home-boy, noun

Origin:
IsiXhosa, IsiZuluShow more Translation of isiXhosa and isiZulu umkhaya, see mkhaya.
In urban (especially township) English: a youth or man from one’s home region, or belonging to one’s clan; mkhaya. Also attributive, and transferred sense, a South African. Cf. home-girl.
Note:
Used also in U.S. English (particularly in the African-American community) and Bahamian English.
1953 P. Lanham Blanket Boy’s Moon 40Ntoane..also came from Lesotho. Ntoane looked up as the Induna brought Monare into his room, and seeing the blanket round Monare’s shoulders said: ‘Welcome home-boy’.
1963 Wilson & Mafeje Langa 14The migrants..subdivide on the basis of where they live in the country, and groups of home-boys are formed, based on the village of origin.
1963 Wilson & Mafeje Langa 71 [see moegie].
1972 Drum 22 Oct. 18When I came to Johannesburg in 1949..I stayed with homeboys in Sophiatown who also got me a job with a garage.
1976 West & Morris Abantu 173More often than not they find their way to a large ‘single men’ barracks, where they tend to form small groups of ‘home-boys’, amakhaya, from the same rural area. The amakhaya live and eat together, assist one another in adjusting to the demands of urban living, and help one another in various other ways.
1980 J. Cock Maids & Madams 61Men..often come to employment and accommodation found for them by the group of men from their local area who are already in town. This arrangement and the continual help of homeboys mitigates what might otherwise be a complex and bewildering experience.
1980 D.B. Coplan Urbanization of African Performing Arts. 433Homeboys, Homegirls, A group of young men or women from the same rural area, residing in a distant town. They frequently form not only a social category, but also a tightly-knit network maintaining ties to the rural area among urban migrant workers.
1983 Frontline Sept. 27I back Gerrie because he is the home boy who is challenging America all the time.
1984 City Press 13 May 14Homeboys piece of the action. Promoter Joe..is staging a professional boxing tournament featuring local fighters.
1990 P. Garson in Weekly Mail 8 Feb. 7The conflict..is complicated by vigilante groups..who are drawn into the fray to wage war on criminals and protect their ‘homeboys’ caught in the conflict.
1990 Weekend Post 19 May (Leisure) 5The interaction between the ‘homeboys’ and the returned exile is more than symbolic in its unity.
1994 [see home-girl].
a youth or man from one’s home region, or belonging to one’s clan; mkhaya. Also attributive, and transferred sense, a South African.
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IsiXhosa
IsiZulu
home, nounn.home-girl, nounn.
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