Did you ever watch the one and only version of South Africa’s Celebrity Big Brother?
If so, you might have noticed that the late Bill Flynn used the words “Gooie” and “Gees” regularly.
Have you ever wondered what these words mean?
The basic meaning of these words are “throw” and “spirit”.
But my research has found that there are historic links to both words that go back to the dawning of the history of South Africa.
My ongoing thesaurus testing of these words has been trying to prove that they might have been the first words EVER recorded on South African soil!
But back to my research findings:
The word “Gooie” was first documented in 1652 when Jan van Riebeeck landed at the Cape.
He was heard to shout “Gooie” just before he stepped ashore.
Extensive forensic testing of original Charl Paauw tapes shows that what he actually said was “Gooie den [expletive deleted] anker!
Meaning, “Drop the [expletive deleted] anchor!
Unfortunately, or fortunately for us the rest of the interview tape was destroyed by irate penguins who attacked Charl Paauw for disturbing their mating season.
As for the word “Gees”…
Early settlers in the Eastern Cape were known to have used this word.
In 1820 the British arrived in what was to become Port Elizabeth.
Once again Charl Paauw was there to record the event…he does get around, doesn’t he?
Tapes that survived from that landing have revealed that the present word was actually a corruption of the words “Give us”, but spoken in a broad Cockney accent.
The locals could not understand the settlers and took the words as “Gees” and with true South African hospitality they preceded to supply the new arrivals with the local mampoer.
Hence the Settlers eventually found themselves in Grahamstown instead of Mossel Bay where they were headed.
Bill Flynn took these words and turned them into expressions of co-operation and fun.
So, if you are ever feeling depressed, just shout the words out LOUDLY
“GOOIE”… “GEES”
And before you know it…Charl Paauw will be there to interview you.
For Bill Flynn…
Gone to soon!
1948-2007.
