It's not always what you think

During the public service strike there was one very clever poster displayed on our TV-screens. In fact it was so clever that it was really a pity that the teacher who had her face framed by a hole in the middle of the poster was not in her class teaching. The poster did, however aptly describe how many of us also felt about the strike by then.

Above her head appeared the words: “we are” and under her chin there was just one word: “vol!” It clearly conveyed the message: “We are gatvol!”

Gatvol is one of those wonderfully versatile Afrikaans words that have also become embedded in the lexicon of what a special Oxford dictionary in its title calls South African English.

Most South Africans will probably, when they have to guess off the cuff where the word comes from, refer to a particular part of the human anatomy. But it is not what you think, really.

The Urban Dictionary tells us: “Pronounced: gaaat-fall. Meaning: very fed up or irritated. It is a South African word derived from the Afrikaans language but widely used in English (and some indigenous language conversation.) Literal translation: gat (ass or hole) vol(full). Probably intended to mean a dug hole full to the brim (‘up to your neck with…’), but given a slant by the double meaning of the word ‘gat’.”

This comes very close to the truth. Even to this day on many farms a big hole is dug outside smelling distance of the dwelling for the disposal of household waste. When it is full, and by then mostly quite smelly, it is covered by earth and a new hole is dug.

In years past it was often also referred to as the ash-hole,or asgat in Afrikaans, because that is also where the ash from the wooden stoves of the time was disposed of. From there comes another expression to describe someone, mostly a child, who is full of surprises and/or tricks as a real asgat.

Gatvol can also be used to say “I have had enough,” or “I am becoming extremely bored” with something or someone, “I just cannot take it anymore,” and many more – all depending on context.

The word and expression share the anatomical-misjudgment with another well-known Afrikaans expression often also used by English-speaking South Africans: Jy sal jou gat sien – you will see your gat or hole.

To what extent this expression became  what a friend of mine calls carnalised is illustrated by the fact that nowadays many would add to it “… without a mirror.”

Fact is that it originally meant: “you will see your own grave,” or “you are digging your own grave.”

It can be traced back to the days of the Anglo-Boer War, or the South African War if you prefer! The Boers had the tradition that when a traitor was caught he was made to dig his own grave before he had to face a firing squad.