Trevor Noah’s Xhosa Quote When Introducing Black Panther Was Hilariously Different Than What He Told Viewers

Daily Show host and secret Black Panther cameo star Trevor Noah took the stage at the 2019 Oscars to introduce Marvel’s Black Panther to the crowd, and during that presentation, the South African comedian did a gag about actually growing up in Wakanda, which included the following quote:

“Growing up as a young boy in Wakanda, I would see King T’Challa flying over our village, and he would remind me of a great Xhosa phrase, ‘abelungu abazi ubu ndiyaxoka’, which means, ‘In times like these, we are stronger when we fight together than when we try to fight apart.’”

However, there was actually a gag within that gag, as Noah did in fact drop a legitimate phrase in South Africa’s Xhosa language – just not at all the one he related to the crowd. An *actual* translation of what Noah said in Xhosa turns out to be, “white people don’t know I’m lying”!

Trevor Noah is known for making his South African heritage and American ignorance about it into a running part of his comedic persona, and equally good at subverting those stereotypes and impressions. This gag on Hollywood’s biggest stage was done solely for the pleasure of Noah’s fellow Africans – and as you can see below, at lot of them definitely took notice!

If you don’t know, Noah was just about as clever in his Black Panther role as he was in this Oscars gag. He actually served as the A.I. voice in Wakanda’s ships during the movie, something that he revealed after the movie’s release. In those same interviews, he also shared how Black Panther was extra special for him, because of the fact that Xhosa was part of it:

“And it was extra special for me because people speak Xhosa in the movie,” Noah said. “So, there were subtitles, and I was like, ‘Don’t need your subtitles. I don’t need your subtitles! Get rid of the subtitles! This is just for me right now. Nobody else listen. This reminds me of my mom.’”

What do you think about Trevor Noah’s sly joke at The Oscars? Let us know in the comments!

Avengers: Infinity War is now available on home video. Upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movies include Captain Marvel on March 8th, Avengers: Endgame on April 26th, and Spider-Man: Far From Homeon July 5th.

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