Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(S.Afr.) a general excl., esp. of pleasure, irritation or exasperation; usu. with man or sis; also used to preface a reply to a question one finds hard to answer, e.g. Ag, I don’t really know, or to denote a sense of resignation, Ag, I’ll have some more pap then.

1936		C. Birkby Thirstland Treks 47: Ja, we left the old village. Ag, it was a nice village and I liked it [DSAE].
1959		J.M. Meiring Candle in the Wind 31: Ag man, don’t get so cross.
1962		Paton & Shah Sponono I i: Ag, cut it out, Walter!
1963		R. Rive ‘Rain’ in Malan (1994) 10: ‘Ag, Solly.’ ‘Don’ ag me. You coloured people can never shut blarry doors.’.
1974		H. Levin Bandiet 119: Ag, man, just don’t carry so much tobacco around.
1978		M.J. Mtsaka Not His Pride I iii: Aag, maan, it’s irrelevant.
1982		P. Slabolepszy Sat. Night at the Palace (1985) 10: Ag! These things can’t sing.
1987		L. Beake Strollers 15: Ag, Man, dis mos lekker.
1989		J. Hobbs Thoughts in a Makeshift Mortuary 35: Ag, that’s normal where there’s flats. The girls make a bleddy packet on the side.
1996		CyberBraai Lex. at www.matriots.com 🌐 Ag: This is one of the most useful South African words. Pronounced like the ‘ach’ in the German ‘achtung’, it can be used to start a reply when you are asked a tricky question, as in: ‘Ag, I don’t know.’ Or a sense of resignation: ‘Ag, I’ll have some more pap then.’ It can stand alone too as a signal of irritation or of pleasure.
2006		C. Miller Salt and Honey 41 : Ag, isn’t he an ugly oaf? [Ibid.] 202: Ag-no-what, it can’t be done.
2010		IOL News Western Cape) 25 May 🌐 They said, ‘Ag, you are the first, we will never forget you’.
2015		Cape Times 2 Sept. 🌐 Each of these was greeted with not much more than a shrug and an ‘Ag shame!’.