Trinbagonian Chats with Devonna Adanna

A Year in Podcasting & Trinbagonian Talk with Devonne Adanna

The final episode of 2024 is a fun, bonus episode filled with language and laughter. Hema reflects on the year-long journey of The Moreish Podcast, some highs and lows and gratitude.

This episode is a bit of behind-the-scenes chats with storyteller Devonne Adanna, talking about Caribbean culture, the name of the podcast, plus language, sayings and proverbs from Trinidad and Tobago.

Connect with Devonne Adanna

Storyteller & Caribbean Culture Content Creator | Neurodivergent Parenting
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The Caribbean Proverbs That Raised Us 

Transcript

Trinbagonian sayings with Devonna Adanna

Hi, it's Hema. Thank you for joining me for the very last episode of 2024. Hoo, it has been a year since I started this podcast. Thank you to everyone for listening, for joining the journey as we uncover the history, the food, and the stories of the Caribbean. Of course, Mireille, season one co host, thank you, and all of the incredible guests who shared their knowledge along the way.

This podcast has been a labour of love. It's been eye opening, it's connected me to some amazing people, and at times it's been stressful. People have said the topic is too niche, no one will listen, but we've had listeners from all over the world. Our Caribbean history, culture, and stories are important and I will continue to share.

I love getting messages from listeners who feel connected to a topic we've covered, who feel seen, and who want to learn more. It isn't always positive feedback though. The episode, for example, with the team from Slave Voyages stirred up some feelings, and I get it. Talking about slavery and indentured servitude, colonization, can be heavy topics, but it is a part of the history of the Caribbean, and it deserves to be told, and it deserves to be shared.

Before we dive into the final episode, let me thank everyone who has listened to one episode or multiple episodes. Thank you to everyone who has reached out, who have connected me with historians, Caribbean food and culture experts, people who follow the podcast on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Thank you.

There's so much more coming in 2025. If you would like to support the show, subscribe and listen, follow us on social media, share a comment, ask a question. And if you're so inclined, you can support with a monthly contribution. All of those links will be down in the show notes. 

Now on to the final episode of the year. This is a little bit of fun. It's a bonus episode that came out of a conversation I had with Devonne Adanna. She's a storyteller. She talks about Caribbean culture and neurodivergent parenting.

And as we were wrapping up the episode on Tobago culture and food, we continued chatting and I kept recording. I’ll link to her socials in the show notes down below. You should go follow her. She has some amazing historical information about the Caribbean. Enjoy the episode and I will see you in 2025. 

Hema: Let me ask you a question. The name of my podcast is The Moreish Podcast. Do you know what Mmoreish means?

Devonne: The way it's spelled threw me off. So it's M O R E, but I was thinking it was M O O R. And is it? Moreish. I mean, it's like how I like to, it's like how I like to get to places on time-ish.

Hema: What's really interesting to me is the word moreish is something that I grew up with. And I'm asking you because I didn't know if it was something that was very prevalent in Tobago. It, it comes from a British word, which essentially means if you're eating something and it's delicious, you call it moreish because I want more of it. 

Devonne: Mmmmmmmmm

Hema:  And so it is something that I know from Trinidad, but that's the British influence that maybe did not…Tobago 

Devonne: Make it to Tobago. I, I don't want to say, because I'm, now that you're saying this, I'm thinking I've heard Jamaicans say, like, that moreishi, you know, but that is not what came to my mind. I'm thinking M O O R, but I was like, I, I, I don't know. I didn't, I couldn't make, but I was like, no, maybe it's more of something.

But in terms of using it in day-to-day language in Tobago, I can't say that I've ever, and Tobagonians do not come for me if I say that I've ever heard it, because they may be saying, Igbo, how dare you? How dare you say that? We say this all the time. I don't know. Nobody's ever said it to me. 

Hema: Not every person from the Caribbean knows this word. It is a word that I know. Um, but I just, I like to ask people because it is different from country to country and place to place who knows what I'm, what I'm referring to. And I just think, you know, in Trinidad, as in Tobago, we use a lot of words that came from the British. Like pram. 

Devonne: Yes, yes! 

Hema:  For baby stroller. Moreish is a word that is also part of the lexicon.

Devonne: Or even pram pram. Pram pram is like, it ain't so, you know, or skullduggery. Skullduggery is somebody who I get, you know, what I find fascinating about Trinidad and Tobago because there we have a lot of words for like corruption, stupid, you know, I mean. And I'm like, you know, so like corruption, we have bobol, and then like for darling, we have doodoo, doodoo, you know?

Hema: Yes

So, so, which is very French, very, very French. So yes, I, what I, I guess I would more say, I've more heard thiefish, like, you know, I'm wearing this top and you're like, Oh my God, that's top so thiefish, meaning I would take it from you. You know…

Hema: We like to, we like to use ish 

Devonne: We do.

Hema: Because then there's sometimeish…

Devonne: Yes. Right. Yeah. Or five ish, eight ish.

Hema: But you know, some of the other words that come from other places that we now use, things like, um, gallivanting,

Devonne: Yeah, boy.

Hema: Bramble.

Devonne: Say that again?

Hema: That's not...

Devonne: Wheys bramble?

Hema: Bramble is like a pile of 

Devonne: Bush?

Hema: sticks. 

Devonne: Sticks. Okay, okay, okay. But, okay, but how do you, how would you use it?

Hema: Like, you're, you're, I'm cutting down plants or something. It's like a pile of bramble that you have to clean up.

Devonne: Oh, nah, we'd say a pile of bush. We'd say a pile of bush in Tobago would not use bramble.

Hema: Interesting.

Devonne:  Bramble seems so British to me. 

Hema: It is. It is very much, very much, but it's interesting the language differences slightly. There's, you know, a mix in Trinidad and Tobago of French. 

Devonne: Mmmmhmmmmm

Hema: In Trinidad, certainly there's a lot of words that are based in Hindi.

Devonne: Yes, yes, yes,

Hema: There's a lot of words based in Spanish. 

Devonne: Yeaaaaa

Hema: That made its way. And I don't know if all of those are common words used in Tobago.

Devonne: I mean, yeah, I think, I mean, I think if it was bramble, people would look at you, they would wonder where she's from, but you know, you know…

Hema: But you know, like pram and gallivanting. These words.

Devonne: Of course. Yeah.

Hema: What do you guys call, what do you call a frog?

Devonne: Crapo.

Hema: Crapo. 

Devonne: Yeah.

Hema: French. 

Devonne: But what do you guys call it?

Hema: That same thing. 

Devonne: Okay.

Hema: Crapo. but but that's based in French.

Devonne: Yes, that is your, yeah, yeah, because crapo smoke yuh pipe, which is, you know, as you know, you don't want that. You don't want that.

Hema: I know, I know crapo smoke your pipe. Please tell everybody what that means. 

Devonne: Okay. So let's say you are out and about as a teen and your curfew has come and gone, but you have not been keeping track of time. But your mother clearly said to you before you left home, Miss Lady or Mr. Man, if you do not get in my house by such and such time, Crapo smoke yuh pipe. Meaning, who knows what manner of punishment will be meted out to you once you get back there post curfew time. So crapo smoke yuh pipe just means like, oh, it's going to be, things are going to be bad. It's not going to be good. 

Hema: You're 

Devonne:  It's not a good.

Hema: You're you're in trouble if crapo smoke yuh pipe.

Devonne: Yes. Yes. So yeah.

Hema: We have, we have some sayings that don't make any sense, but I wonder if it's the translation that doesn't make sense, but in the original language, maybe it

Devonne: Makes sense.

Hema:  is more, makes more sense.  If somebody, if you hear somebody say, hello hi

Devonne: [laughter] Oh my god.

Hema: How do you, How do you feel?

Devonne: [laughter] Well, besides rushed, I mean, I'm like, oh, wah, okay wah wah wah. Whey yuh need? Hi. 

Hema: Hi. Hello. Hi. 

Devonne: They…. I'm wondering if they're confus…..well, it depends if it's like, hi, hi, excuse. Meaning, stop what you're doing, please. You know, like, so I don't know where this hi come from. I don't know, but hi, or hi, you know, like, why are you doing that? You know, but hello, hi is like, excuse me. Excuse me, how dare you. 

Hema: You're, you're doing something wrong

Devonne: Exactly.

Hema:  if you hear a, a hello hi.

Devonne: Miss Lady. My son likes to be like, Mr. Man, Mr. Man.

I'm like, you need to stop. But yeah, so, so, but even like with words, like, okay, so the words that mean stupid, like kunumunu, Right. Mumu. Oh my God. And you know what's funny with mumu? I see a lot of West Africans using it in like, like commenting, like, you know, something like if something's funny or somebody, and they'll be like, yous a mumu.

And I'm like, Oh, I never thought about it before, but it's directly an African word. And I'm like, that is so, I assume kunumunu is too, but I don't, I don't know for sure, but we have so many words to mean stupid and so many sayings. You're right. Like Tobago has a lot of sayings that Trini's have never heard.

Like, so like, you know, the regular ones, like all skin teeth nah laugh and stuff like that. But you know, we, you know. My mother wrote a funny novel. I mean, I, she wrote an entire book about it. The Caribbean proverbs that raised us. 

Hema: Oh my gosh, I have to read that.

Devonne: Oh my God, you would actually love it. One hand cyah clap, you know, fisherman never say fish rotten.

Um, one of my favourite ones is Ma penda house a bun. Ma penda no key. A who ma penda want to key. Yeah, it's 

Hema: What is that? What does that mean? 

Devonne: It's like, okay, it's like you, let's say we're doing this podcast, you're supposed to get here for five o'clock. Um, nothing is set up. I come here and nothing is set up. It's. six o'clock, you know...

So your, your house burning down and you don't care about it. So who are, who's supposed to care about me? You know? So, you know, and there's so many beautiful ones where, where horse does reach, jackass does reach. Right. Meaning, yeah. Meaning if, if somebody better than you could get there, you could get there too.

Like, you know, donkey may be a little slower, but… And horse get there quicker. But you'll get there. 

Devonne: You know, when I meet yuh and pass yuh

Hema: You’ll get there.

Devonne: When I meet yuh and pass yuh, pass you that, like, if you're like, you know, you're making fun of somebody because they, let's say they're sick and you're like, ah, you sick and, but sick has not passed you yet.

Don't, don't, um, make fun of them. But, and then the big one that is very Tobago, well, it's very popular in Tobago, is Pig ask yuh mumma, make yuh mouth long so. And mumma say, aah gal, a come ya come. So, yeah. So, it's like, mom you so old, you know, you so old, and the mommy's like, hmm, you gonna be there one day, you know, don't worry, you gonna be right there with me.

So, any time you're doing something in Tobago, somebody say, a come yuh come, meaning, hmm, you see it just now, you too will be right there, you know. 

They're beautiful ones. No matter how big mule grow, jackass is still he Daddy. Meaning, no matter how big you get, I'm still going to be your mom. So be, respect me, you know? Um, but yeah, just real nice, beautiful one 

Hema: There's so many, so many sayings that come from different places and that can be confusing to people. Um, and we're gonna, I'm going to wrap this up, but I want to say, if you're going to Trinidad & Tobago, a very nice way to greet people is, um, Good morning.

Devonne: Yes.

Hema: Good afternoon, good evening.

Devonne: Night, not good evening. Yeah.

Hema: Good night. Thank you. You, you are correct. Good night. 

Devonne: People always used to get on me in university for that. They're like, wait, what? Good night. Are you leaving? Didn't you just get here? I'm like, Oh, I'd be like, good night. Good night. Yeah. And they're like,

Hema: Hello, good night is a nice greeting.

Devonne: It is. But yes, you are correct. Please don't, please…We're very big on something called broughtupsy and you know, saying very, um, courteousness and manners are huge in Trinidad and Tobago. So if you, you know, you're going there, please brush up on it. We don't step into rooms or shops or elevators are not tell the entire place good morning or good night.

And it's also, also you have to say it twice. Morning, morning. 

Hema: And if you ask somebody for directions you can't, you cannot write them down. 

Devonne: No.

Hema: You have to be able to identify trees and bushes because they're going to tell you to turn left by, by the fig tree. Or..

Devonne: Yes, you’re so correct. 

Hema:  or by somebody's house is the landmark. 

Devonne: The landmark is a tree. And if you do not know trees, crapo smoke yuh pipe.

[laughter]

Hema: Devonne, thank you so much for this little language lesson. It was so much fun. And I, tell me the name of that book again.

Devonne: It's The Caribbean Proverbs That Raised Us. My mom wrote it. Yeah, it's, it's actually quite a popular book and, you know, in the Caribbean people talk about it.

Hema: And what's your mom's 

Devonne: Her name is Deborah Moore Miggins. Deborah Moore Miggins. 

 Hema: Thank you.