‖voetjie-voetjie, noun

/ˌfuɪkiˈfuɪki//ˌfʊtʃiˈfʊtʃi/
Forms:
foochie-foochie, footchy footchyShow more Also foochie-foochie, footchy footchy, voetsie-voetsie.
Origin:
AfrikaansShow more Afrikaans, reduplication of voet foot + -ie.
colloquial
A clandestine (usually amorous) mutual touching of feet, usually under a table; footsie-footsie. Also figurative, flirtation.
Note:
See note on reduplication in South African English at now-now.
1916 S. Black in S. Gray Three Plays (1984) 211We’ve a fine little game in the Cape Colony that we call footchy footchy.
1930 N. Stevenson Farmers of Lekkerbat 94The farmers and their guests did not play cards nor did they dance but they amused themselves in various hilarious ways. The dressmaker from the village recited, Marina Loubser sang, and they played ‘Blind Man’s Bluff,’ ‘Voetjie-Voetjie’, [etc.].
1971 Rand Daily Mail 30 Mar. 2A boy and a girl had each kicked off a shoe and the girl’s foot was resting on the boy’s...What is illustrated is nothing more that what is commonly known in this country as voetjie-voetjie.
1971 Het Suid-Western 1 Apr.A boy and a girl had each kicked off one shoe and they were playing the delightful South African dinner-table game known as ‘voetjie-voetjie’.
1975 Darling 9 Apr. 95Playing footchie-footchie in a mud bath beats making mud-pies any day.
1978 G.B. Dickason Cornish Immigrants to S. Afr. 76To fooch, a pretence at doing a job, playful contact, maybe the origin of footchy-footchy (in South Africa today voetsie-voetsie).
1989 C. Derby-Lewis in Frontline Aug. 13CP count will be much higher than 75 if government’s voetjie-voetjie with ANC increases.
A clandestine (usually amorous) mutual touching of feet, usually under a table; footsie-footsie. Also figurative, flirtation.
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colloquial
figurative or allusive
voetganger, nounn.voetloper, nounn.
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