three-legged, participial adjective

In the phrases three-legged cooking pot, three-legged pot, or (offensive) three-legged kaffir-pot: potjie. See also drievoet adjective.
1864 T. Baines Explor. in S.-W. Afr. 362It is commonly said that a Scotsman, a Dutch cheese and Newcastle grindstone are all over the world, but I feel sure that a cast-iron three-legged pot penetrates as far as any of the trio.
1902 J.H.M. Abbott Tommy Cornstalk 28A few Kaffir transport-drivers..are boiling their ‘mealie-pap’ in three-legged pots.
1925 D. Kidd Essential Kafir 198The load contained a sleeping-mat, a blanket, a roll of tobacco, and a few trinkets; and perched on the top of the bundle was a three-legged pot — representing an entire kitchen and scullery — while a few awkwardly-shaped calabashes were tied to the bundle by homemade grass string.
1979 Heard & Faull Our Best Trad. Recipes 87The very first oven wasn’t an oven at all, it was the ubiquitous iron pot used all over the world from the earliest times for stewing, and with a lid on, for baking anything over an open fire. Even bread was baked in the three-legged (kaffir) pot.
1980 E. Joubert Long Journey of Poppie Nongena 15My ouma never used a Primus-stove, she did her cooking outside in three-legged cooking-pots over an open fire.
1986 M. Ramgobin Waiting to Live 134The people who had come from near and far would have to be fed. Huge three-legged pots were filled with crushed mealies.
1990 F. Bates in Style Oct. 76A three-legged pot of stywe pap bubbled and plopped on the hob.
1993 S. Gray in Weekly Mail & Guardian 5 Nov. 48A little yellow brak put its head into the three-legged kaffir-pot bubbling with potjiekos.
1994 [see pap noun sense 1].
In the phrases three-legged cooking pot, three-legged pot, or (offensive) three-legged kaffir-pot: potjie.
Entry Navigation

Visualise Quotations

Quotation summary

Senses

18641993