kopje-wallop, verb intransitive
- Origin:
- Back formation from kopje-walloping or kopje-walloper.
historical
To buy diamonds directly from diggers on their claims, and sell the stones to traders.
1911 L. Cohen Reminisc. of Kimberley 33One windy day,..I was kopje-walloping in Kimberley, feeling more depressed and dispirited than usual, when..I came across a Dutchman sorting at his table.
1944 J. Mockford Here Are S. Africans 92In that era, such a man as Barney Barnato, a penniless Jew from Whitechapel, could establish himself in Kimberley..by koppie-walloping, as they called tramping the fields in order to buy the rough diamonds for their finders.
To buy diamonds directly from diggers on their claims, and sell the stones to traders.