pick-up, noun

Origin:
U.S. EnglishShow more From U.S. English pick-up truck or pick-up van a small truck for carrying light loads, or U.S. English slang pick-up an arrest.
In full pick-up van: kwela-kwela sense 1.
1941 W.M.B. Nhlapo in Bantu World 22 Feb. 11We have..the drama of pick-ups, the life in the zoo-like locations, the hooliganism and the like, subjects which are full of passion, of sorrow, of strife.
1942 P. Abrahams Dark Testament 63They all turn, and see a group of policemen jumping out of the moving pick-up van and running towards them.
1946 P. Abrahams Mine Boy (1954) 30Suddenly a Pick-Up Van swerved round a corner. Policemen jumped out and ran down the street. The crowds scattered.
1946 P. Abrahams Mine Boy (1954) 67If I saw a policeman or a pick-up van I shouted a warning and ran.
c1948 H. Tracey Lalela Zulu 55There comes the big van. All over the country they call it the Pick-up Van. There is the Pick-up.
c1948 H. Tracey Lalela Zulu 56They had the misfortune to be raided by the police. Everyone ran for safety. The ‘Pickups’ failed to find Msila, who had dived into a hole and lay low.
1953 P. Lanham Blanket Boy’s Moon 50‘Police! Police! The pick-up van’s coming.’ Even as he shouted the warning, the police arrived in their closed van with a squealing of brakes.
1962 L.E. Neame Hist. of Apartheid 59The introduction of the ‘pick-up-van’ by the police led to disorders in Johannesburg and along the Rand.
1962 W.S. Manqupu in Star 22 Feb. 14The lorry used as a pick-up van is called the ‘Khwela-Khwela,’ as the police call out ‘Khwela, bo, khwela!’ (‘Ride, man, ride!’) after making an arrest.
1966 A. Fugard Hello & Goodbye (1971) 3Down Baakens Street past the police station where the bars on the windows and the pick-up vans give me the creeps.
1970 M. Dikobe Marabi Dance. 56Sergeant Van Rooyen of the Marabastad Police Station lifted a hand and ordered him to accompany him to an awaiting pick-up van.
1990 New African 11 June 13Kwela-kwela is a name that was given to the notorious pick-up police vans.
In full pick-up van: kwela-kwela sense 1.
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pickled fish, noun phrasen. phr.pick-van, nounn.
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