Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (Aus.) a call of encouragement.

1856

C. Reade It Is Never Too Late to Mend III 97: ‘Make him [a dog] go into that pool there,’ said Robinson, ‘then he won’t have fever.’ ‘I will; here – cess! cess!’ He threw a stone into the pool [...] and Carlo went in after it.

2. (S.Afr.) an excl. of disgust, contempt, disappointment, dismay.

1910		C. Meredith Peggy of Cape Town 89: Sis, man, don’t be such a vrot thing; look on the bright side.
1928		R.R.R. Dhlomo African Tragedy 9: ‘Sis!’ exclaimed a young girl fashionably dressed. ‘Isn’t he a coward!’.
1959		E. Mphahlele Down Second Avenue 78: ‘Sies!’ grandmother hissed.
1963		K. Mackenzie Dragon to Kill 18: Sometimes even ‘Sies, hey’.
1966		A. Fugard The Coat (1993) 138: No, man Sis Marie! Jeesus! I’ll commit suicide.
1972		‘Rawbone Malong’ Ah Big Yaws? 46: Sis!, Sus!, Sizz!, Sies!, Siessa! Expressions of disgust.
1973		M. Dikobe Marabi Dance 105: White men! [...] They like our women, but they don’t like our men to like theirs. Siss!
1977		F. Dike First South African 8: Sies! Quarrelling with a woman! Sies Solly, jy’s ’n moffe!
1977		P-D. Uys Paradise is Closing Down in Gray Theatre One (1978) 165: Oi sis. Here’s one for gastroenteritis.
1980		E. Patel ‘The Advertisement’ in They Came at Dawn 10: Sally cunt whitening cream lightens your skin / sis that shit may / lighten and brighten / your soft black / velvet brown / beautiful bronze skin / but strusgod / your soul will never turn white in the night.
1980		A. Dangor ‘Waiting for Leila’ Waiting for Leila (2001) 21: Sies tog! Look at the brave man!
1985		B. Simon ‘Outers’ Born in the RSA (1997) 52: Sis, soft hands like a moffie. [Ibid.] 70: charmaine: What’s your name? klerks: Cocky Ferreira. charmaine: Cocky? Cocky? Sies man!
1986		P. Slabolepszy ‘Boo to the Moon’ in Mooi Street (1994) 104: Sis, man.
1987		L. Beake Strollers 41: ‘Siestog! Arme kinders,’ she cried when she saw the three children on her doorstep. ‘Siestog!’.
1989		J. Hobbs Thoughts in a Makeshift Mortuary 158: Af. Lit., sies!
1990		A. Dangor Z Town Trilogy 150: Hey sies man! Go and kak outside.
1993		M.N. Williams Kwa-Landlady in Perkins (1998) 166: Who do you think you are, Princess Diana Sies?!
2005		A. Lovejoy Acid Alex 103: Oh God no, sis! They all speak like gammats.
2011		Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) 5 Mar. 🌐 Sies man! To mock our SANDF [...] is disgusting.