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vuvuzela love

vuvuzela

Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A long, usually plastic horn producing a single raucous tone and sounded by spectators at sporting events, especially in South Africa, as to encourage a team.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A trumpet-shaped horn, now usually plastic, that produces a loud buzzing sound.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Of Zulu origin, perhaps from Zulu vuvu, imitative word expressing the idea of swelling up (perhaps in reference to the puffing out of the cheeks when blowing the vuvuzela), or akin to -vuvu in isivuvu, bullroarer, and imitative of the vuvuzela's sound.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Zulu vuvuzela ("to make a vuvu noise"). Directly translated vuvu-ing. Because of the /vuː/ sound that comes from the plastic horn.

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Examples

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forms (1)

Forms

  1. vuvuzelist

Comments

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  • mukhtarm1 commented on the word vuvuzela

    Trumpet like instrument, made from cheap plastic, originating in South Africa, blown (with some difficulty) at football or soccer matches, making a loud 'voooooo'sound. Very annoying pitch, esp when heard on TV, very popular in South Africa, no patent as yet but may be pending..

    June 23, 2009

  • john commented on the word vuvuzela

    “But it is the vuvuzela, a cheap plastic horn, that may be the lasting South African symbol of the 2010 games, said Mr. Alegi, a scholar of soccer at Michigan State University.”

    The New York Times, South Africa Pushes to Make World Cup Its Own, by Celia W. Dugger, May 23, 2010

    May 24, 2010

  • bilby commented on the word vuvuzela

    Arguably, reesetee, they do sound awful :-(

    May 24, 2010

  • reesetee commented on the word vuvuzela

    Ha! *holds hands over ears*

    May 24, 2010

  • kewpid commented on the word vuvuzela

    They make watching the World Cup a pain in the you know where.

    June 15, 2010

  • bilby commented on the word vuvuzela

    It's said that turning down the 300 megahertz channel on your equaliser or digital box helps.

    June 15, 2010

  • khotmail commented on the word vuvuzela

    Funny preview of teams playing in 2010 south africa world cup

    http://nplusonemag.com/world-cup-preview

    June 17, 2010

  • hernesheir commented on the word vuvuzela

    New bumper sticker idea: Save The Lepapatatas.

    June 17, 2010

  • hernesheir commented on the word vuvuzela

    lepatata - Tswana/Setswana term for a type of stadium horn, a.k.a. vuvuzela.

    June 17, 2010

  • bilby commented on the word vuvuzela

    There's also the kuduzela.

    June 18, 2010

  • oroboros commented on the word vuvuzela

    An EXCELLENT use of the vuvuzela! Oh, yeah!

    September 24, 2010

  • hernesheir commented on the word vuvuzela

    Did anyone else notice the vuvuzelas among the uniformed spectators during the recent annual (2010) Army-Navy college football game?

    December 19, 2010