To be called 'Swarthy'

The passage of time and the effect of contex the meaning and/or connotation of words. In Jamaica one, will 'bruck fight' if described as swarthy, especially as it is usually packaged disparagingly as 'him big an swaati like', with a connotation of oversized and malodorously sweaty. Swarthy really just means 'dark/dark complexioned'. One can easily think of enslaved Africans, hard at work in the fields, sweating, and therefore sometimes malodorous. To the white planter, they were often big and oversized. Those who worked as house slaves, often the product of the planter and an enslaved woman were not quite so swarthy. So next time you are called swarthy, forget the malodorously sweaty part, and just think that you are big, dark and strong.

A Yen

A yen is a Japanese unit of currency. A yen is also a strong desire to do something - not a whimsical desire, but one that is deep-seated and about which one is passionate. So there is this role model of a man, who is by most standards a success story. His early life which included some poverty, and an attitude of 'Yuh nah go come to nutten' by a relative, created in him a yen for academic, professional, social and financial success. So like the Japanese, he has a yen for money.

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