pampoen, noun

/pamˈpʊn//pamˈpun/
Forms:
Also pampoon, pompoen.
Plurals:
pampoens, pampoene/pamˈpʊnə/.
Origin:
South African DutchShow more South African Dutch, pumpkin (cf. obsolete English pumpion, pompion).
‖1.
a. The common pumpkin Cucurbita pepo of the Cucurbitaceae.
1798 Lady A. Barnard Lett. to Henry Dundas (1973) 143At some of the farmhouses they are even worse off, getting the fourth part of a raw pampoon, a sort of pumpkin or bad melon..- it must last them for the day.
1812 A. Plumptre tr. of H. Lichtenstein’s Trav. in Sn Afr. I. 189Pampoen is the name given by the colonist to a species of gourd, which is very commonly to be found here, and which appears to be only the common European pumpkin, Cucurbita Pepo.
1886 G.A. Farini Through Kalahari Desert 61A few mealies and squashes (which they call ‘pampoons’) completed the stock of a garden.
b. combinations
pampoenkoek, pampoenkoekie/-ˈkʊk(i)/ [Afrikaans, koek cake (+ diminutive suffix -ie)], a (small) pumpkin fritter served with cinnamon;
pampoenmoes/-ˈmʊs/ [Afrikaans, moes fruit or vegetable puree], a traditional dish of pumpkin baked with cinnamon and breadcrumbs or slices of bread; pumpkin moes, see moes sense b.
1964 L.G. Green Old Men Say 133They can bake mosbolletjies and boerebeskuit, roosterkoek and pampoenkoekies.
1973 E. Prov. Herald 2 Apr. 13London rush on pampoenkoek...They are ordering..bobotie, pampoenkoek, melktert..and coming back for more.
1979 Sunday Times 26 Aug. (Mag. Sect.) 2She might serve pampoenkoekies with cinnamon sugar, cabbage in a cheese sauce, beans done in the old boere fashion.
1955 J. Hendrie Ouma’s Cookery Bk 133Pampoen Moes..Take a marrow, peel it and slice thinly. Put a layer in an oven dish, cover with a layer of thinly cut white bread spread with butter. Sprinkle over a little sugar, a few pieces of cinnamon and three or four cloves. Repeat...Bake.
1977 Fair Lady 8 June (Suppl.) 25Pampoenmoes. 4 medium slices of pumpkin; 2 slices white bread..sugar..salt..stick cinnamon.
1985 Drum Nov. 75This month’s winning recipe..Pampoenmoes.
1986 M. Van Wyk Cooking the S. Afr. Way 29Breaded pumpkin (Pampoenmoes) Peel and slice pumpkin. Cut bread into squares and pack alternate layers of pumpkin and bread into a greased dish.
1989 I. Jones Woman’s World Cookbk 95Pampoenmoes...A traditional Cape Dutch pumpkin pudding.
1990 You 24 May 52My longing is for perlemoen rissoles,..pampoenmoes, bottled peaches with custard.
2. figurative. colloquial. A fool, an ass (sometimes used affectionately). Also attributive.
1949 O. Walker Wanton City 19Fancy that pampoen Whyte-Whyte putting up for Parliament again.
1949 O. Walker Wanton City 165Buckled my front mudguard, the big pampoen.
1970 E. Mundell Informant, Pearston, Eastern CapeYou pampoen, imagine being afraid of a cow.
1975 W. Steenkamp Land of Thirst King 129The pumpkin is not a highly-esteemed vegetable, and indeed a common Afrikaans insult is to call a man a ‘pampoen’, meaning he is a lumpish fool.
[1980 Daily Dispatch 3 Dec. 12If badges proclaiming JR to be a bighead are now no longer to be displayed, without proper authority, what about ‘Jy Are a Pampoen?’]
1982 M. Mzamane Children of Soweto 179‘Listen, who’s talking!’ Nina said. ‘Whoever knows what goes on in that pampoen head of yours?’
1983 J. Scott in Daily Dispatch 22 Feb.When your opponents criticise you, reject your political philosophy and say you have the mind of a ‘pampoen’, you may rest assured.
1987 You 22 Oct. 7Pam the pampoen...If she’s an expert I’m her grandma.
1989 Cape Times 4 Sept. 6Once I was in a demo where the cops never turned up...We stood for hours looking like real pampoens.
The common pumpkin Cucurbita pepo of the Cucurbitaceae.
A fool, an ass (sometimes used affectionately). Also attributive.
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17981990

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figurative or allusive
colloquial
pampelmoesie, nounn.pan, nounn.
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