Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. showy, arrogant.

1977		‘Blossom’ in Darling 31 Aug. 131: Blue eye shadow, orange blusher, [...] her best diamante drop ear-rings. Talk about larny! Auntie Vilma would put a rainbow to shame any day [DSAE].
1982		informant in DSAE.
1986		Sophiatown in M. Orkin At the Junction (1995) 191: Aah! A larnie Hollandse photographer!

2. rich; expensive.

1975		informant in DSAE.
1982		Sun. Times (Jo’burg) 6 June [Mag. Sect.] The Bee-ems and other larney cars filled with businessmen and their birds out for a bit of this and that [DSAE].
1985		Weekly Mail (S. Afr.) 1 Nov. 17: Very laanie, and so it should be at the prices of the drinks, is Churchill’s in the Landdrost [DSAE].
1993		D. Biggs in Rhodent 24: Plonk de plonk: [...] Known in larney circles as Blanc de blanc, but that’s very pretentious and means more or less the same [DSAE].
1999		Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) 27 Nov. 🌐 I was [...] shocked at discovering the kugel version of the infamous township chop-chop in a reasonably laanie suburb.
2006		M. Orford Like Clockwork 104: I got the music scholarship to the larnnie school I’m at now. [Ibid.] 205: It’s mos That farm for mad people. Larnie loonies, hey?

3. intellectually sophisticated.

1986		L.A. Barnes in Eng. Usage in Southern Africa XVII:2 3: The word lahnee [...] has been adopted into general SAE slang (lamey) with the usual meaning of ‘smart’ or ‘grand’ [DSAE].
1991		informat in DSAE (1996) .