lank, adjective and & adverb

/læŋk/
Origin:
AfrikaansShow more Etym unknown; perhaps from Afrikaans lank long (used of both time and proportion).
slang
Note:
Used especially by schoolchildren and young adults.
A. adjective
1. [Perhaps related to Afrikaans geld lank money galore, pots of money.] Plenty of, lots of, many. Also demonstrative.
1970 K. Nicol Informant, Durban, KwaZulu-NatalI haven’t seen him for lank ages...You need lank practice to become expert in the game.
1981 Informant, Grahamstown (now Makhanda, Eastern Cape)Lank people do ‘Legals’ in English III.
1982 Star 31 Mar.Do you know what your children are talking about when they come home from school with ‘lank homework’?
1982 J. Allan in Sunday Times 6 June (Mag. Sect.)This guy’s been getting lank praise for this lekker play everyone is checking at the Market Theatre.
1983 Frontline May 14The Fast Eddies, of which every bike club has at least half a dozen, came to Kyalami to check it out — lank speed, my china.
1985 Vula Oct. 32Traditional songs..are sung, strange garb is donned and lank vodka is drunk.
1991 M.A. Karassellos Informant, Cape Town, Western CapeCome and share our braai — we’ve got lank meat.
1992 C. Bojarski Informant, Grahamstown (now Makhanda, Eastern Cape)We saw kudu, hartebees, lank ostriches.
1992 H. Dugmore in Scope 13 Nov. 46‘She took lank time,’ he says...For five weeks he spent every available moment cutting up hundreds of Scope pin-ups to stick together his unique, all-paper nude.
2. [Perhaps related to Afrikaans lank nie sleg nie not at all bad.] Good, nice, fantastic, etc.
1970 K. Nicol Informant, Durban, KwaZulu-NatalThe hotel food was lank (delicious, very enjoyable).
1983 Cape Times 9 Dec. 16David..starts tuning you lank Boland stories about his youth and his observations of life in suburbia.
1985 H. Prendini in Style Oct. 40‘He’s got lank ninja stars’ which could mean he’s got plenty or they’re nice.
1987 S. Smith in Fair Lady 8 July 160In the field of language, or rather, idiom the gap feels as wide as the Fish River Canyon. ‘Hey, that was a really lank joll’ translates into ‘That was a terrific party’.
1991 K. Sullivan Informant, Cape Town, Western CapeHell, those cars are lank! (nice).
1991 G. Paul Informant, Weltevreden ParkLank. Much used by pre-teens and teenagers = superb/lovely/fantastic/wonderful. My Dad’s got a lank new car.
B. adverb Very.
1987 Informant, Grahamstown (now Makhanda, Eastern Cape)I am lank interested in the Hindus.
1989 M. Brand in Fair Lady 25 Oct. 92Lank...Very, extremely.
1991 Fair Lady 8 May 63Lank = very, as in ‘lank cool’.
1991 C. Clarkson Informant, Johannesburg, GautengIt was a lank kif jol at Susan’s last night, hey! After the exams we’re only going to have a lank lekker peace-out on the beach, man.
1991 M.A. Karassellos Informant, Cape Town, Western CapeThere are lank suspicious characters outside the bank on pay-days.
1992 A. Uttley Informant, Somerset West, Western CapeLank. A superlative meaning ‘very’: The exam was lank hard (heard on UCT campus and in Rondebosch high schools).
1993 Informant, Grahamstown (now Makhanda, Eastern Cape)That’s lank rude, hey!
Plenty of, lots of, many. Also demonstrative.
Good, nice, fantastic, etc.
Very.
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langwa, nounn.lap, nounn.
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