ouma S. Afr.
(ˈəʊmə)
[Afrikaans = grandmother, f. ou old + ma mother.]
A name used in addressing or referring to one's grandmother or to an elderly woman.
| 1910 D. Fairbridge That which hath Been 42 A coloured person, mevrouw;—‘Ou'ma Jannetje’ she calls herself. 1929 P. Smith Little Karoo (rev. ed.) 181 Was it but three days ago..that Ou-ma had buried her son? 1937 S. Cloete Turning Wheels xxvii. 423 ‘I am sorry, Ouma,’ he said, ‘to find you like this.’ 1952 Cape Times 2 Sept. 14/3 Three drunk skollies approached her and asked whether ouma had no one to take her home. 1953 J. Packer Apes & Ivory iii. 28 Sybella Margaretha Krige, known to her friends as ‘Isie’ until the Second World War when the Springbok soldiers she helped so devotedly christened her ‘Ouma’ (Grannie). 1971 Cape Herald 15 May 2/9 But how does Ouma busy herself besides sweeping? |