Photo © Etsy
Gumbo Lai Lai: "W'en yuh have hiccups, yuh doz stick piece ah paper with spit... Yeah man! stick ah bit, ah paper on yuh"forrid" it cures yuh hiccups. ... but it must be spit to make it stick!"
Dutchtrini: "That's an old remedy also you can use a piece of thread."
Trinionly: "Yes, but the thread was only used for children."
Coconutjoe: "Drink from the other side of a glass of water."
Now after reading the previous conversations that took place in the Wack shoutbox one might conclude that Caribbean people are too superstitious or easily mislead. However, if you noticed the very last comment where CoconutJoe implied that if one drinks water from the other side of the glass (from the top which really makes you swallow air) then one should realize that Caribbean people are not the only gullible people out there. I learned about that one in New York!
Now don't get me wrong I did not say that Caribbean people are indeed gullible, but I implied that just about anywhere people will believe anything in the hope of solving their problems. I really don't know if placing a piece of paper with spit (saliva) on your 'forrid" (forehead) will cure your hiccups. However, if you want to try this creole remedy please remember to use spit eh! If you used some water the hiccups will get worse but when laced with spit everything will be OK... Maybe pigs will fly too! However, the same can be said about drinking water 'from the other side of the glass'("mind over matter...Maybe). I had the hiccups a few years ago and my brother-in-law 'gave me the remedy' to cure the hiccups - drink the water from the top side of the glass. He is a Jewish American dentist! Did it work? Well, the next time you get the hiccups try it!
Now seriously speaking, have you ever put spit on a piece of copybook page (that was the main source of paper when I was a child) on your 'forrid' and it really cured your hiccups? Well did it? Those 'old time' remedies must have had some positive impact to become so widespread throughout the land... Well, why did it have had such an impact? I know for a fact that in the days of cloth diapers with the big safety pins (to hold it in place) people used to 'jaray' children. Parents used to pin 'kakajab' or 'blue' in a piece of cloth on the kids to prevent maljo and also to ward off evil spirits! We also cannot forget that they used to run a piece of thread between their lips 'soaking it in spit (saliva)' and placed it on the children's 'forrids/foreheads' to stop hiccups!
I think from now on I will be heading to the Wack shoutbox to chat with my friends to find needed cures for my aches and pains (I am seriously thinking about taking a break from using ibuprofen and Tylenol). I only wished I had the option to go in my backyard and get some lemongrass (fever grass), bay leaf, soursop leaf, or vervine to make some tea. The dogs swear by the fever grass! Have a barking time with your local pot-hound and he/she will tell you that it is their 'cure it all' remedy. This is one plant the dogs never pissed on but would always be seen eating whenever they looked 'kargoo' (sickly). The older folks will recommend that you use some aloe vera, chandelier, Bois Cano, wonder of the world leaf, and Zebapique once in while to keep the body functioning right.
I remember Lord Relator had a song called 'Bush Medicine' and it was fitting then that the 'worm grass' used to show the worms where to pass (worm grass has a really nasty scent - it stinks); indeed it is also fitting that we should relive those wonderful years by listening to this master lyricist sing that song once again. As a fitting tribute to local remedies, please press the play button below to listen to this classic song.