OH, good. Some of you are into anagrams. Well, nice to know that one wasn’t wasted.
Did you notice? ‘Of Dis and Dat’ was either “bumped up” or “dumbed down” last week, depending on who was commenting on the shift and asking if I’d noticed. Of course I had – from the word ‘Go’! Went from Commentary to – wait for it – Opinion. Who knows the reason for the change in characterization? Well, the Editor, for one, I guess. From my perspective however, its personality and tone had not changed. Perhaps it was a case of correcting perceived mistaken identity on his part from the start? Or perhaps he received heavyweight instructions from on high? I rather doubt that! Then again, maybe a bit of pressure from familiar external forces, methinks. Still, it could have arisen from ‘enlightenment’ of the third kind, seeing that there are not a few aliens around these days. Whichever, where’s the beef, anyway?? Menmbèt, menmpwèl! A rose by any name… Much of a muchness. Look it up! Nothing to choose between the two really. And most of all, it’s all the same to moi. Just thought I’d make a thing of it for no particular reason! Just as long as he does not make me into “a local analyst” such as the local media have baptised and anointed, and I have renamed and re-anointed ‘the analyst’ (using the (only possible) alternative pronunciation of the word!).
Did you listen to Prime Minister Mia Motley’s first post-election press conference? One could have been listening to Prime Minister Chastanet during his first interview post-election as he reported on the sick state of affairs in our country, the critical situation which his government had inherited, the urgent need for growing the economy through private sector direct investment, both local and foreign, as well as government-private sector partnerships. He also exposed the atrocious manner in which contracts had been signed on the eve of elections to tie the incoming government’s hands so that it would be rendered incapable of working and performing at its best. Ms Motley also castigated the outgoing government in her homeland for such acts, and I couldn’t help but wonder how she might regard the fact that a sister (why not ‘brother’?) party was the one accused of such contemptible conduct over here. (I would add that such actions should be able to be legally reversed, as it’s obvious they are committed not in the interest of the country but of the perpetrators themselves). So, the two leaders were in perfect harmony as they sang from the same song sheet, and something tells me they’re going to be getting along quite famously.
How about a little language to end? You’ve asked for it. The words are ‘grie-vous’ and ‘grie-vance’, NOT ‘grie-vious’ and ‘grie-viance’; there is no ‘i’ after the ‘v’ in either case, and so they ae both two-syllable words, not three. The Latin phrase is pronounced ‘vice versa’, just as it’s spelt, and not ‘vicey versa’ as so many pronounce it. At funerals, have you noticed in the booklets that the word ‘internment’ is often used malapropistically for ‘interment’? A HUGE one – a triple whammy – is ‘The reason why is because…’ The reason why she isn’t at school today is because she is sick’. Total overkill! That sentence is so wrong for many reasons. ‘Why’ is superfluous, i.e. totally unnecessary, because the word ‘reason’ already includes ‘why’ in its meaning. The same thing for ‘because’. It connotes the reason for something or, put another way, the why of something, and is therefore also redundant i.e. unnecessary. So the sentence should be: ‘The reason she isn’t at school today is that she is sick’. ‘The reason is that so ad so’. End of story. Got it? Great.
Well, it’s Tuesday 5th and one has just heard the predictable, but still shocking, distortions by the Opposition in relation to the OK-EU debate, following the new-again video featuring remarks by an EU rep. I am trusting Saint Lucians will easily see that its members are devoid of every last ounce of believability, and so tune them out completely. People, let’s ‘helevate’ and move St Lucia forward. Don’t allow yourselves to get stuck in the muck!