Come let me clutch thee

Mar 23, 2009 Features / Columnists, Tony Deyal column

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Is this a dagger, which I see before me, the handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee.Macbeth, Thane of Glamis and of Cawdor and King thereafter, clearly knew what a dagger was but would he know anything about daggering? The dagger is an ancient instrument and “daggering” is a modern Jamaican dance-hall phenomenon which both owe their origin to Vulgar Latin.

Wikipedia defines “vulgar Latin” or sermo vulgaris as “folk speech” or the vernacular. It is also called “popular” Latin. “Dagger” comes from “Daca” a vulgar Latin term for a “Dacian” knife. The Dacians were the occupants of a large part of Central and Eastern Europe.

“Daggering” comes from Jamaica and is defined by the Jamaica Broadcasting Commission as “a colloquial term or phrase used in dancehall culture as a reference to hardcore sex or what is popularly referred to as ‘dry’ sex, or the activities of persons engaged in the public simulation of various sexual acts and positions.”

The Broadcasting Commission is not clutching daggering. In its concern for public morality and in an attempt “to bring a halt to the deluge of inappropriate content on the airwaves”, the Commission says that it has examined a number of songs, popularly referred to as “daggering songs” and “has found these recordings to be explicitly sexual and violent.”

The Commission directed, “There shall not be transmitted through radio or television or cable services, any recording, live song or music video which promotes the act of ‘daggering’, or which makes reference to, or is otherwise suggestive of ‘daggering’.” Additionally, the Commission stopped “any audio recording, song or music video which employs editing techniques of ‘bleeping’ or ‘beeping’ of its original lyrical content.”

In other words “daggering” is pointedly vulgar and if you don’t get the point made by the authority, there will be some ‘bloody’ financial and other sanctions that will leave the offending broadcaster severely wounded.

“Daggering” is also said to mean hardcore sex as in the sentence, “She cheated on me, but later she going get some daggering till she bawl.” In this case, the media will get some serious daggering if they don’t stop the daggering music and videos.

“I have thee not, and yet I see thee still. Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible to feeling as to sight? Or art thou but a dagger of the mind, a false creation, proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain? I see thee yet, in form as palpable as this which now I draw.”

Daggers are different from knives in that daggers are primarily used for stabbing and knives for cutting. While daggers might affect your health, daggering can affect your hilt. Daggers have something called a “tang”. This is not the orange-flavoured drink or even a sharp, lingering flavour or odour; it is the projection that is part of the handle or the hilt. In the case of daggering, some of us might already be over the hilt. Some people associate daggers with cowardice and treachery as in the stabbing to death of Julius Caesar. However, those who engage in close combat with the enemy also use them. British commandos had very slender daggers.

What about Jamaican Dance Hall “daggeristas” and others elsewhere, “daggero-types” who are now venturing into the realms? Historically, you can have the “Vigilante Dagger” which is what I suppose the Commission means by asking for volunteers to act as “Citizen based Media Monitors to assist in more comprehensive and effective monitoring of radio and television output.”

There is the “Poignard” which has a long reach that makes it very effective. It is good for the battlefield and was even carried at Court. The Earl of Essex reputedly took his with him when he visited Queen Elizabeth the First.

The “Medieval Soldiers’ Dagger” is described as “the sort of weapon that the hard-bitten professional fighting man would prefer.” There is even one for ladies called the “Bodice” Dagger. It is said that it is a handy little piece that can take a razor edge. It can be a bosom buddy. The rough-tough Westerners did not only carry six-guns or repeaters, they had their Western Daggers that put more steel into the hand and whether Sundance Kid or Butch Cassidy, it is a useful implement.

The Roman Pugio blade is supposedly exceptional at close quarters and the Greek Parazonium as a last ditch or utility weapon. There is also a brass-hilted Rondel dagger that can be used for both utilitarian and combat purposes and the Landsknecht dagger used by German “pike-men” which was a backup fighting knife with an extravagant sense of style.

Then there is the short dagger with a long blade called a “stiletto”. Many have a wood grip and come in a sheath.

Which brings me to the news that a Reggae Deejay, Adidja Palmer a.k.a. Vybz Kartel, and his cohorts “Daggering Unlimited” will now be marketing prophylactics with the tagline “Playsafe, Ramp Ruff Till Game Ova!!” which will be packaged in a “cool black cube”. There will be a campaign to choose a Daggering Lady who will be a spokesperson for the brand.

One Jamaican television station has already decided not to cover the Jamaican Carnival Celebrations because of the Broadcasting Commission ban on “daggering” both as sound and spectacle. The other station is weighing its options and will decide soon. It will be interesting to see what happens to the advertising for “Daggering Unlimited”.

I suppose that it will first have to be electronically tested.

*Tony Deyal armed with his stiletto was last seen advising the Jamaican Broadcasting Commission that a dagger has two edges and for every cuss there is a repercussion.

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