mellow yellow, noun phrase
- Forms:
- Also with initial capitals.
- Origin:
- Transferred use of the proprietary name of a yellow-coloured soft drink, which in turn was probably named for the song ‘Mellow Yellow’ by Donovan.
slang
In urban (originally township) parlance: a police vehicle (so called because the vans are painted yellow); yellow mellow. Also attributive. See also kwela-kwela sense 1.
1986 Anon. pamphlet 25 JuneHullo hullo hullo. This is your friendly casspir Mellow Yellow with this morning’s unrest report.
1990 Weekly Mail 21 Dec. (Suppl.) 32The mellow-yellow was part of a fleet of seven police vehicles which monitored the occasion throughout.
a police vehicle (so called because the vans are painted yellow); yellow mellow. Also attributive.
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