Triniglish|Trinididioms spoken and explained #94
Yuh is ah Trini | "Don't sweep inside your home after 6:00 pm!"
"Chile, yuh sweeping away yuh riches!" Was that ever said to you when you were a child growing up in Trinidad and Tobago? Can you access those memories or was it too long ago? Well, I have, and never really paid much attention when the words invaded my tender developing eardrums. This was repeated to me several times and with such sincerity. I remember sweeping our small parlor as a child and my neighbor, deceased Miss Utilda Collingwood, said this to me, "stop sweeping away the money. "Huh, what did you say?' "What money?" All I could see was the stuff on the floor and I knew I had to finish the job if I wanted to go inside to watch television programming.
Well, she really believed that if you swept or cleaned the house or business place after 6:00 pm that you will surely 'sweep away' any chances of earning income especially when you throw out the dust collected. The fact that people believed that sweeping after 6:00 pm and throwing out the waste will bring financial disharmony says much about the beliefs of the people 'back in the day'.
Today none of that is of significance or is it. Gosh, I am not doing that well financially (well I get by) but I just realized that when I get home after work I have the habit of taking the broom and sweeping up the mess made by the kids and yes the garbage is unceremoniously dumped in the garbage and taken to the basement before the superintendent locks the elevator at 9:00 pm. Maybe, just maybe there is a way to keep the house clean and still be able to dump the garbage in the basement without losing value to my meager savings? My friend, who is from Puerto Rico, told me that they have the same belief in her country. However, she told me that I should sweep up the stuff and put it in a corner to throw out the next day after daybreak but not after 6:00 pm. Now I know what I have been doing wrong - a new plan of action... I will let you know if my finances improve.
But then again... After a brief consultation with my Obeah seer person I found out I can appease the spirits by lighting a purple candle and saying a prayer for guidance and offering some food and spirits (white rum or babash in this case) to ensure that my guardian spirits are appeased. I really don't know if it will work but I will buy a can of baygon (insect repellent) to make sure I kill the roaches that come to feast on the food left behind.
Today none of that is of significance or is it. Gosh, I am not doing that well financially (well I get by) but I just realized that when I get home after work I have the habit of taking the broom and sweeping up the mess made by the kids and yes the garbage is unceremoniously dumped in the garbage and taken to the basement before the superintendent locks the elevator at 9:00 pm. Maybe, just maybe there is a way to keep the house clean and still be able to dump the garbage in the basement without losing value to my meager savings? My friend, who is from Puerto Rico, told me that they have the same belief in her country. However, she told me that I should sweep up the stuff and put it in a corner to throw out the next day after daybreak but not after 6:00 pm. Now I know what I have been doing wrong - a new plan of action... I will let you know if my finances improve.
But then again... After a brief consultation with my Obeah seer person I found out I can appease the spirits by lighting a purple candle and saying a prayer for guidance and offering some food and spirits (white rum or babash in this case) to ensure that my guardian spirits are appeased. I really don't know if it will work but I will buy a can of baygon (insect repellent) to make sure I kill the roaches that come to feast on the food left behind.