Jan 19, 2012

42 PASS ME DEE THING DEH

Pass me dee thing deh
What thing?
Dee thing nah, over deh on dee shelf
You mean the funnel?
Yeah dah thing, dee funnel
You know wah ah mean.
Hmmm, mmm, right, sure I do
Pass me dah thing right deh
What thing?
Dat watumah call it
The what you may who?
Dee big round thing right deh sitting on dee table
Oh! You mean the plastic bottle?
Yeah, ain’t dat wah ah say?
Ahhhh……sure
You know wah ah mean
Hmmmm…………………
Pass me dah thing deh on your left
What thing would that be?
Dee lil blue thing sitting in the thingamagiggie over deh
You mean the blue bottle cap sitting in the dish drainer to cover the bottle rum punch you just made?
Yeah ain’t dat wah ah say? How come yuh repeating everything ah say so..
Just clarifying
Hmmm….things would go a lot faster if yuh just gimmeh wah ah ask for instead of parroting meh
Ok…
Now pass meh dah thing over deh so ah could taste dis thing
You mean you would like a glass so you can pour some rum punch in to taste?
Isn’t dat wat ah just say, yuh sure yuh feeling alright, cause yuh got ah whole lot ah questions
I am feeling fine grandma, just making sure
Making sure ah wat baby?
That we understand each other
Hmmmm….well dah goes without saying sugar
Now come here and gimme some love,
Yuh understand dat right?
Yeah grandma, ah gotcha

D.S.B. Rhapsody © All Rights Reserved

Dear Reader:
The “thing” can mean anything; its a communication fuller for when the name of what you want suddenly escapes you and you opt to saying "the thing," while gesturing and pointing to the item in question. It can represent a particular job/task you are doing, something you are asking for and even something you trying to remember/remind someone of. I can have a whole conversation with my daughter asking her to hand me the thing, for the thing, to put in the thing and she will understand exactly what I am talking about.

The “thing” is the substitute. I think every culture has a substitute for the suddenly unnamed/forgotten item/something. We do this in Trinidad & Tobago all the time and it is wonderfully miraculous how we understand each other and can almost anticipate what the unnamed item [“thing”] is quickly furnishing it. To the unschooled unfamiliar with this nuance of communication it is puzzling, confusing and fascinating.

Communication is an art, a beautiful thing and can be down right hilarious at times. Do you have a universal name for the unnamed in your culture?

42 comments:

  1. Very nice. I know what you mean. Communication is an art. Peace.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is isn't it, even when you can't understand the nuances you understand. Complex isn't it.

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  2. you always knew what she meant, right? so what is the problem LOL

    ReplyDelete
  3. Very good. Communication is indeed an art that takes many forms. No amount of "King’s English", proper pronunciation, grammatically correct sentences beat the often understated and underestimated sentiment of just being plain old understood.

    ReplyDelete
  4. That was incredible! Thanks for sharing your amazing talent in poetry and words.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And thank you for stopping by and sharing your thoughts on the piece.

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  5. How beautifully put to words!
    It happens to me all the time, having my Belgian accent!
    Christie

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    Replies
    1. Isn't it facinating how different yet how similiar we all are?

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  6. Good afternoon Fab,

    Always a pleasure to have you come by Blog Quest.
    I had a big smile on my face while reading this entry.
    We all have dee thing.
    Actually, a lot of dee stuff.

    Have a super week,

    Greg

    ReplyDelete
  7. Loveya.you’re much creative and you have a sense of humour.
    Have a peacefull week.

    HUGS~FÁTIMA

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Much love right back atcha. Laughter is good medicine

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  8. Fabz,

    clever, clever, clever,

    Your wit is sharp as ever.

    Your friend WAY down south in Texas,

    richard

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hmmmmm, Richard we need to keep it sharp to keep the creative juices flowing

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  9. Okay trini! Very entertaining indeed.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I love it! I think I’ll call my Nana:) Peace, Love & Together

    ReplyDelete
  11. Smiling here, some things are universal.
    Hugs from snowy Alaska

    ReplyDelete
  12. Here in United States, "thing" and "stuff" are used interchangeably!

    For instance: "Do you remember the 'thing' we bought at the store to put in my hair? Yeah, can you bring me that 'stuff', I want to use it."

    foreversweetlybroken.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  13. You have contrived beautifully out of thin air as it were a nice post on the innocuous looking words 'the thing'.As someone put, it is universal.In the art of communication the exact words alone do not play a big role.They need have no meaning; a gesticulation, a movement of hands,eyebrows, a shrug of shoulders or a twist of facial muscles speak loudly and clearly.Thank you Rhapsody for this post.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are so right, communication is very broad and without boundaries.

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  14. Replies
    1. Thank you for such a robust summary on your thoughts

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  15. Loool. I was thinking this was a conversation between your daughter and her grandma

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  16. My husband is Italian and English is his second language so he often refers to "the thing" or "that thing" when he can't think of the word. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. See how similiar we are regardless of culture, creed and class.

      Delete
  17. You are very talented with words Fab! Good job!

    ReplyDelete
  18. In Italian there is a phrase that is substituted when the name of an object eludes one. I may have the spelling wrong but the phrase is "como si chiama" which translates into, "whaddya call it".

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hehehehe, woo its so fabulous to see that people the world over who know nothing about each other doing the same thing for the very same reason. Ain't life a kick?

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  19. This sounds just like many conversations my Mother and I had whenever working together to hang a picture or just about anything we worked on together. The funny thing was we knew what the other wanted or needed. A friend came in as we were finishing a task and heard us. Once my friend and I walked out the door. She asked me how did you know what she was talking about,not once did she name what she wanted? Telling her it was because we were hanging a picture. All she did was shake her head at me. Thank you for bringing to mind a wonderful memory of my Mother back to me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am glad I was able to bring forth a memory that warms you.

      Take care and thanks for coming hope to see you again.

      Delete

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