24373: Davies (inform) Origin of Proper Nouns (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Thomas E. Davies <tdavies@telusplanet.net>

For those of you who are interested in the responses I received
regarding the origin of some proper nouns that have over time become
common nouns, here they are:

Origin of Proper Nouns that have Become Common Nouns in Haitian Creole


Antoine nan Gomye

“Antwan Nan Gode: That guy is supposed to be some psychic who can see
the future but sometimes, “What I see for you, Antwan nan gode can’t
see”, is said when you are warning someone that something bad will
happen to them if…” (Constant, 2004).

 

“Antwan nan gode. I usually hear Antwàn nan Gomye. Gonmye, I believe is
a town in the province of Jeremie where that Antwàn is from or was
living. Famous phrase: “Sa m wè pou ou, Antwàn nan Gomye pa wè [What I
see for you, Antwàn nan Gomye can’t see] (a phrase usually used as a
warning to be careful; there’s some danger ahead)” (Vedrine, 2004).

 

Cadet Jacques

Jules Faines in his dictionnaire français-créole gives the spelling
‘Cadet Jacques’.

 

“The Creole word for rape may come from the name of Colonel Cadet
Jacques (kadejak) [kah·day·jahk], one of the main characters in the
novel “Zoune chez sa ninnaine” by Justin Lhérisson, 1906, 109
p.. Madame Boyotte, Zoune’s godmother, was Colonel Cadet Jacques’
concubine. A good part of the novel deals with Colonel Cadet Jacques’
manoeuvres to seduce Zoune” (Manigat, 2004).

 

“Kadejak: To the best of my knowledge, it comes from a personage in a
XIX Century novel (Hibbert, Marcellin, or Lhérisson, or I may be
wrong), his name was Cadet Jacques so he made a ‘kadejak’ on the girl”
(Constant, 2004).

 
 

Charles Oscar Etienne

“Chaloska: scary guy dressed in early XIX Century army uniform. A
popular character in the carnival, and comes from Charles-Oscar
Etienne. He was the infamous Chief of the Port-au-Prince main prison
who carried out the order to execute all political prisoners on July
27-28, 1915. He was killed by a mob” (Constant, 2004).

 

Kennedy

“The word ‘kenedi’ (second-hand clothing) is no longer common in Haiti
and has been replaced by “pèpè”. […] It was during the Kennedy
administration that the practice of sending used clothing to sell from
the United States began. It probably started off with a charity
shipment that was sold to the public just like many aid items get sold
instead of being given to the poor in Haiti” (Hudicourt, 2004).

 

“Kenedi (second-hand clothes). During the Kennedy administration […]
there were a lot of relief supplies that poured in the country that
showed up in the markets. In this case, mainly used clothing. They were
associated with the US government, represented then by Kennedy”
(Vilsen, 2004).

 

“Kenedi: It was rumoured that President Kennedy was sending all those
used clothes to Haiti. Go figure” (Constant, 2004).

 

Louis Jean Beauger

 

Jules Faines in his dictionnaire français-créole gives the spelling
‘Louis Jean Beauger’, and indicates that he was from the community of
Cabral.

 

“Louis Jean Beauger is being creolized as ‘lwijanboje’, having the
meaning of a ‘tough guy’, a guy who would start a fight over anything”
(Vedrine, 2004).

 

“Louis Jean Beauger: someone without regards for the law” (Constant,
2004).

 

“About ‘lwijanboje’ (heard from Franketienne on Haitian National
Television): Louis Jean Beauger was a respected notable in Belair when
Franketienne was a young boy. As a respected “elder”, he used to
intervene when the militaries would try to arrest any youth from the
area (for petty mistakes). His word was respected and the militaries
used release their prey. Of course, he was seen as someone who would
defy “authority”. Some fifty years ago, it seems that there was still
some authority…” (Pierre Louis, 2004)!

 

Marcel Kòkòb (clumsy, klutz, oaf)

“Marcel Kòkòb was a real person. I have seen him in the street, old,
limping, and mentally deranged. The kids used to annoy him with the
phrase, “Masèl kòkòb men chalan deyè ou” [Marcel kòkòb here’s the paddy
wagon come to get you]. And he would have a quite humourous “Chalan nan
boud***** manman w” [Paddy wagon for your mama!] response, which would
make the children laugh and run away…because he would often throw a
stone at the same time” (Vilsen, 2004).

 

“Marcel Kòkòb [was] made famous in a song by Sicot or Nemours. [I]
remember seeing him as I was growing up in Turgeau in the
1960-70s. Last I heard, he “retired” working at the Sacré Coeur parish
church” (Constant, 2004).

 

“I don’t know if Marcel Kokob really existed as a person but I know
that there was a song saying, “Masel kokob men chalan deye ou”, “MK the
paddy wagon is coming after you.” I am guessing that it related to the
50s and 60s practice of arresting peasants who came to town and walked
in their bare feet. It was maybe that MK was a famous limping peasant
who did not have time to run away from the barefoot police” (Hudicourt,
2004).

 

“The [paddy wagon] was a type of van at the time that would pick up
people who walked barefoot, in dirty clothes, in the streets of
Port-au-Prince. The nickname for the [paddy wagon], known by many
people, was “ti chen nwa, bouch blan” [the little black dog with the
white mouth] since the van was of a black color and the wood was
painted white” (Vedrine, 2004).

 

 

Père Lebrun (necklacing; the act of placing a tire around someone’s
neck and setting them on fire)

“There is a Lebrun & Sons company in Port-au-Prince that sells
tires. There was a TV ad for that company where at the end of the ad an
older man spoke through a tire as if the tire was a window. The idea of
‘necklacing’ actually came from South Africa’s news, where it had
become a way to punish people who were thought to be collaborating with
the white establishment. When Duvalier was kicked out, the “people”
thought of necklacing tonton macoutesas an appropriate form of
punishment. I am sure Mr. Lebrun is upset by his name being given to a
form of torture” (Hudicourt, 2004).

 

“Pelebrencomes from the name/owner of a tire company whose commercials
in the mid 1980s featured a picture of Père Lebrun (he had all grey
hair, thus the nickname Père [father]) with a tire above his head, like
an angel. Just slide the tire down around the neck and it soon became
pelebren” (Constant, 2004).

 

“Père Lebrun[was] an advertising character (I forgot his full real
name) who used to do an interesting TV advertisement for Michelin tires
in Haiti. During the ad, he would carry the tire around his neck”
(Vilsen, 2004).