honey-badger, noun

Origin:
See quotation 1959.
The ratel (sense 1), Mellivora capensis.
Note:
This animal is found throughout Africa, and in parts of Asia and India, but the name appears to have originated in South African English.
1884 J.S. Kingsley Stand. Nat. Hist. V. 392The ratels or honey-badger..surpass the skunk in burrowing activity.
1944 Marais & Hoge tr. of O.F. Mentzel’s Descr. of Cape of G.H. III. 57A honey badger came along to hide itself under a heap of stones.
1953 R. Campbell Mamba’s Precipice 130It (sc. the ratel) lives..on honey which it shares with the honey-guide; for the latter reason it is sometimes known as the honey badger.
1959 C. Lagus Operation Noah 174Ratel is another name for the Honey Badger, which, as its name suggests, is a badger-like animal partial to wild honey.
1989 L. Badenhorst in Motorist May 5A vicious honeybadger going round in defiant circles uttering menacing growls, no doubt after..a tin of golden syrup.
The ratel (sense 1), Mellivora capensis.
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18841989

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