bus kanaka

Definition

An uncivilized person; a person who follows a traditional rather than a modern lifestyle.

Etymology

From Tok Pisin bus kanaka.

Example Sentences

• "[…] for some more sophisticated coastal people there was merely the shame at being led by a bush kanaka, […]"
• "Fuyuge men recount with humor their initial encounters with life in Port Moresby during the 1950s. They speak of travelling to the coast in their bark-cloths and realising upon their arrival that they were inappropriately dressed: “We immediately felt bus kanaka [wild, uncivilized].”"
• "Sam’s blues and boots disappeared into his small backpack, his beret was pushed back onto the head at a very jaunty angle and the .303 was slung carelessly over the shoulder. A torn pair of shorts completed the ensemble. In the twinkling of an eye, the immaculate policeman was transformed into a ragged bush kanaka […]"