Examples Of The Ghanaian terms "Chale" ("Charlie") & "Paa" In Discussion Threads Of A. Y. Poyoo YouTube Videos

Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest update: Feb. 7, 2022

This is Part III of a three part pancocojams series that focuses on the upcoming Ghanaian comic rapper whose stage name is "AY Payoo".

Part III provides examples of the Ghanaian Pidgin term "chale" ("charlie", "charlee" and other spelling) and the Twi term "paa" from various discussion threads of A. Y. Payoo YouTube videos.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2020/06/ghanaian-comic-rapper-y-payoo-and-his.html for Part I of this pancocojams series. Part I presents information about AY Payoo and showcases two of his YouTube videos.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2020/06/examples-of-referent-payorians-term.html for Part II of this pancocojams series. Part II provides examples from various discussion threads of AY Payoo videos of commenters use of the referent "Payorians", the term "washout", and the self-bragging statement that Payoo is "the face of Ghanaian rap".

The content of this post is presented for cultural and linguistic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to AY Payoo for is his creative performances and branding strategies. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to AY Payoo for publishing these videos on YouTube.

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DEFINITION OF THE GHANAIAN PIDGIN TERM "CHALE"
From https://www.quora.com/Why-do-Ghanaians-say-Charlie

[Numbers given for referencing purposes only.] 

1. Kwadwo Omari Boateng, studies at University of Ghana,

posted on May 4, 2020

"Charlie, pronounced “charley” has its roots in our colonial times. See Ghana was previously the Gold Coast under British imperial rule. The British lords had many names obviously but for some reason, the ones that stood out were Charlie and Jack. The names became so popular amongst the Gold Coasters (Ghanaians) that we began to refer to strangers as Charlie/Jack, much like how Americans use “dude”. Overtime, Charlie was bastardized “Charley” though Jack remained Jack. Anyone at all can be Charley, well anyone except the older folks haha. You’ve got to show respect to them. But amongst themselves they use Charley too. Jack is less popular."...

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2. posted by Bright M Nontaa, studied at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Answered May 4, 2020

" I was born in Ghana and have strictly lived here for well over 25 years.

The word "Charlie" first off has various spelling variants including but not limited to "Charley, chale, challey chally", all meaning the same regardless.

One must also note that the word in reference is a "pidgin" word. Pidgin is an informal language (developed over time by the interaction of the various local languages and the English language, with few foreign imports) spoken in Ghana and many other African countries (different variants) especially Nigeria.

The word "Charlie" is one of the most versatile and commonly used informal words in Ghana and it cuts across all social classes. Transliterally, it means dude, buddy, mate and Friend.

It is casual and is most likely used among peers but almost never used by younger peers to refer to older peers as it is mostly considered disrespectful.

For instance, 'Charlie wassup?' could mean 'dude what's up'. 'Charlie me I Taya' could mean 'dude I'm tired' etc.

The word "Charlie" could serve as a form of greeting or saying 'hi', 'hello', 'hey' etc.

Also by stretching the word "Charlie'and or adding words like 'Oh' or 'Ah', could serve as a statement or sentence without actually making one.

For instance, if someone accidentally steps on your toes you could exclaim" Charlieeeee", "Ah Charlieeeee" or "Oh Charlieeeee" and not have to make an entire statement to express your feelings about the situation."

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3. Yaw Djin, , knows Twi
Answered Jan 22, 2021
"The word is ‘chale’ as Ghanaian languages are very phonetic without extra letters that arent pronounced (Except when the pronunciation or sound made can only be understood by the combination of the two characters)

There is no ‘r’ ‘ey’ or ‘ie’ in Chale. This is a very, very recent rehash (Most probably to appeal to Western sensibilities, which I for one find stupid)

The word has been chale as far back as I can remember and I can remember as far back as 1988.

The spelling chale itself is somewhat problematic as it is the Akan language, Twi that uses the phonetic character ‘Ch’ and as I understand it, chale is of a Ga origin. Gas do not have a C, nevermind a ‘Ch’. So further evidence of even earlier bastardization to appeal to Western sensibilities. The word should be correctly ‘Tsale’. But let’s go with chale for convenience.

Chale essentially means ‘buddy’ or ‘mate’, ‘bruv’ or most accurately ‘dude’ in the salutation sense - Not in the classic use of describing in third person.

So “Chale, make we go” meaning, “dude, let us go”

or “chale” as emphasis on a situation that cannot be expressed, like simply saying “dude”. For further emphasis “chale, chale, chale” is often heard for the same purposes.

If someone steps on your heel, “chale”… “dude!”

"Chale wote’ are the kind of flipflops you see in Ghana and is Ghanaian-speak (Although most of them are made in China or imported, they may have started life made here… sans patent). ‘wo te’ is Ga for ‘we are going’ or ‘we go’ and likely originated sometime after ‘chale’ became a thing. So ‘chalewote’ means ‘dude, we’re off’, given credibility to the Ga origin of the word ‘Chale’

 Until the influence of Twi radio in the 2000s, Ga was the most dominant language in Accra and a lot more so in earlier decades. So unlike words like ‘Tsooboi’ which ARE two languages put together (apt, as it means ‘working together’), chalewote is likely homogeneous. Hence ‘chale’ is probably of Ga origin.

As to what time period it came from, the consensus seems to be during WWII and from American radio communication. My issue with that explanation is that it’s curious that Americans were stationed in the Gold Coast (Today, Ghana) at any period of time to leave an impression. The Americans landed in Cassablanca during Operation Torch. They moved on to Kassarine Pass where they experienced their baptism of fire, facing the Germans. The logistics of stationing them in Ghana doesnt add up as the war was in the Arab-speaking countries of Northern Africa (Tunisia, Egypt and Libya), and there were countries north and West of the Gold Coast much, much closer to that. But let’s assume they were stationed here in large numbers.

During WWII the Americans only ever used ‘Charlie’ in pre-NATO radio communication for the letter ‘C’ i.e ‘Able for A, Baker for B, Charlie for C, Dog for D’ etc.

How this would translate from radio communication that do refer to companies of soldiers into one that refers to a peer is curious as these terms were extremely formal (The point of them was to make letters understood by relating them to an unmistakable word spelled with that letter). Also, why Charlie was chosen by Ghanaians over any other pre-NATO term is also quite arbitrary.

The Americans would really use ‘Charlie’ during the Vietnam war (1965 - 1973) where the term referred to enemy Vietnamese formations e.g. “We have Charlie all over the LZ” i.e. “We have Vietming troops at the landing zone”. Ghanaians were not friends of America during the Vietnam era and nowhere close to the front when we were (after the CIA-led 1966 coup).

Americans never casually referred to each other as Charlie at any point in their history. In WWII, the term for a stranger they were being familiar with was ‘buddy’ and this is well-documented from as far back as the start of talkies in 1926. The American expression Ghanaians picked came more from jive. This was ‘man’ or ‘mehn’ and that’s from much later, about the 1970s, and remained a clearly an English word. Not a word adopted into Ghanaian language.

Like ‘Obroni’, the origin of the term ‘Chale’ seems to be coopted to make Ghanaian expression seem more flattering to English speaking nations in a way that often erases real African history and is unflattering to Ghanaians in a way I find especially obnoxious.

No, Obroni doesnt mean ‘the people from over the horizon’. It’s meaning is ‘people who cannot be trusted’. Likewise, I am skeptical that chale comes from the word ‘charlie’ during WWII as the Urban dictionary claims without any evidence of its use not pre-dating WWII and being specific to ‘charlie’ or what actual terms the Americans curiously stationed in Ghana were using with the word ‘Charlie’.

There may actually be a local term lost over time. Words like Achimota, depending on who you ask, mean one thing to some people, and another to others. In my family, our surname Djin has been attributed to various terms at the turn of the 20th century. So there are lost meanings to words that had local meanings, so we really didn’t need to have misheard a term from English-speakers and bastardized it into something local."
-snip-
"Obroni" is an informal referent that is used in Ghana as a referent for White people.

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DEFINITIONS OF THE GHANAIAN TERM "PAA"
Excerpt #1:
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVi3QrJFi2s.
Reading Your Comments With Mama A | TWINGLISH

Pancocojams Editor: On May 28, 2020 I posted a question in the discussion thread for this YouTube video (vlog) asking about the meaning of the word "paa".  Within one hour Zomgirene,  the Ghanaian vlogger for that YouTube channel reposted this reply to my question.  Thanks Zomgirine!

[Regarding the word "paa"] "It’s to add emphasis to whatever your saying. So “ekom di mi” is I’m hungry. “Ekom di mi paa” is Im REALLY hungry. Sometimes you might even see/hear “papaaapa” which is really heavy emphasis. I hope this helps and thank you for watching ❣️"
-snip-
I originally wrote that "paa" is a Twi term. Excerpt #2 implies that "paa" is from the Twi language, but Zongirine didn't indicate this. For that reason, I'm changing this heading to a more general attribution.

Ghanaians or anyone with this information, please share information about this term and confirm whether "paa" came from the Twi language. Thanks!   

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Excerpt #2
From https://www.papapaa.org/background.html "Pa Pa Paa -Background Briefing About Fair Trade And Cocoa
"Kuapa Kokoo- good cocoa farmers
The farmers featured on this website are members of the Kuapa Kokoo co-operative, an association of around 100,000 cocoa farmers in Ghana. Kuapa Kokoo was set up to develop fairer trading practices and represent the interests of cocoa farmers. Kuapa Kokoo means "good cocoa farmer in the Twi language. Their motto is 'Pa Pa Paa' which means 'the best of the best' in Twi.
..."Kuapa Kokoo - good cocoa farmers

-snip-

I added italics to highlight this sentence.

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EXAMPLES OF THE GHANAIAN TERMS "CHALE" ("CHARLIE") AND "PAA" IN DISCUSSION THREADS FOR VARIOUS AY PAYOO YOUTUBE VIDEOS
This is a very small compilation of comments that include the word "chale" ("charlie") & "paa') from discussion threads for three YouTube videos that the newly trending Ghanaian entertainer AY Payoo published on YouTube from May 17, 2020 to June 8,  2020.

These video sources are given as hyperlinks in no particular order except the first video which is that performer's most viral video to date.  The video's title, publisher, and publication date are given after the hyperlink .

Numbers are added for references purposes only.

I. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZzFj0NNqOY
AY Payoo - Toto Style (Viral Video)
Official AY Payoo, May 17, 2020

1. Ali Babs, May 2020
"Charley this foolishness must STOP!"

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2. Sky Emma, May 2020
""Chale bra Poyo, u no dey change ur boxer 😅😅

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3.  Jewel Kofi Emmanuel, May 2020
"Poyoo I study u paa why u get only one Boxer shorts"

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4. ll Magician ll, June 2020
"On a real dis be vibe chale🔥"

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From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOKxF-gOYV0

AY Poyoo - Gospel Video (Viral Video)

Official AY Payoo, May 24, 2020

1. Chorkor Youth Tv, May 2020

..."Comment President am here paaaa. CP"

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2. Dark_Trendz, June 2020
"Chaley,you are good musician but reduce the fooling small 😪,its too much 🥴"

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III
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_GMi6lCbCwAY Poyoo Ft Wanlov The Kubolor - Alcoholics (Audio Slide)
Offficial AY Poyoo, May 23, 2000
1. Frederick dove, May 2020

"Poyoo featured de right artiste...Dope track paaa ooo"

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2. Kuubetersob Addy Jackson, June 2020
"Talent paa"

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This concludes Part III of this three part pancocojams series on AY Payoo.

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