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Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature / poetry | | Afrikaans term or phrase: rot en kaal | in a poem by Charl-Pierre Naudé:
Alles wat aan my behoort, het ek dié dag verloor.
Besteel, rot en kaal, totaal onverwags. |
|  Lindsay EdwardsKudoZ activityQuestions: 50 ( 2 open) ( 2 without valid answers) ( 1 closed without grading) Answers: 90
| Local time: 23:58
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| | English translation:stripped of everything, left with nothing | Explanation:
rot en kaal = an expression deriving from "een kale rot", which means someone who has nothing.
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Note added at 5 hrs (2010-01-02 04:19:22 GMT)
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if it's a question of money, rather than possessions... "stone broke"
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| Selected response from:
 Bryan Crumpler
United States
Local time: 17:58
| Grading comment Thanks all of you!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer |
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| Discussion entries: 0 |
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Automatic update in 00:
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6 hrs confidence:   peer agreement (net): +1
11 hrs confidence: peer agreement (net): +1 everything (was stolen)
Explanation:
The expression "rot en kaal" in Afrikaans is used almost exclusively as an adjective to "steel" (steal, rob) or similar words, and in that sense the expression simply means "totally" or "everything".
Kaal literally means naked, but is also used in idiomatic expressions about being robbed or about loss, as in "kaal uittrek" (literally, take off all your clothes; figuratively, take all your money).
The poem reads "Besteel, rot en kaal..." but this word order is poetic license, and it would usually be "rot en kaal besteel".
Here is the portion of the poem you quote:
Alles wat aan my behoort, het ek dié dag verloor.
Besteel, rot en kaal, totaal onverwags.
Everything that belong(ed) to me, I lost on this/that day.
Robbed, (of) everything, completely unexpectedly.
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Note added at 11 hrs (2010-01-02 10:47:58 GMT)
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Adjective? I meant adverb (or rather, adverbial phrase).
| Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 23:58
Works in field
Native speaker of:  Afrikaans
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The translation workplace 
