BARBADOS IS ONE of the sweetest places in the world to live.
Life here, though financially crippling at times, can be very easy-going and it is because Bajans are some of the sweetest people in the world, no matter how wutless we may behave from time to time.
Our mannerisms and language make us unique and no one else can truly imitate a Bajan because they do not fully understand our language. Although English may be our “official” language, dialect is the true language of the people.
Different dialects
So much so that different parishes have their own version of dialect. For example, a bag in St Lucy is not really a bag; it now becomes a beg.
So if you hear a Bajan tell you, “unnuh, unnuh mudda want unnuh’, it simply means that your mother requests your presence.
Or if someone tells you “reverse back”, be ye not confused by the redundancy, because that person simply wants you to reverse, the “back” is just the direction in which they wish for you to reverse.
Then there is my personal favourite; “Somebody please lower up de TV.”
Once again this command is simple and all you need to do is raise the volume from its current lowered level to a higher one.
Our charm does not stop there, Bajans are true masters of the obvious and they prove this every day. You remember when you were young and in class the teacher said to you that there is no such thing as a stupid question?
Stupid questions
They lied! Stupid questions are out there and we have found the originators of them – Bajans!
I have recently cut my locs of ten years, and people come up to me and say: “Yuh cut yuh hair?” I used to offer simple answers like, “Yea, it was time to cut dem, man”, but now I tired, I simply say “nah dem still dey – is just dat I got in some invisible holding gel.”
Or yuh could be in de supermarket, with things in the trolley, in de cashier line and some smart body would say, “wait , yuh shopping?”
But the most stupidest one I’ve heard is when someone will see a woman with a big belly, doing the pregnant waddle, at the prenatal clinic and ask, “wait, you pregnant?”
If that was me I would have simply responded with a straight face and say “No, I eat two breadfruits and dem ain’t digest properly.” Look, man, if you doubt me, ask me.
No matter how hard things get in sweet ol’ Bim there ain’t another place I would want to call home.
I am Toni-Ann “Acka” Johnson. Love, peace and Mazola Corn Oil.
• Toni-Ann Johnson is an actress versed in the area of comedy. Email: toniann.johnson@gmail.com
