α. 1800s– haikonna, 1900s– haikhona, 1900s– haikona, 1900s– hykona, 1900s– hy 'kona.
β. 1900s– i'kona, 1900s– ikona.
γ. 1900s– aikhona, 1900s– aikona, 1900s– ai-kona, 1900s– ayikona.
δ. 1900s– hayi khona, 1900s– hayikhona, 1900s– hayikona.
aikonaadj.int.
/ʌɪˈkɔːnə/, U.S. /aɪˈkɔnə/, /aɪˈkɑnə/, South African English /aɪˈkɔːnə/ South African colloquial.
A. adj.
No; not any; not.
ΚΠ
1899 S. T. Plaatje Boer War Diary (1973) 1 No thunder. Haikonna terror; and I have therefore got ample opportunity to sit down and think.
1916 G. A. Chamberlain John Bogardus xxxiv. 280 ‘Aikona flor, baas,’ he said to John... ‘What's he saying?’ John laughed... ‘He 's apologizing because there are no flowers.’
1941 N. Devitt Celebrated S. Afr. Crimes (1945) 120 ‘Hands up!’ The robber shouted ‘Ikona hands up!’ swung round and fired.
1963 M. Kavanagh We Merry Peasants 142 He was immediately indignant to be considered as youthful as that: ‘Aikona piccanin, madam.’
1992 T. Couzens Tramp Royal xvi. 435 ‘Aikona amputation,’ he shouted, unwilling to imitate Tommy Bamber in this one respect only.
B. int.
Used as an emphatic negative: ‘no’, ‘certainly not’, ‘never’, ‘no way!’
ΚΠ
1901 P. T. Ross Yeoman's Lett. i. 92 We spotted a Kaffir village and..enquired at every kraal for eggs, but, alas, they had none, ‘I'kona’, signifying the negative.
1911 D. Blackburn & W. W. Caddell Secret Service 70 He passed the detective office and whispered ‘Ikona’—that most comprehensive negative in any language.
1936 P. M. Clark Autobiogr. Old Drifter 173 I was asked to address the meeting. ‘Ikona!’ said I. ‘Nothing doing!’
1946 Forum (S. Afr.) 16 Mar. 19 ‘Isn't the curfew meant for you?’ Loafer: ‘Aikona. It's for the white women.’
1985 Style (S. Afr.) Oct. 39/1 You'll hear them (especially those Natal chaps) shaking their heads and muttering ‘aikona!’ or ‘yebo!’ depending on whether they agree or not.
1992 A. Fugard Playland (1994) 49 Aikona! Aikona Martinus! Suka! Leave it now.
2011 Cape Argus (Nexis) 24 Sept. 24 We cannot approve when a black judge is being viciously attacked in public..and respond with outrage when a white judge is being attacked. Aikona!
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, September 2012; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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adj.int.1899