Black Maria again

[Lynne Murphy]

A South African police van is a "kwela-kwela"  (from Nguni for 'climb
in') or a "pick-up (van)".  (What Americans call a "pick-up" is called a
"bakkie" there.)

They do have a color-inspired name for police Casspirs (armored
personnel vehicles--they look like tanks):  "mellow yellow".  They are
indeed yellow, and they sell Mellow Yellow soda in SA, so the comparison
is to a big can of soda.  The defense Casspirs are brownish and are
nicknamed after animals--buffel (buffalo), hippo, olifant, etc.

You also have the color+feminine name pattern for at least one gun,
Brown Bess, and in SA that is sometimes called a "Sanna" (short for
Susanna).  But then again, we also have color + feminine name for
desserts (Brown Betty).

Color + male name?  I have a book that says "Brown Bill" = "brown Bess,"
but I can't think of any others that refer to inanimates.

Lynne

--

M. Lynne Murphy, Assistant Professor in Linguistics
Department of English, Baylor University
PO Box 97404, Waco, TX 76798 USA
Phone:  254-710-6983     Fax:  254-710-3894
http://www.baylor.edu/~M_Lynne_Murphy