SOUTH FLORIDA – It is possible that Jamaicans have transformed the English language into something altogether than what it started out as. As if that was not enough, the curse words created by Jamaicans have fascinated people from around the globe. They are also common currency across the Caribbean.
Jamaican English is popular because it takes phrases and gives them new meanings.
Take the terms in usage now for more than forty years; “alms house” and “dog heart”. Both terms suggest individuals at the lowest rung of social standing. After all, an alms house is where people are placed when they have no place else to go. It is also where they go when there is no one to take care of them.
The Jamaican society treats dogs like, dogs. Many people like it, but even the Bible talks about those who wonder if they are so low that they are seen as dogs.
The killing of five people, including a four-year-old baby girl, as well as the dog in the big yard, has only been followed by the discovery of a thirteen-year-old girl, yesterday. She was found in the burnt out remains of a home appliance and a mattress.
What does one call the perpetrators of these crimes?
Reality is that neither “dog heart” nor “alms house” can adequately describe the level of depravity that allows one to commit such crimes. And for any community to hide such people from the police!
