donga
/ˈdɒŋɡə
/noun
1South African & Australian /NZ A dry gully, formed by the eroding action of running water.For decades too it had no storm water drainage, resulting in potholes and dongas opening up....
- According to a report tabled by the provincial standing committee on public works - which toured the province in June to assess roads and infrastructure - bridges are collapsing and dongas are developing.
- Some people have even requested that the traffic department not issue fines for unroadworthy vehicles because their cars had been damaged by dongas in the roads…
2Australian A temporary, usually transportable, dwelling.Sometimes when we talked they would use a new or unfamiliar word: they might say that they had gone out to the apple for a few days, or that they were sharing their donga with three other people....
- The local Aboriginal workers - most of whom have never had a job before - live in the same dongas and eat in the same mess as all other employees.
- She had to get up at 3.30 am one morning to cook breakfast for 80 or 90 miners who were living out in dongas out the back.
3Australian The bush; the remote countryside.
Origin
sense 1 from Xhosa and Zulu udonga; sense 2 is said to stem from an extended usage of the term in the Boer War.