Big word does cause confusion

Apr 19, 2026 Dem Boys Seh, Features / Columnists

(Kaieteur News) – Dem boys seh that during a funeral of a man who died in the police lockups some people tek a coffin and park it right up by de police station gate, like if de po po dem opening a new branch of Le Repentir.

Dem claim how de police did beat de man in de lockups and kill he. Everybody suddenly turn detective, pathologist and senior counsel. But dat is Guyana for you. So dem put de coffin near de police station gate.

Dem fuhget dat de post mortem wha come out never seh dat de dead from licks. De post mortem she, he died from the effects of a perforated stomach ulcer.

When de result of de post mortem did become known, confusion start. Right away some people seh, “Aha! Yuh see? De police beat he so hard, dem burst de ulcer in he belly!”

Dem boys seh this is why medical terms dangerous in untrained ears. Plenty words sound like one thing and mean next thing entirely. If doctor seh yuh have benign tumor, some people hear tumor and start writing will, when benign mean it ain’t cancerous. If dem seh yuh have chronic condition, some people think yuh condition sweet like calypso, not knowing chronic mean long-lasting. If doctor mention positive test, people celebrating when sometimes positive is de bad news.

And now de star of de show: perforated ulcer.

Perforated don’t mean somebody punch it and it buss like old football. It mean de ulcer gradually eat through de wall of de stomach till it make a hole. Through that hole, acid and all kinda nasty contents leak where dem ain’t supposed to go, and that could poison de body serious-serious. It is pain, danger and emergency in one package.

But no, some people prefer de movie version: police throw one box slap, ulcer explode, trumpet sound, case close. No evidence. No facts. Just imagination with surround sound.

Dem boys seh this is how confusion does born in Guyana. Somebody hear one half sentence, add two drops rum logic, stir it with vexation, and serve it hot in de streets. By nightfall everybody quoting “sources close to de scene.”

Meanwhile, de real lesson getting bury deeper than de coffin: avoid stomach ulcer if yuh want avoid problems. Dem thing does hurt bad, does tek long to heal, and if neglected could kill yuh proper. Especially all dem fellas who proud to call demself “drink man” and seasoning dem belly with rum, pepper and late-night worry.

Dem boys seh sometimes de dead man story ain’t about police at all. Sometimes it about people refusing to learn before dem talk.

Talk half. Leff half.

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Big word, confusion, Dem Boys Seh, Le Repentir

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