Bajan Nicknames

Barbadian decedents live throughout the world. The majority of them can be found in the United States, England and Canada. The migration started in the 1960’s when men and women left Barbados to find jobs and financial opportunities outside of the island.

Sandra and I are among the throng of retirees returning to the shores of Bimshire. I have run into several Barbadians that are making a pilgrimage to Barbados to trace their roots.  Most of them have parents or grandparents that are from Barbados but they never actually lived here themselves. However,  Bajans are finding it difficult to look into their ancestral history because of the widespread usage of nicknames. Even today, a lot of  Sandra’s relatives have or had nicknames  like Nana, Lil Girl, Millah, Laza,  Lovah, Dingdat, Benny Cat and Frank whose real name is Charles.

Some of the names are very descriptive, some are funny while others are insensitive at best. Bajans can be brutally honest speaking their mind especially concerning physical appearance as they are not overly concerned with political correctness or personal feelings. In other words, they call it as they see it! For instance, if they haven’t seen you in a while and you’ve gained a little weight they will greet you with “Boi, you get fat!” before having a good laugh and then continuing with the conversation.

A few days ago when Sandra and I were doing our morning walk, a woman, a few teeth short of a full set, leaned out her window and shouted “Sandra I see ya walkin but ya boxy* ain gettin no smallah” and she let out a high pitched laugh!

Our plumber who is about 5 feet tall only answers to Shortman or Shorty. He is the plumber for all of Scarborough for two reasons, he’s good and he’s reasonably priced. However, since he is so busy with his part and full-time jobs he is hard to reach at times. I saw him one evening and called his given name which is Ian, 3 times hard, hard, hard  but he only turned and answered when I shouted “Shortman!” He told me hasn’t forgotten about us and said, “I soon coming”. Well, its been about month and we haven’t seen him yet but that is a story for another day.

I’ve heard a myriad of descriptive nicknames that would be considered offensive or least in poor taste in the United States. The list includes Buggar Shag, Hog Dinner, Dog Feet, Toes, Raw Bakes, Tom Pepper, Woodmouse, Slammy, Killah, Fish Eye and Paint Donkey (who actually painted a donkey). A couple of the more offensive ones I’ve heard are Pig Face, and Big Nose Bob.

On occasion, a person will leave and go overseas leaving their Bajan names behind. It does not matter what status you had overseas, you could be a doctor, lawyer, computer wiz or a banker, once you hit the shores of Barbados old friends and acquaintances will shout your nickname. If the person complains or gets on bad, they will still call them the name behind his or her back.

The funniest nickname I have heard is Clock Hands! Let me explain why it’s funny to me. I remember when I was too young to tell time, my mother would ask me to look and see what time it was. I would return and say the big hand is on the 12 and the little hand is on the 6 which meant 6:00. Back to Clock Hands. An industrial accident left Clock Hands with one arm shorter than the other. One short arm and one long arm has also left him with an adulthood of being called Clock Hands, isn’t that cruel?

I am not sure what I think about the detailed report of a missing person described in the Nation newspaper.  “The missing person is a girl age 16, she is 5ft-7ins. tall, thickly built, with a brown complexion, round face, full eyes, thick lips, she is full breasted and walks with an erect appearance and was wearing a curly haired weave.”  You usually do not see such details of a missing or wanted persons in the United States. But, we are in Barbados where people call it as they see it and tell it like it is!

*Boxy means behind or butt