Nat, noun and & adjective
- Forms:
- Also NAT, and with small initial.
- Origin:
- AfrikaansShow more Abbreviation of National, Nationalist, translation of Afrikaans Nasionaal National, Nasionalis Nationalist, referring to the National Party.
colloquial
A. noun
a. Abbreviation of Nationalist noun sense a.
- Note:
- See note at SAP noun1 sense 2.
1926 M. Nathan S. Afr. from Within 274Of late there has been much talk of toenadering or rapprochement between the ‘Saps’ and the ‘Nats’.
1994 P. Lee in Style May 59We are starting to grasp a future without the wagging finger of a Nat in a hat.
b. With qualifying word: bloednat /ˈblʊt-/ [Afrikaans, bloed blood], an ultra-conservative, dyed-in-the-wool Nationalist; cf. bloedsap; brown Nat, see brown adjective sense 2 a; new Nat, see quotations 1990 and 1993; cf. neo-Nationalist (see Nationalist noun sense b).
1986 D. Van Heerden in Frontline Mar. 35The conservatives are large in number..but relatively small in influence...They are ‘Bloednatte’ who will still vote Nat when Mangosuthu Buthelezi receives the Paul Sauer medal for service to the Party.
1993 P. Laurence in Leadership Vol.12 No.2, 48The real threat lies in the future rather than in the past; and it emanates from black nationalists — the ‘New Nats’ — rather than the Afrikaner nationalists.
B. adjective
1. In the collocation Nat Party: NP sense 1.
1982 M.W. Serote in Chapman & Dangor Voices from Within 111My father..complaining about the prime minister and the laws and the nat party.
2.
a. Abbreviation of Nationalist adjective.
1994 Style May 97All those who thought a post-Nat government would at least be more purposeful are in for a horrible shock.
b. With qualifying word:
neo-Nat, of or pertaining to a reformed, relatively liberal Nationalism. Cf. neo-Nationalist (see Nationalist noun sense b).
1985 Sunday Times 29 Sept. 12C— could be described as a neo-Nat technocrat, a member of the President’s Council and a former journalist.
Abbreviation of Nationalist noun sense a.
bloednat /ˈblʊt-/ [Afrikaans, bloed blood], an ultra-conservative, dyed-in-the-wool Nationalist; cf. bloedsap; brown Nat, see brown adjective sense 2 a; new Nat, see quotations 1990 and 1993; cf. neo-Nationalist (see Nationalist noun sense b).
In the collocation Nat Party: NP sense 1.
Abbreviation of Nationalist adjective.
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