Hi, Jamba Juice! Holy smokes what delicious juice!
Hey, what does “jamba” mean?
Somebody on the Internet says that “Jamba,” in West African, means “celebration.” Yeah right! “West African” isn’t even a language, random Internet person!
Mmm-mmm! Love that juicy goodness!
Did you know that there’s a place in Angola named Jamba? According to some other Internet person, to Angolans, “jamba” means “elephant.”
Sluuuuuuuuuuuuuurp! That’s me with some delicious Elephant Juice. (If that’s what it is. Is it?)
Did you know you can use Google Translator to see what “jamba” means in Swahili? Neither did I. You should try it, though, if you haven’t already. (Hint: it means “fart.”)
Hello Clifton,
Thank you for taking the time to contact us and for the compliments. Over the years, Jamba has worked very hard to formulate a balance between taste and health and we are very excited about all of the new products we have brought into our stores.
Jamba is derived from the African word jama, which means “to celebrate.” We added a “b” to make Jamba.
We’re delighted to have you as a Jamba customer and we’re looking forward to the next time we serve you.
Sincerely,
Rachel
Jamba Juice
Guest Services
1-866-4RFRUIT
“Inspiring and Simplifying Healthy Living for over 20 years.”
Experience # 511014
“Jambiiram” in Sanskrit means lemon (actually citrus). Jambiirasa is lemon juice (juice of a citrus fruit). Perhaps the founders of Jamba Juice can tell us if this is the origin of the name.
Thanks for the message, Subramanian. The above reply is the real reply I received from Jamba Juice regarding the etymology of “jamba.”
Wow! The official from Jamba Juice above had me cracking up. First s/he doesn’t mention which African language, because there’s no language called “African”
Secondly, didn’t they think it through enough that adding a letter to a word can completely change its meaning?
Swahili is the biggest African language and, in it, “jamba” means “fart.” But Swahili has no “jama” in its vocabulary. It has “jamaa” which means “relative (someone close)”
Thanks for your reply, Aminia 🙂
First of all, as “Rachel” who works for “Jamba” Juice stated, it is a name of African origin and can have variations depending on the language or country. Jama means “celebration” in KiSwahili”, an east-African “Bantu” language spoken widely in Kenya, and Tanzania. There are thousands of African languages but this might be most familiar with Swahili and various “Bantu” languages.
It means fart in Tanzanian swahili. Not sure about Kenya. Jamba is fart.
Thank you. Do you have a source for that?
As an employee of Jamba Juice, all I know is that in training, we are taught that “Jamba” means “celebrate.” The only other information we’re given is that it does, indeed, derrive from a West African language. I find it interesting that this isn’t entirely the case, but I certainly do celebrate the fact that I work in such a positive work environment and get to serve delicious beverages every day. 🙂
And do you dumb Americans know how many West African langauages there are? You claim that it is an African language but don’t know which? SMH I say lies
Jamba is the swahili word which when translated to English means to FART.
Thank you. Do you have a source for that?