Van der Merwe, noun

/ˌfan də ˈmɛrvə//ˌvæn də ˈmɜːvə/
Origin:
AfrikaansShow more A common Afrikaans surname.
1.
a. The surname of a stereotypical Afrikaans figure, the subject of numerous jokes and stories; Van sense 1. Also (written abbreviation) v.d. Merwe. Also attributive.
1970 J.S.T. Fletcher in Outpost 281The lieutenant had always been the butt of strings of ‘Van der Merwe’ jokes — stories which he always managed to cap.
1975 E. Prov. Herald 2 July 17The South African social scene has not been the same since Van der Merwe first lumbered on to it about a decade ago...Anecdotes about him are swopped from boardroom to boudoir.
1977 Sunday Times 7 Aug. 3These little jokes (ever heard the one about the Scotsman, the Irishman and the skeleton? — and what about v.d. Merwe?).
1978 P.-D. Uys in S. Gray Theatre One 141He was so Afrikaans...He..spoke English like a Van der Merwe joke — ‘Ag no sis man Anna sis.’
1989 Style Feb. 44This theory has it that when Van Riebeeck landed he found Hottentots speaking Afrikaans. (No, this is not a Van der Merwe joke.)
1990 [see Stengel quot. at bilingual].
b. In the facetious nonce phrr. the real Van der Merwe, ‘the real McCoy’; to meet one’s Van der Merwe, to meet one’s Waterloo.
1975 E. Prov. Herald 21 May 16The condensed end product is of course the real Van der Merwe.
1988 M.M. Carlin in Frontline Apr.–May 16I’ve seen photos of some of them (sc. ANC members) looking remarkably comb-in-the-sock; or perhaps it was the Mao jacket taken to extremes, and finally meeting its van der Merwe.
2. transferred sense. A nickname for the Afrikaans man-in-the-street; Van sense 2.
1990 Style July 45It doesn’t matter whether you treat your domestic worker better than Van der Merwe next door.
1992 J. Kani on TV1, 20 Mar.The time has come for me and Van der Merwe to look at ourselves and laugh, to look at the past and say ‘Weren’t we stupid?’
1993 [see vastrap verb].
The surname of a stereotypical Afrikaans figure, the subject of numerous jokes and stories; Van sense 1. Also (written abbreviation) v.d. Merwe. Also attributive.
In the facetious nonce phrr. the real Van der Merwe, ‘the real McCoy’; to meet one’s Van der Merwe, to meet one’s Waterloo.
A nickname for the Afrikaans man-in-the-street; Van sense 2.
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Afrikaans
Van der Hum, noun phrasen. phr.Van Riebeeck Day, noun phrasen. phr.
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