tear, noun
/tɪə/
- Origin:
- IsiZuluShow more Translation of isiZulu izinyembezi sikakhwini tears of the Queen (perhaps an allusion to British losses during the wars with the Zulus).
Strong drink, usually gin or brandy.
1949 O. Walker Proud Zulu (1951) 116He gave them glasses of gin (which the Zulus called ‘the queen’s tears’), for it was a chilly night.
1986 S. Henderson in Optima Vol.34 No.4, 198A giant Swiss mercenary, an orphan, Corporal Schiess, who, faute de mieux, had taken the ‘Queen’s shilling’, had drunk of the ‘Queen’s tears’.
Strong drink, usually gin or brandy.
Visualise Quotations
Quotation summarySenses
Copyright © 2023 Dictionary Unit for South African English.