. My, how wretched the weather has become.
(la) a woman who is prodigal in the use of plantains; a woman who has such good luck in the growing of food that she always has an abundance.
o- (mu/ba) woman; wife (less respectful than mukyala). omukazi ow'omu- kono, a woman who is always successful in growing plantains, vegetables, etc., a woman with a‘green thumb.' cf. -kazi, kaziwala, omukazi, amakazi.
v.i. appl. 2 be (often with the implication of long or permanent duration). Ebiseera ebirungi tebibeerera. Good times do not last. Abaana abato teba- tera kubeerera awo. Young children are always on the go, lit. do not usually just stay there, kye kibeeredde, for that reason, that is why.
an anomalous verbal root which always takes the subject prefix ka- {the implied noun subject is akabi) and a direct object (usually p ronominal). In meaning it corresponds most closely to Eng. dare, singa kantanda ne nzita ku kamu ku busolo obwo, if I dared kill one of these little animals. Nyjende? Teka- kutanda. Shall I go? Don't you dare.
always plur. (mu/mi) The period of the reign of Kabaka Mwanga.
okwetujja ekigwo, to fall very heavily (often, but not always,..of wrestling). Yali adduka ne yetujja ennume y'ekigwo. He was running and fell with a tremendous thud.
become involved in. Naawe weyimbagatanya nnyo mu bintu by'abalaia. You are always involving yourself in other people's affairs.