‖derde mannetjie, noun phrase
- Forms:
- Also derde manetje.
- Origin:
- AfrikaansShow more Afrikaans, derde third + man man + -ie.
‘Twos and threes’, a chasing game in which players stand in a ring in pairs, one player of each pair behind the other, except for two players who act as the chaser and the chased. In order to escape, the player being chased stands in front of one of the pairs in the circle, thus displacing the player at the back, who then becomes the new target of the chaser.
1868 W.R. Thomson Poems, Essays & Sketches 179There will be plenty of time after dinner for Derde Manetje, and other good old South African frolicsome picnic games.
1971 V. De Kock in Std Encycl. of Sn Afr. III. 190Other writers mention rounders, ‘derde mannetjie’ (twos and threes), [etc.].
‘Twos and threes’, a chasing game in which players stand in a ring in pairs, one player of each pair behind the other, except for two players who act as the chaser and the chased. In order to escape, the player being chased stands in front of one of the pairs in the circle, thus displacing the player at the back, who then becomes the new target of the chaser.
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