suka, verb intransitive

/ˈsʊɡa//ˈsʊka//ˈsuːkə/
Forms:
soega, soekaShow more Also soega, soeka, sugga.
Origin:
In the Nguni languages, ‘get up’, ‘go away’.
Used in the imperative, mainly among speakers of the Nguni languages:
a. As an insulting dismissal: ‘get away’, ‘scram’.
1833 Graham’s Town Jrnl 16 May 2He called out to the Caffer suka, an expression of great contempt, as if driving away a dog; the man not moving, he repeated his ‘suka’.
1949 C. Bullock Rina 219‘Suka!’ I shouted,..as I stepped threateningly towards him with my rifle half raised to my shoulder.
c1955 M. Hume Sawdust Heaven 64Waving her arms at Sidawana, she directed him to leave. ‘Suka!’ she cried shrilly. ‘Go away!’
1970 Informant, Grahamstown (now Makhanda, Eastern Cape)Suka. Same as ‘voetsak’.
1970 H. Kuper Witch in my Heart 21Ai suka! Be off!
1979 E. Prov. Herald 9 Aug. 9The Xhosas repeatedly shouted: Gha suka! Gha suka! The troops..supposed the blacks were shouting the name of the river. Actually, of course, what they were really shouting was ‘Buzz off’, or ‘Voetsek’.
1994 M-Net TV 6 Oct. (The Schoolmaster)Suka! Leave.
b. As an interjection: An expression of surprise, disbelief, reproof, or disgust: ‘get away’, ‘I don’t believe you’, ‘go on’.
1979 F. Dike First S. African 7Hayi suka, I’m asking you, what’s wrong with that?
1979 M. Matshoba Call Me Not a Man 154‘Suka, woman!’ returned one who seemed to care little about woman’s views. ‘You would never be able to start and support families without amadoda. What makes you think that you’re the more responsible parties?’
1980 C. Nkosi in M. Mutloatse Forced Landing 16Nkambule regained his feet and ran...But suka, the man behind him was closing in again fast.
1982 Voice 10 Jan. 13‘We’ll see about that.’ ‘Awu suka! You’re being jealous.’
1983 Drum Dec. 62The girls in the salon shouted, ‘Hayi, soega! Go away. You cannot tell us that story. Not you, Louisa.’
1985 P. Slabolepszy Sat. Night at Palace 74Forsie: You stabbed him. It was you, man. Jesus –. September: Hai sugga!
1989 J. Hobbs Thoughts in Makeshift Mortuary 328We tried reason, and where did it get us?..Our leaders in jail, our people divided...Reason, suka!
1990 ‘P.W.’ in Weekly Mail Review of Bks Apr.–MayAs a young man, one of his first plans against apartheid was..to spray paint a huge slogan reading ‘I’m black and I’m proud’...His maid..contemptuously shakes her head and says ‘Ah, Suka’ (get lost).
1993 [see toyi-toyi v. sense 2].
‘get away’, ‘scram’.
An expression of surprise, disbelief, reproof, or disgust: ‘get away’, ‘I don’t believe you’, ‘go on’.
Derivatives:
Hence (occasionally) suka  noun, an utterance of this word. Cf. hamba sense 1.
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18331994

Derivatives

suka, n.
suip, verb intransitivev.sukkel, verb intransitivev.
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