bungi, noun

/ˈbʌŋɡi/
Forms:
Also bungie, bungy.
Origin:
Hindi, isiNdebeleShow more Probably adaptation of Hindi bhang hemp, cannabis, or from slang bunge, adaptation of isiNdebele im-banje marijuana. The expression appears to have originated on the campus of Rhodes University, Grahamstown (now Makhanda).
slang
Especially among university students: one who rejects middle-class values and who is characterized by unconventional dress and behaviour, and often by the use of drugs, especially marijuana. Also attributive.
1981 Rhodeo (Rhodes Univ.) 19 Oct. 2My life was ruined. I was no longer cool. Jogging’s hit the bungy scene.
1985 Rhodian 84–5 (Rhodes Univ.) 8Two broad categories, familiarly known as the ‘bungies’ and the ‘rugger-buggers’ form distinct social apartheid on campus, and there is no love lost between them...Bungies are the flower-children of the 80’s.
1988 N. Dean in Style June 101Dope distinguishes bungies from other students and the bungie really comes alive only when the roach is furtively passed around the darkened room.
1988 Sunday Times 7 Aug. 14Chameleon-like changes — a leather clad biker while she was at Wits, a confirmed ‘bungi’ wearing Indian cotton dresses and leather sandals to be part of the left circle at Rhodes.
1989 R. Palmer in Rhodos (Rhodes Univ.) May 4Compared with the majority of the mourners in their bungi-rigs or Webster Memorial T-shirts I was over-dressed in my two-piece dark grey suit and navy tie.
1991 Rhodeo (Rhodes Univ.) Apr. 14One student who asked why he was being searched, was given the reply ‘I don’t need an excuse to search a bungie’ by..the officer in question.
one who rejects middle-class values and who is characterized by unconventional dress and behaviour, and often by the use of drugs, especially marijuana. Also attributive.
Entry Navigation

Visualise Quotations

Quotation summary

Senses

19811991
bungalow, nounn.bunny chow, noun phrasen. phr.
Copyright © 2025 Dictionary Unit for South African English