Part of the Yuh Is Ah Trini Series: Trini-glish/Trini-idioms Spoken and Explained #27.
Steups...', like you bought your license or something? Didn't you see me crossing the road or what? 'Well, if you're a man, bounce meh nah!' It sounds strange and ridiculous, doesn't it? Well, don't be alarmed; this is typical Trini behavior. This is typical Trini talk, and if you don't watch yourself, you will have "someone flying up in your face." Yes, I know I was wrong to add "flying up in your face" to this Creole mêlée. Now, to really get the "gist" of the dialogue, one must reflect back on the person crossing the street and examine what really took place.
To be honest, many of these conversations happen when someone crosses the street recklessly. Trinis learned to cross the street by looking up and down, then up again, before proceeding. Ha, ha, ha, yes, I am serious, but, in this case, they mean up the road then down the road. This is instead of the traditional look to your left, right, and left again before crossing the street. Now that was a very serious joke, and if you are Trini, you should smile because, as ridiculous as it sounds, it was reality. The adults used terms that confused and misled the children; hopefully things have changed.
There was a tendency to avoid traffic by dodging traffic to cross the street. This was done while ignoring the regulations governing common sense and people's better judgment. People always felt that they had the right of way and that the vehicle had to stop regardless of the traffic light status. The rest of the talk continues as planned after the clever driver prevents a calamity.
The driver's heart races, and the pedestrian crossing freezes in fear. However, as the car comes to a stop without the expected thud, the driver realizes that all is well. As soon as the driver gets out of the car, he curses the person who almost caused death or injury. However, before he can utter a word, the venom spewed from the pedestrian's mouth causes him to stand with his mouth open like a fly trap, and he listens in amazement.
Pedestrian:
"What de jail is this, like yuh eh see meh crossing or what? How allyuh does get ah license to drive, like yuh pay for it or wha?
Driver:
"What de @#$%&* ah hearing here? Like yuh want to dead or what?"
Pedestrian:
"Who yuh feel yuh is? Yuh only smelling bad... Bounce meh nah?"
Screech, whoa pull up to the bumper, baby. In this scenario, the driver's heart was racing with the shot of adrenalin pumped into his system when his eyes caught the pedestrian attempting to play ah dog crossing the Churchill Roosevelt Highway (plenty of dead dogs on that stretch, eh?). He is happy that all is well but angry as hell that the person was so complacent by crossing the street without being attentive - he changed gears and wanted to put the pedestrian in his or her place with good cussing.
The pedestrian, who should have been thankful that the driver maintained his vehicle and that it functioned as expected, moved from a near death experience to the typical "the pedestrian always has the right of way" attitude. A typical Trini 'wrong and strong' attitude prompted that person to 'bounce meh nah.'' Trini must always be correct, regardless of the circumstances. One can even conclude that 'bounce meh nah' has been etched into the DNA of the typical Trini. It comes to the fore with a jaywalking or near-death experience.
"Doh bounce meh nah"—I fear for my life and limbs, and if one day I make the mistake and try to cross the street and the car stops and does not hit me, I will thank the heavens for my good fortune. I would be thankful because I was lucky that, for the first time in a long time, this driver did not take a few shots at the bar before heading home.
; 