domkop, noun

/ˈdɔmkɔp/
Forms:
Also with initial capital.
Plurals:
domkoppe /ˈdɔmkɔpə/, formerly domkoppen.
Origin:
AfrikaansShow more Afrikaans, dom stupid, foolish + kop head.
a. A fool, dunce. Also attributive.
1910 D. Fairbridge That Which Hath Been (1913) 134If these domkoppen could but see it, they stand to make more by following his Excellency’s advice than by ignoring it.
1915 D. Fairbridge Torch Bearer 204My, but that was a close shave!..Did you mean your domkop driver to go off without you?
1970 C.B. Wood Informant, JohannesburgHe’s a real ‘domkop’ (stupid).
1987 Drum June 60Although he is a school dropout there is no proof that he is a domkop.
1989 B. Courtenay Power of One 219Bronkhorst, you are a domkop.
b. Used as a term of address.
[1947 C.R. Prance Antic Mem. 72Stripped to the waist at last, Oom Jurie bobbed out to try protest again, ‘Maar, Majoor, ek...’, only to be called ‘dom-kop’ or dunderhead and ordered back to take off his boots and trousers.]
1953 U. Krige Dream & Desert 87‘Must be a mad horse to stand up on its hind legs like that!’ ‘Not mad, domkop, just proud..!’
1965 K. Mackenzie Deserter 139You told him? Oh Japie, you fool! You domkop!
1974 Drum 22 JulyHe had written Bantu. The official must have reached the end of his tether, because he screamed ‘domkop’, scratched it all out and then scribbled ‘South African’.
1978 Sunday Times 9 Apr. (Extra) 3You domkop. Some of the floating things have eyes and big mouths — and they are called crocodiles.
1980 C. Hope A Separate Development (1983) 99She nodded contentedly and stuck up eight fingers. Domkop! You tell Mama nothing.
1989 B. Courtenay Power of One 36Domkop! Don’t you even know your left from your right?
A fool, dunce. Also attributive.
Used as a term of address.
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Afrikaans
dominee, nounn.dompas, nounn.
Copyright © 2020 Dictionary Unit for South African English.