Well attestedNamed from the place
stellenbosch
verb · first attested 20th century
A South African town became a verb for sidelining someone.
To move an incompetent officer to a harmless post.
-33.9367°S 18.8614°E · Q5460
Record
- Relationship
- Named from the place
- Confidence
- Well attestedThe place link is the standard scholarly account.
- Attested
- 20th century
- Part of speech
- verb
Explanations here are written for this atlas. Dictionary text is not copied; the sources are linked so the claim can be checked.
- Step 1
Stellenbosch
- In English
stellenbosch
During the South African War, officers judged unfit were sent to a remount depot at Stellenbosch. The town's name became the word for the manoeuvre.
South Africa
All 5 entries 4 more words from South Africa
KopiteThe word for a Liverpool fan comes from a hill in KwaZulu-Natal where Liverpool men died in 1900.Spion KopmbobomkuliteOne South African cave yielded three new minerals in a single paper.MpumalangaorangeiteThe rock was renamed in 1995 for a republic that had stopped existing in 1902.Orange Free State ProvincezeerustA joke dictionary handed out spare meanings to place names, and this one escaped into science fiction criticism.Zeerust