nunu, noun

/ˈnunuː/
Forms:
Also noonoo.
Origin:
IsiZuluShow more From isiZulu inunu (plural izinunu) horrible object or animal; monster; bogy.
colloquial
Especially in KwaZulu-Natal:
1. rare. A term of endearment (particularly to a child); a nickname.
c1948 H. Tracey Lalela Zulu 39Nunu, my darling. I am troubled and know not what to do...My heart is so disturbed by you, Nunu.
2. An insect: gogga sense 1. Also figurative.
1970 A.K. Leys Informant, Durban, KwaZulu-NatalThe children gathered round to inspect the nu-nu (insect or grub).
1991 P. Barton S. Afr. Environment Friendly Hsehold Hints 105Not only does it (sc. the cardboard box) break down, but it also forms a protection against worms and other garden ‘nunus’.
1985 A. Goosen Informant, Grahamstown (now Makhanda, Eastern Cape)In Natal one might find a nunu in the kaya.
1992 A. Alexander in Afr. Wildlife Vol.46 No.6, 261The word ‘nu-nu’ was created in South Africa to denote a particular class of animals that are usually quite small, strange in their ways and little known. Bladder grasshoppers, or pneumorids..fit this description almost perfectly.
1993 Weekend Post 25 Sept. 4If you also wonder what that noonoo, long-legged beastie or simple birdcall is, the museum is the place to be. Wednesday sees the creepy-crawlies feature in a talk on ‘Goggas and NooNoos, Long-leggedy Beasties and Things that Go Bump in the Night’.
A term of endearment (particularly to a child); a nickname.
gogga sense 1. Also figurative.
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colloquial
rare or nonce
num-num, nounn.Nusas, nounn.
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