Meaning & use
takkie
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Meaning
nouncountableinformalregional
A soft casual shoe with a rubber sole, such as a canvas shoe or sports shoe, in South African English.
Grammar: Countable but usually plural: a pair of takkies; one takkie means a single shoe.
Patterns
- a pair of takkies
He grabbed his takkie from under the bed and hurried out.
She wore her old takkies to the school sports day.
I need new takkies before the cross-country race.
Word forms
| plural | takkies |
|---|
Common combinations
- a pair of takkies
- He bought a pair of takkies for the school trip.
- put on your takkies
- Put on your takkies and let's go for a run.
- white takkies
- The children wore white takkies with their uniforms.
- worn-out takkies
- His worn-out takkies were falling apart at the sole.
Synonyms and how they differ
- sneaker
- Sneaker is the American term for the same kind of shoe, while takkie is specific to South African speech.
- trainer
- Trainer is the British word for a sports shoe, whereas takkie is used in South Africa.
- plimsoll
- Plimsoll is British and old-fashioned, and usually means a thin canvas shoe, while takkie covers many casual shoes.
Word family
Commonly confused: takkie or tacky?
takkie vs tacky
Tacky means cheap or in poor taste, or slightly sticky. It is unrelated to takkie, the South African word for a sports shoe.
Practice
In South Africa, a child who says 'Where are my takkies?' is looking for ___.
Choose one answer.
Takkies are casual canvas or sports shoes in South African English. Nothing in the word relates to bags, snacks or coats, so those do not fit.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “takkie”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.