Hyprophetically Speaking ...

This could actually be a fun thread here, if anyone else jumps in.

Given that our population is scattered over so many islands ... and that for years individual settlements on some of those islands were so separated from each other physically ... different dialects and accents grew naturally.

When I was a boy I could tell which settlement someone from Eleuthera was from just by their accent, and sometimes by word usage. I always used to think the folks from Point (that's Palmetto Point to the uninitiated) sounded so erudite ... they'd never say "I got your letter." It was "I received your letter." People from the Current were ever so sing-songy and "chile" was thrown in every other word, pronounced "choile".

'Conians (Abaconians) dropped the "H" off of ham and added one to "eggs" for "'am 'n' haigs" ... and they still do today. Some, as do Eleutherans, switch "v" and "w". Indeed we had a recent Prime Minister who always spoke about how important the "vimmen" were to his party! (Still does)

Besides that there are some phrases which we just seem to have a ton of fun messing around with.

"Old timers disease" ... when you forget a lot.
"High precious blood" can be really serious.
"Very close veins" are uncomfortable for some women. And some men, too.
How about "he spent three successful days in the intensive care unit"? I dunno ... maybe he did.

Today I heard a frequent caller on the noon-time call-in show begin a question with "hyprophetically speaking". I couldn't help but think that may even be something close to a true true "freudian slip".

In church I've heard of the "whale in the temple" and the "cup a rat" (Oh yeah, "th" often becomes just "t" ... like an old friend of Norwegian extraction used to say, too. He was right at home speaking to Bahamians.) How about "the hodour of the erntment filled the room"? (prounouncing "oil" as "earl" is not a Bahamian exclusive!) And the fact that the three wise men brought "gold, frankenstein and myrrh"?

Leave a note with translations, if you can.

It'd be fun to see what others have heard and experienced (and say themselves ...)

All of this reminds me of a pastor from California who couldn't say "wash" for the life of him. It always came out "warsh" or "warshed".

Kind of hard on a preacher, dontcha think?

For some wonderful exposure to things culturally Bahamian read here about Patricia Glinton Meicholas.