japie, noun
/ˈjɑːpi/
- Forms:
- Show more Also jaapie, jarpie, yarpie, yarpy, and (frequently) with initial capital.
- Origin:
- AfrikaansShow more Afrikaans personal name Japie, diminutive of Jaap ‘Jake’, derived from Jakobus James.
derogatory
1. A contemptuous name for an Afrikaner person.
1949 O. Walker Wanton City 104Peter had the slighting word ‘rooinek’ flung in his ear...But the insult was either intended for, or intercepted by, another young man on his left, who halted and snarled something about ‘bloody Japies’.
1980 D. Beckett in Bloody Horse No.2, 14They’ve taken up with some new kids along the road who come from Welkom or somewhere and hardly even speak any English. You wouldn’t believe what Simon talks like now. He sounds like a real little Japie.
2. transferred sense. A jocular, affectionate, or derogatory term for a South African.
- Note:
- Although presented by some South Africans as a term which is current in world English, no examples of the word in use by non-South Africans have been found.
1956 H. Kops Veld, City & Sea 30He’d had a fight with two South Africans. He’d cleaned them up, he said. Said he hated ‘bloody jaapies’.
1986 Frontline Mar. 34G’day, mate. Yer new around here. Where yer from? Morning. I’m from er, South Africa actually. A Yarpie, huh.
3. A yokel, an unsophisticated person, especially one from the rural areas; a low-class person; gawie; jaap. See also plaasjapie.
1964 J. Meintjes Manor House 119They referred to the backvelders as duine-molle, japies, takhare, gawies and so on.
1990 D. Kramer in Sunday Times 5 Aug. 13It’s part of the South African identity to dress like a Japie and speak with a guttural accent.
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