tannie, noun

/ˈtani/
Forms:
Also with initial capital.
Origin:
AfrikaansShow more Afrikaans, ‘auntie’, the familiar form of tante aunt.
‘Auntie’, not necessarily referring to a blood relation. See also auntie, Tante, oom, oompie.
Note:
Usually used to represent the idiom of Afrikaans-speakers.
1. A form of address: Tante sense 3.
Note:
Sometimes substituted for the second person pronoun ‘you’, reflecting the respectful third-person form of address in Afrikaans (see quotation 1988).
1958 R. Collins Four-Coloured Flag 16‘Good afternoon, Tannie,’ he mumbled, from a distance of twenty feet.
1969 I. Vaughan Last of Sunlit Yrs 78‘Tannie’, says the boy who has been listening to our conversation, ‘I know them all well, I will guide you.’
1978 Sunday Times 3 Sept. (Mag. Sect.) 3The nurses zipped in and out — thank heavens, only one calling me tannie.
1979 Sunday Times 19 Aug. 6I reacted sharply when a young man in a dry-cleaning shop addressed me as ‘tannie’. I pointed out that we were not related, and that ‘mevrou’ would be just fine by me...‘I was just being polite,’ he said, obviously hurt.
1987 L. Beake Strollers 41‘Dankie, Tannie,’ they said dutifully when they had shared the water. ‘Dankie, Madam,’ she corrected them mildly.
1988 A. Campbell in Fair Lady 27 Apr. 96Does tannie know Montagu pass?
1990 C. Hurry in Style June 101I knew I was grown up when a teenager called me tannie.
2. Tante sense 1 a. Also figurative.
[1926 P. Smith Beadle (1929) 151What was this that Tan’ Coba was saying?]
c1967 J. Hobbs in New S. Afr. Writing No.4, 68Tannie Lydia Vermaak, the postmistress, cowered behind her row of maidenhair ferns.
1973 Weekend Argus 26 May 4It was Tannie Swart — a stout, forthright woman in her sixties — who caused a stir at the protest meeting.
1981 Sunday Times 28 Feb. 1He welcomed Oom Albert Basson, his wife, simply known as Tannie, and Oom Pieter Theron and Tannie Johanna.
1983 Sunday Times 18 Sept. 3After a night in the cells Mr van der M— told Mr C— the next day: ‘It was I who killed Tannie Christine.’
1988 G. Silber in Style Apr. 41The ladies who have been preparing the salads for the braai..try hard to look awestruck...‘It’s a very nice one, Hugh,’ says Tannie Marie.
1990 J. Rosenthal Wake Up Singing 39‘She’s nice,’ she said indicating the ward sister. ‘They call her Tannie Wessels.’
1990 Weekend Mail 13 July 9Tannie SABC is still a vengeful old bag, you know.
3. A common noun.
a. derogatory. A narrow-minded, straight-laced (Afrikaans) woman.
1960 C. Hooper Brief Authority 87We still have to remind ourselves that we did not actually witness the reaction of a Zeerust tannie to the Spectacle of Sheila among the kindergarten at the Rectory tap.
1968 M. Doyle Impala 97The Indians..were..industrious, secular, sincerely religious. That’s more than you could say for this clutch of plump ‘tannies’, fanning their faces with rugby programmes.
1978 Voice 11 Oct. 2In a certain East Rand town which shall remain nameless, some verkrampte tannies are condemning discos on the grounds that they lead their daughters astray — overlooking the fact that the daughters never walked the straight and narrow in the first place.
1982 Voice 23 MayA group of tannies in some dorpie (I can’t remember the name) went up in arms against the mini during a particularly bad season for farmers.
1988 P. Anderson in Staffrider Vol.7 No.1, 44The tannies In their special church hats, Crying (The dried-up sanctimonious cows).
1990 D. Van Heerden in Sunday Times 10 June 8Most Afrikaner Volkswag tannies won’t wear khaki and swastika outfits.
b. Tante sense 2 b. Cf. auntie sense 1 a.
1961 D. Bee Children of Yesterday 157The old ooms and tannies of Katerina..tell me I need a wife.
1979 Sunday Times 18 Nov. 6He walked up to the counter and asked the tannie for a cold drink.
1983 S. Afr. Panorama Sept. 14The old President summoned her in from the rain. ‘Go around to the back,’ he instructed, and the tannie (Mrs Kruger) will clean you up.’
c. Tante sense 2 a.
1986 M. Picardie in S. Gray Market Plays 84Tannie used to cook and clean the flat and tell me stories of the old days in the Transvaal and the Great Trek and the Kaffir Wars.
1987 C. Sawyer in Style Feb. 90Extended families complete with tannies and domestic servants.
‘Auntie’, not necessarily referring to a blood relation.
Tante sense 1 a. Also figurative.
A narrow-minded, straight-laced (Afrikaans) woman.
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figurative or allusive
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tang, nounn.Tante, nounn.
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