Strange bedfellows
Strange bedfellows American journalist Charles Dudley Warner (1829-1900) coined the expression, "Politics makes strange bedfellows." Helen Thomas, a columnist, disagreed and insisted, "War makes...
View ArticleHurry, hurry, come for curry
Hurry, hurry, come for curry New governments come into town, their guns blazing, not literally like the Earp brothers and Doc Holliday in the famous gunfight at the OK Corral, but more like the...
View ArticleCome, Mr Tallyman
Come, Mr Tallyman Some of us older folk in Trinidad still refer to bananas as 'figs', even though we know the two fruits are different. My cousin Savi took the easy way out and used the term 'banana...
View ArticleTrumped-up legal letters
Trumped-up legal letters If you use the terms 'reverse back', 'overexaggerate', 'dilapidated ruins', 'new innovation' and even 'foolish virgins', you need to know these are tautologies, essentially...
View ArticleTony Deyal: For whom the belt tolls
Tony Deyal: For whom the belt tolls Apart from some mundane meanderings in meaning, like the identity of Twirly and Twisty, the possibility of a pig dancing a jig for a fig, the wanderings of Goosey...
View ArticleTony Deyal: Say cheese and smile sweetly
Tony Deyal: Say cheese and smile sweetly The term 'hard cheese' is a 19th-century British expression that means 'tough luck'. It is not used as much these days since the density, firmness, even...
View ArticleHere there be monsters
Here there be monsters I thought my daughter asked me, "Dad, have you seen Monsters Ink?" But even if this was not exactly what she wanted to know, I behaved as though it was. "Yes, of course," I...
View ArticleTony Deyal | Pros, cons and pseudos
Tony Deyal | Pros, cons and pseudos On the first day, God created the sun. In response, the Devil created sunburn. On the second day, God created sex. In response, the Devil created marriage. On the...
View ArticleTony Deyal | Lost tribe of Jamaica
Tony Deyal | Lost tribe of Jamaica Once upon a time, there lived in the Caribbean the Taino people. They gave us words like barbacoa (barbecue), hamaca (hammock), kanoa (canoe), tabaco (tobacco), yuca,...
View ArticleTony Deyal | A quantum of chickens
Tony Deyal | A quantum of chickens After the departure of Quasimodo for Disneyworld to star in the hit movie 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame', the bells of the famous cathedral in France were silent and...
View ArticleTony Deyal | Cricket - the numbers game
Tony Deyal | Cricket - the numbers game Politicians use statistics the same way that a drunk uses lamp posts for support rather than illumination. Mark Twain, who first said this, is also credited with...
View ArticleTony Deyal | Taking in font
Tony Deyal | Taking in font Mark Twain is reputedly the first author to use the typewriter. He typed a manuscript for his publisher, who wrote back saying that Twain had left out the punctuation. Twain...
View ArticleTony Deyal | Fame is the name of the game
Tony Deyal | Fame is the name of the game Trinidad and Tobago always wanted a model prime minister, and now it has one. This was one of the comments after the prime minister of the country, Dr Keith...
View ArticleTony Deyal | Upside down and topsy-turvy
Tony Deyal | Upside down and topsy-turvyI heard there was a survey by the International Luxury Hotels Association, and one of the questions was, "If you could choose any hotel in the world for an...
View ArticleTony Deyal | National pride and prejudice
Tony Deyal | National pride and prejudice The guntalk, boasting, jibes, name-calling, praying for DJ Bravo not to bowl and then the elation when his team won, the highs, lows, and mediocrity made me...
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