rooinek

English

Etymology

From Afrikaans rooinek, from rooi (“red”) + nek (“neck”). The term refers to South Africans of British descent, who were perceived by Afrikaners to wear headgear (such as solar topees or no hat at all) which was inadequate in protecting them from sunburn, and thus caused them to have red necks. Other theories include the term being a reference to the red collars of 19th-century British military uniforms or to the red markings that British-South African farmers painted on their imported merino sheep. Compare redneck.

Pronunciation

• (General South African) IPA^(key): /ˈɹɔɪnek/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈɹɔɪnɛk/

Noun

rooinek (plural rooineks or rooinekke)

1. (South Africa, derogatory, ethnic slur) An Englishman, or a South African that speaks English as opposed to Afrikaans. [from 19th c.]
   • 1900, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Great Boer War, published 2011, page 470:

     Again and again the surprise was effected, not by the nation of hunters, but by those rooineks whose want of cunning and of veld-craft had for so long been a subject of derision and merriment.

   • 1904, Sabine Baring-Gould, The White Flag:

     “Well,” said she, “if I hadn't killed more Rooineks than that, I'd be ashamed of myself.”

   • 1906, William Henry Fitchett, Ithuriel's Spear, published 2008, page 240:

     'My father was at Bronkhurst Spruit,' he continued. 'How they shot the rooineks down that day! Our men lay in the long grass, while the redcoats stood in line on the road, and they shot them like rabbits. The fools! Their guns were in the carts.'

   • 1952, Doris Lessing, Martha Quest, Panther, published 1974, page 13:

     That evening […] the other, quite frankly, said that these rooineks got her down, they were all the same, they thought they owned the earth they walked on.

   • 1975, Sheila Roberts, Outside Life's Feast: Short Stories, Johannesburg: Ad. Donker, →ISBN, page 27:

     I couldn't care that the ous call me rooinek and sometimes whiterat because of my hair and face. At least I am not a hairyback I tell them.

Anagrams

• nookier

Afrikaans

Etymology

rooi +‎ nek

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

rooinek (plural rooinekke)

1. a person of British descent in South Africa. The term was applied to British settlers and military personnel during the 19th century, but by the 20th century had become a general colloquial term used by Afrikaners for anyone of British descent or connections to the British in South Africa.
   • 1939, Manie Maritz, My Lewe en Strewe‎^[1]:

     Hierdie waardige ou ooms het ons jongeres met vertroue besiel. Hulle was in ons oordeel die baanbrekers! hulle is die manne wat die Rooinekke sou kafloop.

     These dignified old gentlemen ("uncles") inspired us youngsters with confidence; in our judgement they were the trailblazers! They were the men who would trounce the Rooinekke.

References

• Jean Banford (1978) A Dictionary of South African English (in Afrikaans), Oxford