padkos, noun

Forms:
Also padkost, pat-koss.
Origin:
Afrikaans, DutchShow more Afrikaans, pad road + kos (earlier Dutch kost) food.
Food for a journey; provisions. Also attributive, and figurative.
[1786 G. Forster tr. of A. Sparrman’s Voy. to Cape of G.H. I. 70A luncheon of bread and butter doubled together, and stuffed into my coat-pocket by my host and hostess, by way of (weegkost) or provision for my journey.]
1849 R. Gray Jrnls of Two Visitations I. 95Having got careless as to our ‘pat-cop’ [sic] as we approached home, we fared but badly, and finished our meal by a draught of not the clearest water in the world.
1851 R. Gray Jrnls of Two Visitations II. 173I was not allowed to depart without a good supply of pad-koss, and other comforts provided by the kindness of the parishioners.
1895 in Funk’s Std Dict.Padkost.
1913 C. Pettman Africanderisms 279‘Veld kos’ is such food as the veld will furnish; ‘Pad kos’, provisions for a journey.
1950 Cape Times 19 Sept. 14With apples, biscuits and fish and chips as padkos, Mr. C.J. Kirstein..arrived..from Cape Town..in 12 hours, 45 minutes.
1957 Cape Times 3 Apr. 9One thing the South African Railways have always had to contend with is South Africa’s habit of taking along ‘padkos’ on a journey.
1966 F.G. Butler Take Root or Die (1970) 59As I am about to embark on the most important journey of my life, your gifts are most opportune. I shall be needing padkos.
1968 L.G. Green Full Many Glorious Morning 12There have always been travellers who have preferred to carry their own padkos, and Piggot recalled a family man who boarded the train with eight roast chickens and a bucket of baked potatoes.
1972 J. Clarke in Argus 18 Mar. (Mag. Sect.) 6Before it (sc. the swallow) can make the flight it must put on a large amount of fat — virtually ‘padkos’ food for the road.
1973 A. Fugard in S. Gray Writers’ Territory 130Basket of padkos — buttered slices of bread, one cold mutton chop, flask of black coffee.
1974 Daily Dispatch 20 July 8The vast numbers of people on the train were evidently well stacked with ‘pad-kos’ and there were only 20-odd (some very odd) people in the dining car.
1980 E. Prov. Herald 30 JulyThe continuing and increasing demand for South Africa’s traditional ‘padkos’ snack — biltong.
1982 E. Prov. Herald 23 Sept.Any parent knows that travelling with children means taking ‘padkos’. And ‘Padkos’, providing welcome change, is more than simple nourishment on a long car journey.
1989 T. Botha in Style June 11The red bag on the back seat..contains the soulfood of the long-distance driver. The valium of the N1. Padkos. Sarmies, biltong, beers, Cokes, chips, Nux bars and indigestion.
1994 R. Kinnear in Flying Springbok June 32Even the kids seemed relaxed on the way home, happy to admire the drifts of cosmos and wild flowers banked on the side of the road while munching a padkos picnic supplied by the hotel.
Food for a journey; provisions. Also attributive, and figurative.
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