Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa Polite response (hesitant question) pls

Heard an expression -- PH's shouting a word to get elephants or lions to back off in sticky situations. Thanks to final 'Common phrases' (tongue-in-cheek) page in "NYATI" I now have the spelling. I think it is probably, shall we say a rude word, and may mean something like an English phrase ending in " ___ off!". Okay, please enlighten an overly curious American who watches so many hunting videos...

What exactly -- I'm wide open here -- is the meaning of "Vootsak!"

Thanks awfully :-)

BNagel

A quick google says it's Afrikaans for "Go away" or "Get out".

SOS

Saw that and the 'Imshi' equivalent in Kipling.
What is the Afrikaans literal meaning? More than just 'scram' methinks.
B

Common spelling is "voetsek".

It's Afrikaans .. crude for scram or just go away, folk of Brit origin would more likely relate to it as "bugger off" as it literally means the same thing.

Dependent on how hairy it gets "f$@#k off" or any favourite expletive hollered out loud is most often pressed into use... a loud and guttural "voetsek" rolls of the tongue very nicely

Ive thrown my arms up in the air, stretched out tall etc to make myself look as big and human in profile as possible while shouting "voeeerrrtsek bliskem" ... to get the beasties attention ... and have them back down ... helps vent adrenalin and gets my neckhairs to settle back into place

Dankie, man! That's what I was hunting for. I couldn't tell what the chaps were saying -- sounded like "patrek" or something.

Barry

From Urban Dictionary site www.urbandictionary.com

1. Voetsek

Afrikaans for 'Get lost'.
(Not a swear word! but rather crude like English 'bog off')
Used a lost by Anglo Africans.
(Means litreally in Afrikans, 'Tie your feet up'. I.e. 'Stop following me'.)

Trader: Buy dees vely cheep shuz.
Guy: No thanks dude.
Trader: Sir, u must buy dees vely cheep shuz.
Guy: No thanks.
Trader: Hey sir, I tell you, you must buy dees vely cheep shuz.
Guy: Hey, just votsek man!

...VOETSEK, the license plate on my '94 Jeep Wrangler.

Just a bit more on the origins of the term Voetsek! - derived from the Dutch phrase - ' Voort seg ik! ' - meaning ' Forward say I '.

Of course South Africans prefer a shortened version of practically everything, so that meaning was transformed into a slightly irreverent way to tell someone to bugger off and stop bugging me!