lootjie, noun

/ˈlɔɪki//ˈluɪki//ˈluɪci/
Origin:
AfrikaansShow more Afrikaans, lottery token.
Sheep-farming
A token used by a shearer to keep tally of the number of sheep shorn.
1955 L.G. Green Karoo 143A tin is nailed to the wall of the shearing shed. Into the tin the farmer drops a number of lootjies, fragments of punched cardboard.
1970 Informant, JansenvilleLootjies. One given to each shearer as a sheep is shorn and later counted for payment. Can be bottle tops, large seeds or flat discs, to be used year after year.
1971 M. Britz Informant, Free StateOn the farm the shearers used mealie pips as lootjies when they sheared.
1984 C.J. Skead Informant, Grahamstown (now Makhanda, Eastern Cape)Lootjie. (Sounds like loykie). Applicable in sheep-farming circles to the token used to register each shorn sheep as it leaves a shearer.
1992 A. Murray Informant, Graaff-ReinetLootjie. A token, used when shearing, usually a bean or a seed or stone. ‘The shearers all handed in their lootjies and fortunately the number balanced with the number of sheep shorn.’
A token used by a shearer to keep tally of the number of sheep shorn.
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Afrikaans
looper, nounn.Lords Seventeen, noun phrasen. phr.
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