The Art of Being a Trini...
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Being Trinbagonian is an art form. I’m sure being from any Island Is. Here is some insight though into why being Trinidadian is such a difficult task unless you were BORN into it...Feel free to add more as you think of them
You refer to all salt crackers as "Crix".
You know the meaning of the word "Obzokie". ???
You go to parties for the food [well sometime…Friends I go for the Corn soup]... and the word free never quite had the same meaning.
Your recipe for making orange juice is plenty water, plenty sugar, plenty ice and only 2 orange... and Angostura bitters…
You say "Boy" at the beginning of a sentence and "man" or “Dread” at the end of it...and the words "Yes We" doesn't refer to any people, person or thing
"Priority" doesn't have anything to do with what you have to do right away.
You put ketchup and pepper sauce and Mustard on your pizza. Anchovies? Yuh losin' it or what?
Your cupboards are full of canned corned beef, Sardines, pepper sauce and red beans and baked beans ...and a dry coconut for the pelau.
You think steak is a waste of good meat. You rather cut it up and stew it with some potatoes instead ... or curry it and make roti.
You use your finger to measure the water when cooking rice.
You bring home food from a party.
You show disappointment by Steupsing, sucking on your teeth...and You can conjugate "ah steupse" by age four (three if yuh smart)
You call a soda a "sweet drink" and an Avocado, a "Zaboca". and you go to the shoprite clerk and ask them "whe allyuh have de Breeze?" meaning "where is the laundry detergent?".
You say "Whappenin" even at a funeral…
You tell the host "Good Night" when you arrive at someone's home in the evening.
When someone pays you a compliment, you say "Doh mamaguy meh". When someone sympathises with you, you comment "Yuh think it easy?".
You refer to all sweet coloured juice as "Kool-Aid".
You call a quarter a "schilling" when this really means 24 cents.
You know that using "Blue" makes white clothes whiter.
Just because something is called a "bake" you don't assume that it indicates the way it was cooked.
You know that a Washy-kong bears no relationship to King Kong.
You know about straightening, pressing, S-curls and Gherri curls regardless of your ethnic background.
You have cancelled plans because of rain even when you're going to be indoors. Rain is also a legitimate reason to miss work.
All vaccinations are called injections. All dish washing detergents are called "Squezy".
You know of at least one person who wakes up at 4am to LISTEN to cricket from Australia / New Zealand on the RADIO.
On at least one occasion you have: been told that you have a cold in some part of your anatomy other than your head or chest and/or had a virus named after something popular with the times eg. Bionic, Ninja, the hijab and the sting.
Despite lack of interest, someone has tried to convince you of the benefits of taking a purge, or becoming a born again.
You can feel cold when it's 25° C.
You pronounce words in plural, even though it's meant to be singular, eg."gimme ah COKES" or "ah GRAPES".
You say "FLIM" (film), "AXE" (ask) or "PITIAH"(picture), "STATELLITE" (satellite), "CUTLASH" (cutlass). Maybe USED to say….or know somebody who still does.
You know what "Wukking a 10-days" is, and know darn well it's going to take much longer than 10 days.
You know the meaning of several indian words, eg. "dahl", "bahgee", "channa", "bharra", "chunkae", "bowgee" and use them in every day language and actually believe them to be the correct English terms. .
You know that a lime is not necessarily a fruit.
You call any 'older' woman "Tantie" and any 'older' man "Uncle", regardless of whether or not they are related to you or even know you.
You could sing an entire Parang song in Spanish word for word, but don't speak or understand a word of Spanish.
When in doubt of how to prepare something to eat ... CURRY is the always the solution. You know Trinis will curry any and everything (not just meat) even mango, fish, conch, chataigne, etc...
You can call your fellow "countryman" by an ethnic name and it would be ok,eg.chinee-man, creole, dougs, or pyol
You refer to all salt crackers as "Crix".
You know the meaning of the word "Obzokie". ???
You go to parties for the food [well sometime…Friends I go for the Corn soup]... and the word free never quite had the same meaning.
Your recipe for making orange juice is plenty water, plenty sugar, plenty ice and only 2 orange... and Angostura bitters…
You say "Boy" at the beginning of a sentence and "man" or “Dread” at the end of it...and the words "Yes We" doesn't refer to any people, person or thing
"Priority" doesn't have anything to do with what you have to do right away.
You put ketchup and pepper sauce and Mustard on your pizza. Anchovies? Yuh losin' it or what?
Your cupboards are full of canned corned beef, Sardines, pepper sauce and red beans and baked beans ...and a dry coconut for the pelau.
You think steak is a waste of good meat. You rather cut it up and stew it with some potatoes instead ... or curry it and make roti.
You use your finger to measure the water when cooking rice.
You bring home food from a party.
You show disappointment by Steupsing, sucking on your teeth...and You can conjugate "ah steupse" by age four (three if yuh smart)
You call a soda a "sweet drink" and an Avocado, a "Zaboca". and you go to the shoprite clerk and ask them "whe allyuh have de Breeze?" meaning "where is the laundry detergent?".
You say "Whappenin" even at a funeral…
You tell the host "Good Night" when you arrive at someone's home in the evening.
When someone pays you a compliment, you say "Doh mamaguy meh". When someone sympathises with you, you comment "Yuh think it easy?".
You refer to all sweet coloured juice as "Kool-Aid".
You call a quarter a "schilling" when this really means 24 cents.
You know that using "Blue" makes white clothes whiter.
Just because something is called a "bake" you don't assume that it indicates the way it was cooked.
You know that a Washy-kong bears no relationship to King Kong.
You know about straightening, pressing, S-curls and Gherri curls regardless of your ethnic background.
You have cancelled plans because of rain even when you're going to be indoors. Rain is also a legitimate reason to miss work.
All vaccinations are called injections. All dish washing detergents are called "Squezy".
You know of at least one person who wakes up at 4am to LISTEN to cricket from Australia / New Zealand on the RADIO.
On at least one occasion you have: been told that you have a cold in some part of your anatomy other than your head or chest and/or had a virus named after something popular with the times eg. Bionic, Ninja, the hijab and the sting.
Despite lack of interest, someone has tried to convince you of the benefits of taking a purge, or becoming a born again.
You can feel cold when it's 25° C.
You pronounce words in plural, even though it's meant to be singular, eg."gimme ah COKES" or "ah GRAPES".
You say "FLIM" (film), "AXE" (ask) or "PITIAH"(picture), "STATELLITE" (satellite), "CUTLASH" (cutlass). Maybe USED to say….or know somebody who still does.
You know what "Wukking a 10-days" is, and know darn well it's going to take much longer than 10 days.
You know the meaning of several indian words, eg. "dahl", "bahgee", "channa", "bharra", "chunkae", "bowgee" and use them in every day language and actually believe them to be the correct English terms. .
You know that a lime is not necessarily a fruit.
You call any 'older' woman "Tantie" and any 'older' man "Uncle", regardless of whether or not they are related to you or even know you.
You could sing an entire Parang song in Spanish word for word, but don't speak or understand a word of Spanish.
When in doubt of how to prepare something to eat ... CURRY is the always the solution. You know Trinis will curry any and everything (not just meat) even mango, fish, conch, chataigne, etc...
You can call your fellow "countryman" by an ethnic name and it would be ok,eg.chinee-man, creole, dougs, or pyol
2 comments
Oh.. and a Rite of passage from a girl to a woman is when you could make that noise with your hands when you're washing clothes....
ReplyDeleteYou say you going to play a sport not by the name but by the action, e.g Ah going an kick ball, or ah going an bounce ball.
ReplyDeleteYou know what a Voops is in cricket.
Tennis Balls are also known as Wind Ball.
You know sombody who "Reel Jokey".
You used to go to the beach and swim in your Jockey Shorts.
You went to school with Bubbles in your hair.
You know what a Bata Bullet is.
You used to go Theatre.
A trip to Royal Castle was a special Sunday treat.
You mother used send you in the shop.
You know that a yardie doesn't always refer to a Jamaican.