View Message

Like most South Africans, I associate it with an international rugby player: Afrikaans speaker, so the pronunciation is very different. He was always known as Naas, and had a brother named Darius. Naas Botha was a brilliant player, but his strength was his ability to kick, mostly either scoring for his team or slowing down the game and frustrating the opposition: good for the scoreboard, bad for the game as fun and as a spectacle.

---

ETA I should mention that non-South African sports commentators/journalists had difficulty with Afrikaans pronunciation and also with Naas's unpopular style of play, and referred to him pointedly as Nasty Booter. Which he took as a tribute!

This message was edited 8/31/2021, 2:44 AM