naartjie, noun and & adjective

/ˈnɑːtʃi/
Forms:
naartje, naartjeeShow more Also naartje, naartjee, naartye, naatje, naatjee, narchet, nareteye, naretje, naretye, nartchie, nartjee, nartjie, nautjee.
Origin:
Afrikaans, South African Dutch, TamilShow more Afrikaans, earlier South African Dutch, probably adaptation of Tamil nārattai citrus.
A. noun
1.
a. A soft, loose-skinned variety of tangerine or mandarin orange; the tree which bears it, Citrus reticulata of the Rutaceae. Also attributive.
1790 tr. of F. Le Vaillant’s Trav. I. 34The citrons..and the oranges, especially that Kind called nareteyes, are excellent.
1812 A. Plumptre tr. of H. Lichtenstein’s Trav. in Sn Afr. (1928) I. 57The mandarine apple, called at the Cape narretjes [printed marretjes], is a sort of sweet-orange unknown in Europe.
1847 ‘A Bengali’ Notes on Cape of G.H. 86They have two kinds of oranges at the Cape, china oranges, and ‘nautjees’.
1849 N.J. Merriman Cape Jrnls (1957) 66Had it not been..for the narchets which Miss Currie had put up for me at Somerset, I should have suffered..from..thirst before reaching Graaff Reinet.
1861 ‘A Lady’ Life at Cape (1963) 75As to the ‘Van Rhum’, some say it is made out of ‘naartjee’ peel — a species of mandarin orange.
1890 A.G. Hewitt Cape Cookery 59Naartje Komfyt. Pare the naartjes very thinly, cut 4 slits in each.
1891 H.J. Duckitt Hilda’s ‘Where Is It?’ 22Some ‘Naartje’ (Tangerine Orange) Peel.
1899 E.L. Price Letter. (Cory Library MS 5973) JulyNeither the oranges or the naartyes tempt me in the least.
1900 B.M. Hicks Cape as I Found It 129There were all kinds of fruit..pomegranates, oranges, naartjes.
1913 D. Fairbridge Piet of Italy 127Beyond the orchard lay the naartje plantation, the trees laden now with little green balls.
1919 M.C. Bruce Golden Vessel 87It was the beginning of August..and the orange and naartje trees were laden with golden fruit.
1930 M. Raubenheimer Tested S. Afr. Recipes 26Dried ‘naartjie’ peel, powdered or cut up finely, gives a delicious flavour to milk tart.
1947 L.G. Green Tavern of Seas 61Van der Hum. You detect the naartjie flavour at once..flavouring extracted from the peel of the Cape naartjie.
1968 M. Muller Green Peaches Ripen 77We sat..unable to resist nibbling Bella’s naartjie preserve.
[1971 Sunday Express 28 Mar. 11Couldn’t the orange [of air-hostesses’ uniforms] be toned down a little and the blue be slightly deeper? No wonder the poor girls are referred to as naartjies.]
1971 Evening Post 11 Sept. 5Oranges, naartjies, lemons and cumcuats are all suitable for this type of planting.
1990 L. Sampson in Frontline Dec. 26We passed a wedding where the bridesmaids wore naartjie coloured nylon.
1994 G. Willoughby in Weekly Mail & Guardian 17 June 42He wins gold this year for his delicious naartjie liqueur.
b. With reference to the throwing of naartjies or their peel onto a rugby field to express disappointment (naartjies being easily obtainable during the rugby season).
1971 Rand Daily Mail 31 May 1It was Naartjie Day at Ellis Park on Saturday, when thousands of fans subjected fellow spectators to a hail of naartjie peels.
1974 Daily Dispatch 20 July 8It will become the in-thing to throw the referee with a nartchie.
1978 Daily Dispatch 28 June 23I am sure that as much as his leg injuries, the verbal naartjie-throwing is responsible for his hanging up the most dangerous kicking boots the game of rugby has ever seen.
1986 Style Feb. 31Reasons for staying in South Africa...96. You can’t throw naartjies at the ref in England.
1988 L. Shaw in Style Feb. 42Welcome to the racetrack...Did you remember the earplugs/cushions/blockout/naartjies?
1989 Sunday Times 3 Sept. 28Sparks were expected to fly in the final election debate on TV between Mr Pik Botha and Dr Denis Worrall. One wag even predicted that it would be a ‘sixpack and naartjies’ affair.
1991 I. Cook Informant, SpringsTake some naartjies to the rugby.
2. slang. In the expression to feel a naartjie, to feel a real naartjie, to feel like a fool, to feel an idiot.
1975 ‘Blossom’ in Darling 9 Apr. 95Jislaaik, but you only feel a naartjie riding in the back of a truck with three drums of pig swill and a stack of moulting lucerne bales for company.
1977 ‘Blossom’ in Darling 18 July 123Telling you, I felt a proper naartjie.
3. combination
Naartjie Republic nonce, ‘Banana republic’.
1982 Voice 1 Aug. 4We are too ready and willing to ridicule the rest of Africa with the contemptuous phraseology of ‘Banana Republics’, but our ‘Naartjie Republic’ is no great example of justice, dignity and freedom.
B. adjective Of the colour dark orange or tangerine.
1971 Daily Dispatch 16 Oct.Replacing the ‘naartjie’ hat is a chic bowler, decorated with an orange and blue airline emblem.
1987 G. Silber in Style Dec. 100I do not mind the dustbinmen, who wear naartjie overalls and whistle.
A soft, loose-skinned variety of tangerine or mandarin orange; the tree which bears it, Citrus reticulata of the Rutaceae. Also attributive.
With reference to the throwing of naartjies or their peel onto a rugby field to express disappointment (naartjies being easily obtainable during the rugby season).
In the expression to feel a naartjie, to feel a real naartjie,to feel like a fool, to feel an idiot.
Of the colour dark orange or tangerine.
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