Jambo

The word jambo is commonly used in Swahili-speaking nations to greet foreigners. It's a corruption of a common Swahili greeting that starts with "hujambo?", meaning "are you sick?". This is answered by "sijambo," meaning "I am not sick."

The use of "jambo" by native Swahili speakers towards foreigners can be viewed in different lights. It may be a friendly way of initiating cross-cultural exchange with a simplified lexicon, and it may be a subtle way of denigrating those who think they can speak some Swahili, but don't actually know that what they're saying is technically incorrect.

An African elephant imported into the West during the 19th century was named "Jumbo," a corruption of "jambo." This became a word used for large objects.

Jambo is also a slang word, for a supporter or player of Heart of Midlothian, a football club in Edinburgh, Scotland (derived from the rhyming slang Jam tarts meaning Hearts).