oupa, noun

/ˈəʊpa/
Forms:
Also o'pa, ou'pa.
Origin:
Afrikaans, DutchShow more Afrikaans (Dutch opa), from oud old + pa father. Cf. ou adjective sense 1 a.
Grandfather, grandpa; informally, any elderly man (but particularly an elderly Afrikaans man). Cf. ouma.
1. A respectful form of address or reference.
Note:
Sometimes substituted for the second person pronoun ‘you’, the respectful third-person form of address in Afrikaans (see quotation 1963).
1915 D. Fairbridge Torch Bearer 71‘Ou’pa has gone for a drive and Ou’ma is sick in bed,’ he said in jerky English.
1916 S. Black in S. Gray Three Plays (1984) 190I say, Tickey, listen to Oupa, he’s got some work to do.
1926 P. Smith Beadle (1929) 288‘Come in then, Ou-pa’ she said. ‘Come in then and see the little grandson that you have with his round bald head.’
1952 Drum Jan. 27He was a real Christian, and said that we should call him ‘oupa’ instead of ‘Oubaas’, because we were all his children. He never called anyone a ‘kaffir’.
1963 A.M. Louw 20 Days 268Adriaan and the girl Lucille appeared in the door of the breakfast room. ‘Is Oupa ill?’ asked Adriaan. ‘Is there anything we can do?’
1981 Sunday Times 15 Nov. 21The Brits folk long ago lost faith in radio weather forecasts. They’d far sooner rely on their own feelings..or the pain in the bones of ‘Oupa’ on the farm next door.
1982 Fair Lady 27 Jan. 141I wallowed in the security, the unchanging ways of my Oupa’s house.
1990 Fair Lady 6 June 110Our children have only benefited from having 24-hour grandparents. There is no pressure to visit Ouma and Oupa — they are there for the children and the children enjoy them.
2. A title, with a name.
1920 [see Nooitgedacht sense 1].
1935 H.C. Bosman Mafeking Rd (1969) 44By this time it was dark. Oupa van Tonder, an old farmer who was very keen on debates, lit an oil lamp that he had brought with him and put it on the table.
1953 U. Krige Dream & Desert 13That only other death he had known, the death of his grandfather three years ago. Oupa Kotze had died in his sleep.
1970 Forum Vol.6 No.2, 46They had been the pride of Oupa Marais and would last forever.
1975 Sunday Times 23 Mar. 484-year old Oupa Phillip Robyntjies, one of the oldest and most respected residents of the village.
1979 Pace Sept. 28Oupa Hlongwane spend his day basking in the sun and wondering where the next meal will come from.
3. A common noun.
1945 Outspan 20 July 37I have shown my old film..in hundreds of towns and dorps right through South Africa..to the ooms and oupas of the platteland.
1948 O. Walker Kaffirs Are Lively 71The Oupa — grandfather — it seems, had a vivid dream that he went to heaven.
1959 J. Meiring Candle in Wind 16She laughed a little to herself as she remembered the old oupa who had come down from Middleburg [sic] to visit the Stompies family.
1965 K. Mackenzie Deserter 83My oupa fought the kaffirs to get this farm and he fought them to keep it, as did also my Pa.
1977 M.P. Gwala Jol’iinkomo 31Heard a foreman say ‘boy’ to a labouring oupa.
4. Special Combinations
oupa clause, a provision in legislation allowing for the age of retirement to be extended in certain professions;
oupa juice, liquor.
1986 Financial Mail 17 Jan. 58Estate agents, quantity surveyors and architects were among those allowed to continue working in terms of the oupa clauses when legislation was introduced to control their professions.
1990 Sunday Star 11 Mar. (Mag. Sect.) 26A row of low built in cupboards against a wall hides a TV set.., three shelves of what Marais describes as his ‘Oupa juice’ and, finally, a built in fridge.
Grandfather, grandpa; informally, any elderly man (but particularly an elderly Afrikaans man).
A respectful form of address or reference.
A title, with a name.
A common noun.
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oumissus, nounn.oupagrootjie, nounn.
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