footsack, verb intransitive

/ˈfʊtsæk/
Forms:
Also footseck, futsack.
Origin:
AfrikaansShow more Englished form of Afrikaans voetsek (see quotations 1899 and 1970).
1. voetsak verb sense 1 a.
1855 G.H. Mason Life with Zulus 224On our approach, several shaggy wolf-dogs made their appearance..but on hearing the well-known ‘Footsack, ainga’ (Lie down, dog) from Jacob, they quickly came bounding about him.
1871 M.E. Barber in Cape Monthly Mag. III. Dec. 332Cries of ‘foot-sek,’ with the slashing of a whip and the yelping of a defeated cur.
1890 C. & A.P. Wilson-Moore Diggers’ Doggerel 22‘Bonzela Baas, Inkos!’ He tell me ‘Hamba, footsack!’
1899 Natal Agric. Jrnl 31 Mar. 4‘Voetsek,’ according to Cape, or ‘footsack,’ according to Natal newspaper spelling, is an expression that soon attracts the attention of new-comers. It means ‘forth say I,’ an abbreviation of ‘voort zeg ik,’ and is exclusively applied to dogs.
1900 ‘One Who Was In It’ Kruger’s Secret Service 158He suddenly ejaculated ‘Footsack’ (I spell it like that,..a low Dutch word, meaning ‘Get out, you cur,’ and generally applied to a dog..).
1903 R. Kipling Five Nations 165Footsack you — M.I.!
1918 C. Garstin Sunshine Settlers 50He learnt that when he heard the word ‘Mike’ he was wanted, and when he heard the word ‘Footsack’ he was not.
1970 Daily Dispatch 30 Jan. 14I found it was pointless saying ‘Voertsek!’ to him, even when pronouncing it ‘footsack!’ in the local way. There was just no reaction.
1974 ‘Blossom’ in Darling 9 Oct. 95I trip over Bliksem what’s sleeping there and shout ‘Footsack!’ and that ruins the atmosphere a bit.
2. voetsak verb sense 2 b.
1936 P.M. Clark Autobiog. of Old Drifter 54‘Foot-sack to hell out of it,’ was the obliging reply, ‘or you’ll get a load of buck-shot into you!’ There was no use arguing. I simply foot-sacked!
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idiomatic
footganger, nounn.footsie-footsie, nounn.
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