#2338: The word kolanget: Antoine responds to Blanchet (fwd)

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From: Guy Antoine <GuyAntoine@windowsonhaiti.com>

Max Blanchet said:

"kolangèt maman w" said to someone is a grave insult.
It refers to that someone's mother's most intimate part.
It therefore implies that she is a slut and that therefore
the target of the insult is the son or daughter of a bitch!"

Funny, though this is one of the worse Haitian insults,
I had never associated the word kolangèt to a body
part, at least not that directly.  I was told early on that
this insult derived from the French words "colon",
"guette", "maman", or the phrase "Le colon guette ta
maman", meaning the "the colonist is watching your
mother (with lust)".  In slavery times, when the colonist
did, rape would usually follow... a symbol of shame,
which then turned into an insult.  Though necessarily,
the "most intimate part" is still associated with the
version I always believed, this would be an indirect
reference as opposed to the body part itself.

As a matter of fact, I have never heard the word kolangèt
used in any other expression than this one.  A word of
caution to foreigners learning kreyol: 1) you are better
off NEVER using that expression;  2) even if you are
schooled in learning how to pronounce kreyol, only
true Haitians at heart can render the particular intonation
associated with this particular word.  As far as phonetics,
this word is a marvel.

Oh boy... I hope I haven't opened a can of worms.
(Actually, Max did!)

Guy S. Antoine
Look thru & Imagine!
http://windowsonhaiti.com