August 19, 2008 10:51 AM
Elephant Man, Translated
On Saturday, the blog brought you the story of Elephant Man, the Jamaican dancehall
king who supported Usain Bolt in the 100m dash with some -- at least
from my perspective -- difficult to decipher quotes.A Jamaican friend who's familiar with Elephant Man's local dialect has translated his quotes for me:
>"Dem will put stone inna di road fi wi drop but wi ago run ova it. Right now it tight. Mi money deh pon di two a dem: Bolt and Asafa. But mi a put a extra energy pon Bolt. Mi know him from him a run a primary school and a mi fren like dat so mi just a bring him and give him mi support."
Means: "They will put gravel on the road for us to fall, but we will run over it without stumbling. Right now, it is a close call between Asafa and Bolt, but I think it will be the two of them. However, I will be putting more emphasis on Bolt taking it. I have known him since he was in elementary school, and we have been friends for a long time, so I am going to give him more of my support."
>"Mi nuh like how dem a draw out the whole a di runner dem blood. By the time dem fi run dem ago drop down. Two bottle! Weh dem ago run pon den?"
Means: " I don't like how they are taking so much blood from our athletes. By the time they are ready to run, they will be too weak and will faint. They have taken two containers of blood! What will they have left for the race?"
Thanks to Lisa for the translation.
One more comment about the initial story:
My main concern when writing the post was whether or not the quotes from Elephant Man were real. Interestingly enough, the feedback I received from readers had nothing to do with whether or not the musician had really been quoted accurately.
Apologies to those who saw the initial post as offensive and not as just another lost in translation story.
August 19, 2008
12:47 PM
justinslot writes:
"Oh stewardess! I speak jive."
(Sorry. First thing I thought of.)