German, adjective

Origin:
So called because introduced by German immigrants; see Bowie quotation 1994.
In the Special collocations German print, or (occasionally) German chintz.
A cheap cotton dress-material with white floral or geometrical designs, usually on a dark blue or chocolate-brown background; African print, see African adjective1 sense 2 b; sis noun1 sense 2. Also attributive. See also voerchitz.
1956 J. Chatterton Return of Drums 27He paused and looked at the little girl dressed in the German print frock.
1965 E. Mphahlele Down Second Ave 60You have to work, work, work, and stinge yourself rice and stew, and wear rough German print.
a1968 D.C. Themba in E. Patel World of Can Themba (1985) 90The dress she wore brought out all the girlishness of her, hidden so long beneath German print.
1968 K. McMagh Dinner of Herbs 115There were bolts of german print, the sprigged navy blue cotton stuff from which the dresses and aprons of the house servants were made.
1978 A.P. Brink Rumours of Rain 245The place was..crammed to capacity...Rolls of German chintz, bags of dried beans, samp, rolled tobacco, bicycles, transistor radios, coffee.
1979 Bona June 147Success in selling ethnic German-print clothes not only in the townships, but also in several Johannesburg shops. Their best sellers are simple dramatic caftans, wrap-over skirts.
1980 E. Joubert Long Journey of Poppie Nongena 108She was a big woman, stouter and taller than Poppie, dressed in a long dress and pinafore of German print.
1994 B. Bowie in Weekend Post 9 Apr. (Leisure) 3Women wearing blaudruck (blue-printed) cotton cloth came to East London..in 1858. They were hard-working German peasants who started a fashion which has remained to this day among the Xhosa people of the region. The long-lasting cotton was known as German print or ‘sis’. It has a white design on a background of indigo (navy blue), chocolate-brown or red...It is thought that the cloth originated in 19th-century Bohemia-Moravia, to be sold in Germany.
1994 Weekly Mail & Guardian 13 May 8To mark ‘Independence Day’..township revellers donned ethnic costume: old fashioned Sotho seseshwe, of German print cloth.
A cheap cotton dress-material with white floral or geometrical designs, usually on a dark blue or chocolate-brown background; African print, see African adjective1 sense 2 b; sis noun1 sense 2. Also attributive.
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Gereformeerde, adjectiveadj.gerook, participial adjectivepart. adj.
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