person, noun

Origin:
AfrikaansShow more Calqued on Afrikaans ’n mens ‘one’, or (literally) ‘a person’.
colloquial
A person: ‘I’ (the speaker); less commonly, used in place of the English indefinite pronouns ‘you’ or ‘one’.
1776 F. Masson in Phil. Trans. of Royal Soc. LXVI. 315A person cannot walk ten paces without raising a brace of quails.
1883 O.E.A. Schreiner Story of Afr. Farm 94Presently she added, ‘Aunt, why does the Englishman always knock against a person when he passes them?’
1937 C.R. Prance Tante Rebella’s Saga 196If only ‘a person’ could rely on the inefficiency of the Police and their infernal dogs.
1979 Darling 10 Jan. 48One day he came into the building society where I work and said over the counter, very quietly, that he was going to marry someone else. I mean what can a person do?
1985 P. Slabolepszy Sat. Night at Palace 23Yassas, how many times must a person tell you. I don’t smoke. I’m a non-smoker. OK!?
1990 Sunday Times 3 June 4Ja well, maybe so. But a person can only take so much music, peace, dancing and rum.
A person:‘I’ (the speaker); less commonly, used in place of the English indefinite pronouns ‘you’ or ‘one’.
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colloquial
perskesmeer, nounn.Peruvian, nounn.
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