Casspir, noun

/ˈkæspə/
Forms:
Also Caspir, and with small initial.
Origin:
Anagram of SAP (see SAP noun2) + CSIR (see CSIR).
An armoured troop-carrying vehicle used by the police and the defence forces. Also attributive, and figurative. See also buffel sense 2.
1981 S. Wrottesley in E. Prov. Herald 30 Nov. 3A police unit almost entirely composed of Ovambos is operating against Swapo insurgents in close co-operation with the Defence Force...The unit..uses its own specially designed transport vehicles — the Casspir.
1985 Rand Daily Mail 16 Apr. 3When policemen in two Casspirs blocking the road ahead of the procession opened fire on the crowd, police in a third Casspir patrol vehicle parked behind the crowd, fired on fleeing people.
1986 Rhodeo (Rhodes Univ.) May 8Hey bra! Did you know that the word ‘caspir’ is an anagram for the SAP and CSIR (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research), who designed the vehicle.
1987 G. Thomas in Best of S. Afr. Short Stories (1991) 407Clumsy-looking troop carriers called Casspirs.
1988 Bunn & Taylor From S. Afr. 28‘Casspir’..is this armored, troop-transporting combat vehicle, with its characteristically hunched, high-gaited step (designed to withstand land-mine blasts).
1990 R. Malan in Cosmopolitan Apr. 169Making the language (sc. Afrikaans) kosher again — taking it from being a Casspir language to a language of the people where it belongs. Where it’s OK to speak it and not be a fascist.
1991 Weekly Mail 24 May 14The distinguished voice of..Tony Heard has been added to those criticising the press for allegedly subjecting Winnie Mandela to ‘trial by media’. He accuses newspapers of ‘driving a squadron of casspirs through the sub judice and contempt rules’.
1992 B. Keller in Scope 13 Nov. 95Within the precincts of the hostels the South African Police rarely dismount from their high-riding, mine-proof armoured patrol vehicles — the Casspirs.
1993 [see buffel sense 2].
An armoured troop-carrying vehicle used by the police and the defence forces. Also attributive, and figurative.
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