moegoe, noun

/ˈmʊxʊ/
Forms:
moego, moggoeShow more Also moego, moggoe, mogo, mugu.
Plurals:
usually moegoes, occasionally ‖iimoegoe.
Origin:
Afrikaans, IsicamthoShow more Afrikaans and Isicamtho, perhaps adaptation of a Sintu (Bantu) word.
derogatory, colloquial
In urban (especially township) English: a country bumpkin or rustic; a dull, foolish, or gullible person; moegie. Also attributive. Cf. bari.
1953 Drum May 40They make sure, with their guns and knives, that they win everything or don’t lose too much to any ‘moggoe’.
1970 Drum Aug. 23You can see I’m not a moegoe (country bumpkin).
1973 Drum 22 Mar. 60But you’re a moego. Why take yourself back to the stokkies when you’re already free?
1979 A.P. Brink Dry White Season 180‘I brought him here on Gordon’s business’...‘Gordon is dead...What’s this mugu got to do with him?’
1987 B. Khumalo in Drum Aug. 26In the townships they call us Plaas Japie, moegoes, zaos and other derogatory terms. They seem to think that everything that is good is from the cities.
1990 Sunday Times 1 Apr. 5Tempers flared at the City Hall when a disgruntled councillor called his mayor a ‘moegoe’. ‘When he said that (it means “lazy lout”) my fuse blew,’ said East London’s first citizen.
1992 M. Mthethwa in Pace Sept. 75Joe thinks Harry is a moegoe — an ‘idiot’ and scoffs at him.
1993 Pace July 54She was engaged to be married to a real moegoe — a weakling. This guy was as thin as a broomstick, short-sighted, and spoke with a squeaky voice.
a country bumpkin or rustic; a dull, foolish, or gullible person; moegie. Also attributive.
Derivatives:
Hence moegoe  adjective, simple, stupid; distracted.
1974 in Eng. Usage in Sn Afr. Vol.5 No.1, 12The terms for this state of intoxication are transferred to describe anybody who normally appears to be slightly mugu (African origin ‘moegoe?’ = mad).
1986 Pace Aug. 4What of the Algerians who pulled the wool over some moegoe referee by feigning injuries.
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19531993

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moegoe, adj.

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Afrikaans
Isicamtho

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derogatory or offensive
colloquial
moegie, nounn.moenie, verbv.
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