smartlap

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from German Schmachtlappen, but by folk etymology reanalysed as smart (“grief”) +‎ lap (“rag, sheet”). The widespread supposition that the word originally referred to canvases (roldoeken) depicting sad scenes that were used by itinerant street singers or street musicians is incorrect.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsmɑrt.lɑp/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: smart‧lap

Noun

smartlap m (plural smartlappen, diminutive smartlapje n)

1. a simple sentimental popular song about a sad story, usually involving love, death, nostalgia or illness, of a genre originating around 1900 [from early 1950s]
   • 1952 April 25, “Veertig jaar maker van liedjes”, in Het Parool, volume 12, number 2238, page 2:

     Later werd de jubilaris componist bij het gezelschap van Herman Bouber en schreef, zoals hij het zelf noemt, verscheidene smartlappen”^[sic] voor Boubers „schetsen uit het rosse leven”.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Descendants

• → Afrikaans: smartlap