"Samahani bibi"
Translation:Excuse me grandmother
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I've learnt many different things about this word, and I'm very confused by it. My Swahili course book (for Tanzanian Swahili) claims it means Miss (not Mrs), and that you can use it for example to young ladies at the market. Here it says grandmother, which I haven't seen anywhere else. In western Kenya, they stopped me from using it and said it's more something that you say to your wife. I'm very confused indeed.
This is a case of regional differences. In Kenya it mostly means grandmother and in Tanzania it means Mrs. I think you are right that in some parts of western Kenya they use it for wife. Languages are like this, we sometimes have to accept the complicity from the inherent richness from its diversity. For my part I got this one wrong because I wrote nana instead of grandmother which I felt too formal. I wondered if other did like me.
I am sure, 'Excuse me, Granny!' should also be accepted. We often call our grandmothers 'Granny' - at least where I am from.
If you think your answer should be accepted, report it. They are slow at making changes at the moment due to being busy, but when they do get to stuff they'll be focused first on reports rather than comments.
Bibi is also correct. For example, - bibi za mama - grandmother (from my mother's side); - bibi za baba - grandmother (from my father's side);
You can listen to the explanation in this podcast (at 0:0:35 s): https://bit.ly/2lPVcSq
Bibi does not mean grandma it means 'Mrs' and as mentioned in a comment below refers to a wife. The word for grandma is Nyanya
Bibi is also correct. For example, - bibi za mama - grandmother (from my mother's side); - bibi za baba - grandmother (from my father's side);
You can listen to the explanation in this podcast (at 0:0:35 s): https://bit.ly/2lPVcSq
If you accept mom for mother, and dad for father, why not also granny for grandmother?