Meanings
- South AfricaalternativeAlternative form of ja well no fine.
Need to say “whatever”? ‘Jawellnofine’ is offered as the perfectly legitimate South African alternative.
2010, Jerusha Sukhdeo, The jawellnofine book that is the epitome of everything South African2 more examples
...it could just be that I’m in a commemorative mood, but the endlessly useful South African idiom “jawellnofine” has been on my mind rather a lot this week. It’s a versatile Frankenstein term that, like a more finely calibrated “whatever,” can express everything from dispassionate approval to passive-aggressive indifference to reluctant acceptance — or any combination of these at once.
2011, Guy Lodge, THE LONG SHOT: Jawellnofine...coined in 1978 by R.J.B. Wilson of the SABC (‘My youngest brother was in the habit of saying “no fine” to everything that really required a “c’est la vie” or “that’s the way the cookie crumbles”. It had a nice South African feel to it. I added “Ja, well...” to it to reinforce the South Africanism when I was looking for a title for my radio series “Jarwellknowfine” (my original spelling)’)], an expression equivalent to ‘all right’, ‘c’est la vie’, ‘that’s life’: used to indicate a non-committal, resigned, or ironical response, or parodying South African English speech.
2019, R.J.B. Wilson, Dictionary of South African English
Cite this entry
jawellnofine. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/jawellnofine
“jawellnofine.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/jawellnofine. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “jawellnofine,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/jawellnofine.
Source: jawellnofine on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.