witblits, noun

/ˈvətbləts/
Forms:
Also witblitz, and with initial capital.
Origin:
AfrikaansShow more Afrikaans, wit white + blits lightning.
a. mampoer. b. A colourless raw spirit, usually (illicitly) home-distilled from grape by-products after the grapes have been pressed for wine-making, but sometimes made from the fermented juice of other fruits; blits; white lightning, see white adjective sense 2. Cf. dop noun sense 2 a i, withond. Also attributive.
1934 Sunday Times 8 Apr. (Swart)‘Wit blits’ (white lightning) was the name given to peach brandy in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court yesterday.
1936 C. Birkby Thirstland Treks 225A bottle of..the harsh home-distilled brandy nicknamed wit blits or chain lightning.
1948 Cape Times 21 July 16In cases of snakebite people on the platteland have always run for the witblitz.
1963 J. Packer Home from Sea 172His thoughts, combined with the effects of the witblitz, seemed to pain him.
1966 Economist (U.K.) 12 Mar. 1044Coloured people are drinking less, particularly the favoured types of plonk known affectionately as witblitz..and skokiaan.
1971 L.G. Green Taste of S.-Easter 204Some farmers made witblitz, others matured the sort of brandy that became liquid sunshine.
1980 Rand Daily Mail 7 Oct. 5Mampoer, witblits and skokiaan — if you’ve ever stayed on a country farm you’ll have heard of this evil trio of home-brewed liquors. Mampoer comes from peaches, witblits from grapes, and skokiaan is a witches’ brew of tartaric powder, yeast, and a rather eerie imagination.
1983 S. Afr. Panorama Apr. 22Witblitz is made from fermented grapes, apples, peaches, pears, apricots or plums, each with its own distinctive flavour and a high alcohol content.
1988 D. Hughes et al. Complete Bk of S. Afr. Wine 332Witblits was a rough local brandy which was made by distilling the wet mash of skins and pips left at the bottom of the tank when the fermented must had been run off.
1991 Personality 6 May 24A few slugs of mampoer (also known as witblits (white lightning)..).
1992 [see boeremeisie sense 2].
A colourless raw spirit, usually (illicitly) home-distilled from grape by-products after the grapes have been pressed for wine-making, but sometimes made from the fermented juice of other fruits; blits; white lightning, see white adjective sense 2.
Derivatives:
Hence witblits  adjective  nonce, fast, speedy.
1992 Weekly Mail 6 Mar. 2Along the trail with a witblitz FW.
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19341992

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witblits, adj.

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rare or nonce
wissel, verb intransitivev.witchdoctor, nounn.
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