English
Etymology
A portmanteau word From Dutch rood meaning red through Afrikaans rooi + nek meaning neck. First used in the Boer War (South African War) 1896. Came from the red neck's of the sunburnt soldiers.
Noun
rooinek
- (South African) Derogatory: An Englishman.
Often the Boers ... chuckled at the incredible behaviour of the rooinecks, a term ever after applied to the English because their untanned skins often burned red in the brilliant South African sun. - Panorama: July 1970.
References
Jean Banford. A dictionary of South African English. Oxford 1978.
Category:South African English
Afrikaans
rooinek
- Englishman.
vi:rooinek
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