Have you ever felt far away from someone or something and just didn’t have the word to describe the feeling? Mzansi once again came to the rescue, with “alostro”. Though alostro sounds like an exotic Italian meal, it isn’t. Alostro is the word that describes the feeling you have when you’re badly craving something – which could very well be that Italian meal from your favourite Italian restaurant.

The word became famous after an SABC news interview with Pretoria’s homeless people who were in a shelter on day four of the South African hard lockdown. One of the interviewees, yearning for freedom, and also in tune with the feelings of the other people in the shelter, said, “I see others; they have alostro.”

The word is also used in instances of being overwhelmed, xa ugowa – you have alostro. How to use the word in a sentence: “I need a vacay, I have alostro.”

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Tell us: Are you experiencing alostro for anything in particular?