padda, noun

/ˈpada/
Forms:
pada, parraShow more Also pada, parra, podder.
Origin:
AfrikaansShow more Afrikaans, toad, frog.
1.
a. A frog. Also attributive.
1897 E. Glanville Tales from Veld 241‘It sounds like treacle,’ said Abe with a puzzled look; ‘but I don’t see what the podder’s got to do with it, anyhow.’
1913 C. Pettman Africanderisms 359Padda,..The South African name for all varieties of frogs, generally pronounced ‘podder’.
1913 C. Pettman Africanderisms 365Parra or Parrak,..A common corruption of Padda.
1950 W. Rose Reptiles & Amphibians 8Whilst the West Cape paddas are most active those in other localities may be hibernating.
1968 F.G. Butler Cape Charade 9Why are you being sent to work on the road? Frogs master; the Paddas. Its all the fault of the frogs.
1970 R. Maytham Informant, Empangeni, KwaZulu-NatalAt night all the paddas made an uproarious noise.
1982 D. Capel in E. Prov. Herald 6 Oct. 5Now a ‘Very Important Padda’ has died — and left the frog world without a king.
1988 Cosmopolitan Apr. 8Frog Wines. If you think that froggy wines are French, you’re fooled. A range of five ‘padda’ wines come from Tulbagh’s Paddagang Wine House. The charming ‘padda’ labels will bring a smile to your lips.
1990 Weekend Post 10 Mar. 5‘She’s the frog among the lilies,’...This has a nicer ring to it than ‘le padda’.
1992 A.A. Ferrar in Afr. Wildlife Vol.46 No.4, 151An artificial wetland treating the college’s effluent had fooled a goliath heron into dropping in for an early morning padda patrol.
b. combinations
paddabos/-bɔs/ [Afrikaans, bos bush], the shrub Cliffortia polygonifolia of the Rosaceae ;
paddaklou or paddaklauw [Afrikaans, klou (earlier Dutch klauw) claw, paw], the shrub Teucrium africanum of the Labiatae;
padda slym/-sleɪm/ or padda slime [Afrikaans, slym (earlier Dutch slijm)], any of several species of fresh water algae, spirogyra, or duckweed;
paddaslyk/-sleɪk/ [Afrikaans, slyk slush, slime], the skin formed on hot milk;
paddawater/-vɑːtə(r)/ [Afrikaans, water water], a pool of stagnant water.
1973 M.R. Levyns in Std Encycl. of Sn Afr. VIII. 425Paddabos, (Cliffortia polygonifolia). Erect, hairy shrub belonging to the family Rosaceae.
1913 C. Pettman Africanderisms 359Padda klauw,..Teucrium africanum. The flowers of this plant resemble in shape a frog’s or toad’s foot.
1973 M.R. Levyns in Std Encycl. of Sn Afr. VIII. 425Paddaklou. Aambeisbos(sie). Akkedispoot. (Teucrium africanum) Small, branched shrub belonging to the family Labiatae.
1913 C. Pettman Africanderisms 360Padda slijm,..The fine filaments of several species of freshwater algae.
1977 F.G. Butler Karoo Morning 144A muddy pool about six foot across, thick with paddaslime and alive with mosquito larvae, tadpoles, [etc.].
1980 Cape Times July (Dine & Wine) 15My coffee came with a dollop of paddaslyk — the sloppy top of the boiled milk.
1912 S. Afr. Jrnl July 40 (Pettman)Some farmers accuse the so-called padda water collecting after the rainfall.
1912 S. Afr. Agric. Jrnl July 46 (Pettman)Water of whatever description, river or rain (so-called paddawaterjes), could not be responsible for the disease.
c. With qualifying word:
donder padda, see as a main entry;
reen-padda/ˈriən-/, also (formerly) regen-padda, [Afrikaans, reën (earlier Dutch regen) rain], donder padda sense b.
1905 W.L. Sclater in Flint & Gilchrist Science in S. Afr. 149The commonest representative of the curious digging family Engystomatidae is Breviceps gibbosus, commonly known as the ‘regen padda.’ It is the most comical little figure imaginable, with its globular body, very short stout legs and blunt little face hardly projecting beyond the general rotund outline.
1918 S.H. Skaife Animal Life in S. Afr. 214There are six species of the curious digging-frogs in South Africa, and of these, the quaint little regen-padda is the commonest.
1937 Guide to Vertebrate Fauna of E. Cape Prov. (Albany Museum) II.Index, Reen Padda=Breviceps.
2. obsolete. [See Thompson quotation 1913.] Any of several species of angler-fish, a marine fish of the Lophiidae.
[1900 J.D.F. Gilchrist Hist. of Local Names of Cape Fish 219 (Pettman)Known in several places in the Colony as the Paddy, and in others as the Devil fish.]
1913 C. Pettman Africanderisms 360Paddy or Padda,..Lophius upsicephalus, known at East London as the devil-fish or angler.
1913 W.W. Thompson Sea Fisheries of Cape Col. 59 (Swart)We can easily see how the froglike body and expansive mouth of the padda (fishing-frog) should be responsible for the designation bestowed.
A frog. Also attributive.
, the shrub Cliffortia polygonifolia of the Rosaceae
Any of several species of angler-fish, a marine fish of the Lophiidae.
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Pact, nounn.paddavanger, nounn.
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