rotzak
Dutch
Etymology
Compound rot (“rotten”) + zak (“scrotum, bag”). Reportedly (WNT, De Vries) a bahuvrihi meaning “a syphilitic”. Syphilis was also known as the French disease, explaining why it became a slur for French and Walloon people.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈrɔt.sɑk/
rotzak (file) - Hyphenation: rot‧zak
Noun
rotzak m (plural rotzakken, diminutive rotzakje n)
- scumbag, fiend
- (Belgium, Brabantian) Eurasian jay, Garrulus glandarius
- 1966, Gerard Walschap, Het Gastmaal, page 123.
- Zij hielden de lucht in het oog tegen roofvogels en rotzakken, alias vlaamse gaaien, en spraken over het nieuws en de problemen.
- (please add an English translation of this quote)
- Synonyms: meerkol, Vlaamse gaai
- 1966, Gerard Walschap, Het Gastmaal, page 123.
- (obsolete, ethnic slur) Frenchman, Walloon [17th to 18th c.]
Further reading
- Matthias de Vries; Lambert Allard te Winkel (1864), “rotzak”, in Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal, published 2001
- J. de Vries, F. de Tollenaere - Nederlands Etymologisch Woordenboek, E. J. Brill, Leiden, 1971
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.