slangmeester, noun

/ˈslaŋˌmɪəstə(r)/
Origin:
South African DutchShow more South African Dutch, slang snake + meester master.
obs. except in historical contexts
One (especially among the Khoisan peoples) who is expert in the handling of snakes and the treatment of snake-bites.
1827 G. Thompson Trav. 399Among the Bushmen are found individuals called slang-meesters (serpent-masters).
1828 T. Pringle Ephemerides 174Several of the most respectable Dutch colonists assured me..that there are to be found among the wandering Bushmen persons whom they term Slang-Meesters, who actually possess the power of charming the fiercest serpents, and of readily curing their bite.
1837 J.E. Alexander Narr. of Voy. I. 344The ‘slang meester’ then seized the neck firmly: when immediately the snake coiled itself in agony round his right arm.
1955 L.G. Green Karoo 183It would be more difficult to find a genuine slangmeester nowadays than any of the snakes I have mentioned. Some of the old Karoo Hottentots undoubtedly possessed the art of proofing themselves against all sorts of poisons, especially snake venom. I would not say that the last slangmeester or gifdokter has passed on, for as recently as 1928, the late Dr. P.W. Laidler found an extremely clever one practicing in Namaqualand.
1973 Y. Burgess Life to Live 12Witbooi could only reply that he had done his best, that he was not, nor had he ever made himself out to be, a slangmeester.
One (especially among the Khoisan peoples) who is expert in the handling of snakes and the treatment of snake-bites.
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18271973

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slangkop, nounn.slangvreeter, nounn.
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