Tweet
Names that stick
published: Friday | November 16, 2007
Latoya Grindley, Features Writer
In nicknames are a large part of our culture. Whether you like it or not, when you're pinned with a nickname and it sticks, it's likely to stay with you until death, and perhaps even longer. If you've ever scanned the obituaries in this newspaper, you would realise just how many of us have nicknames.
A nickname is sometimes considered desirable, but can often be a form of ridicule.
Quite often, these nicknames are derived from the person's physical appearance or some habit that he or she has. They are probably not the most flattering names, but in most cases, people reluctantly grow to accept them.
When you hear someone shouting 'Blacks', you know immediately that the person being hailed is someone of a dark complexion, and when you hear 'Reds' you can safely assume that it's the complete opposite. 'Nose' is a insult, a name given to persons whose noses occupy an abnormally large section of their faces.
One brave man who goes by this less than complimentary title, explained how he got it.
"Boy, I hear that from the day I born and my mother see me all she could say was look pon him nose. And when I leave hospital and people start see me, they use to comment on my nose. So, I guess they just name me off the most outstanding part of me - my famous nose," he said.
He said that when he was younger, having such a name did not trouble him, but as he grew older approaching his teen years he got more conscious of it.
Did not like it
"When I leave the yout dem who use to live in my community and used to go with me would call me 'Nose', and I never like it man. I did feel a way 'bout it, especially when a girl a pass because is not just the name either, but is the way how it sound too, especially when them on top of them voice."
Nevertheless, his attempts at persuading his friends and even family to desist from calling him Nose only backfired, as even those who didn't know him then know him only as Nose now.
Then there is . His name came about while playing with childhood friends. "One day we did a play marble and it was my time and one of the other yute dem look on me and seh, eeh eeeh my yute how you face look like chicken suh? And from dat, mi name Chicken." The name, he said, was one he hated but couldn't escape, and now he says, except for immediate family, everyone in his community knows him as Chicken.
Accepting the name
Tippa was given his name based on his physical make-up. He said he was the recipient of such a name due to a birth condition, resulting in one of his legs being longer than the other. "Is when I get older that people start call me suh. I did get vex 'bout it at first, but true them constantly call me suh, I just accept it. Nobody no really know me by no other name," he said. Other common nicknames in Jamaica are 'Muss Muss', which is supposedly the Jamaican vernacular for a rat, 'Wingy', which is popular among people who are small in size, and 'Rat Bat'. There really is no way to escape being pinned with a nickname, especially in Jamaica, where they have almost become a rite of passage.
published: Friday | November 16, 2007
Latoya Grindley, Features Writer
In nicknames are a large part of our culture. Whether you like it or not, when you're pinned with a nickname and it sticks, it's likely to stay with you until death, and perhaps even longer. If you've ever scanned the obituaries in this newspaper, you would realise just how many of us have nicknames.
A nickname is sometimes considered desirable, but can often be a form of ridicule.
Quite often, these nicknames are derived from the person's physical appearance or some habit that he or she has. They are probably not the most flattering names, but in most cases, people reluctantly grow to accept them.
When you hear someone shouting 'Blacks', you know immediately that the person being hailed is someone of a dark complexion, and when you hear 'Reds' you can safely assume that it's the complete opposite. 'Nose' is a insult, a name given to persons whose noses occupy an abnormally large section of their faces.
One brave man who goes by this less than complimentary title, explained how he got it.
"Boy, I hear that from the day I born and my mother see me all she could say was look pon him nose. And when I leave hospital and people start see me, they use to comment on my nose. So, I guess they just name me off the most outstanding part of me - my famous nose," he said.
He said that when he was younger, having such a name did not trouble him, but as he grew older approaching his teen years he got more conscious of it.
Did not like it
"When I leave the yout dem who use to live in my community and used to go with me would call me 'Nose', and I never like it man. I did feel a way 'bout it, especially when a girl a pass because is not just the name either, but is the way how it sound too, especially when them on top of them voice."
Nevertheless, his attempts at persuading his friends and even family to desist from calling him Nose only backfired, as even those who didn't know him then know him only as Nose now.
Then there is . His name came about while playing with childhood friends. "One day we did a play marble and it was my time and one of the other yute dem look on me and seh, eeh eeeh my yute how you face look like chicken suh? And from dat, mi name Chicken." The name, he said, was one he hated but couldn't escape, and now he says, except for immediate family, everyone in his community knows him as Chicken.
Accepting the name
Tippa was given his name based on his physical make-up. He said he was the recipient of such a name due to a birth condition, resulting in one of his legs being longer than the other. "Is when I get older that people start call me suh. I did get vex 'bout it at first, but true them constantly call me suh, I just accept it. Nobody no really know me by no other name," he said. Other common nicknames in Jamaica are 'Muss Muss', which is supposedly the Jamaican vernacular for a rat, 'Wingy', which is popular among people who are small in size, and 'Rat Bat'. There really is no way to escape being pinned with a nickname, especially in Jamaica, where they have almost become a rite of passage.
Comment