‖Engels, adjective and & noun
/ˈeŋ(ə)ls/
- Forms:
- Formerly also Engelsch.
- Origin:
- Afrikaans, DutchShow more Afrikaans, earlier Dutch Engelsch.
- Note:
- Usually used ironically, or in Dutch or Afrikaans phrases.
A. adjective Also (attributive) Engelsche, Engelse.
1. From or of England or Britain; of the English or British.
1822 W.J. Burchell Trav. I. 184On my way back to the village, I met a Hottentot, who, asking me if I was not de engelsche heer (the English gentleman) presented a letter from my friend Poleman.
1912 F. Bancroft Veldt Dwellers 31You’ve taken the oath of allegiance to Kruger, and though your blood is Engelsch — more’s the pity — you can’t go against that oath without being a traitor.
2. English adjective sense 2.
1990 Sunday Times 1 Apr. 19Afrikaans drama has..an unerring sense of place and identity...None of the characters in..the new six-part series..on TV1..could possibly be Engels.
3. Special collocations
Engelse Kerk/-ˈkɛrk/ [Afrikaans, kerk church], the ‘Anglican’ Church (Church of the Province of Southern Africa, see CPSA noun1); any English-language church; cf. English adjective sense 1;
1984 B. Johnson-Barker in Wynboer June 72Albert Hockley had no right..to be going to the Pastorie, because he belonged to the Engelse kerk, as he..delighted in saying when Dominee Kuys was rounding up the others.
B. noun , plural Engelse/-ə/, occasionally Engelses/-əs/.
1. Usually in the plural : Persons of English or British origin. See also Engelsman sense 1.
1913 D. Fairbridge Piet of Italy 149Koos..scouted the idea of a mishap. ‘Him eat plenty aprikose, then him walk plenty. All Englese [sic] like that.’
1992 G. Etherington in Weekend Post 9 May (Leisure) 4The Engelse were encamped on a koppie overlooking Van Puttensvlei.
2.
a. In the plural : English noun sense a. See also Engelsman sense 2, mak Engelse (mak sense 2).
1973 Cape Times 2 June 8His thinking rests on the historic fear of Afrikaner Nationalism that the Engelse will make common cause with Black political or economic power to ‘plough the Afrikaner under’.
1988 J. Scott in E. Prov. Herald 5 Mar. 6We will be faced with what the Engelse call Hodgson’s Choice, or something like that.
b. comb.
1972 Evening Post 27 May 11 (letter)One hears a lot about ‘boerehaat’, but what about ‘Engelsehaat’.
1981 Sunday Times 25 Jan. (Mag. Sect.) 4We English-speaking South Africans have been accused of boerehaat at election times, but ‘The Settlers’ is a vicious piece of ‘Engelse haat’.
3.
a. The English language.
1987 P. Schirmer in Personality 7 Mar. 81He’ll speak Engels one day when he goes to school, he assures me.
1990 Cue 30 June 3A ware Suid-Afrikaanse band, their liedjies are in both Engels and Afrikaans. They even lapse into gibberish..at times.
b. comb.
Engels-sprekende/-ˈspriəkəndə/ [Afrikaans, sprekende speaker], an English-speaking person (see Engelsman sense 2); as adjective [Afrikaans, sprekende speaking], English-speaking (see English adjective sense 2 b).
1974 Daily Dispatch 21 Oct. 8Die Engels-sprekende bloedsappe show that conservatism is alive and well and living in the official Opposition.
1988 J. Raphaely in Femina May 152He thought that it was all right ‘as long as only the Engels-sprekendes saw it’.
From or of England or Britain; of the English or British.
Usually in the plural :Persons of English or British origin.
In the plural : English noun sense a.
The English language.
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