Boers and Other Sundry Topicks

[Steven Maas (CUTR)]

On Tue, 27 May 1997, Sojourner wrote:
> We think of the Boers as the Afrikaaners now, but it is one of those Sundry
> and Wily Historickal Misteaks.  The word "boer" itself means "red", and
> referred to the British soldiers in the Boer War (1800's i think early).
> The British, being fair-Skinned and Pallid Chaps, were Burnt quite Fully and
> Roundly by the Tropickal Sunne.  hehehe the original rednecks.  In any

This prompted me to look in the dictionary (Webster's Ninth New
Collegiate--hey it's all I've got here).

Boer: [D, lit., farmer--more at BOOR] (1834) A South African of Dutch or
Huguenot descent.

Boor: (1551) peasant.
(oh oh, let's not hear from the peasant anti-defamation foax now) 

A fairly long etymology suggesting that as I've always heard the Boers
were always the Dutch farmers. . . 

If only all of the South Africans hadn't quit the list so they could clear
this up.

	Steve Maas