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The previous post’s comments reminded me of an amusing photo I’d taken on Old Hope Road in Kingston. It was the first time I had seen the expression sleeping policeman used in English, although I’d long been familiar with its French equivalent gendarme couché. The funniest part, however, is that the sign is directly opposite the Jamaica Continue reading Sleeping policeman 4 comments to Sleeping policemanAt the recent Commonwealth Games, Jamaica chalked up a remarkable score by winning every single sprint event! It was all the more impressive given the small size of the population (2.7 million). So how come there are so many fast runners? Well, if you also look at Jamaica’s ranking in the murder per capita table, you might get Continue reading Joggin’ in de sand in a Babylon land 10 comments to Joggin’ in de sand in a Babylon land
I imagine many people have a mental list of books they would like to read but never get around to doing so. Top of my list was Pasternak’s Dr Zhivago. Somehow, each time I entered a book store or started browsing on Amazon, my mind would go blank and I would quickly be distracted by any Continue reading Dr Z 11 comments to Dr Z
I spent a chilly morning at the over-air conditioned offices of the National Water Commission offices in an attempt to get my latest bill reviewed. It was for 22,000 dollars. It was partly my own fault. Three months in, I noticed our consumption rate had never moved from zero. I had paid each monthly bill, but that was Continue reading Make my day 3 comments to Make my day
Today is Peace Day in Jamaica, an initiative launched a few years ago by an organization going under the banner of Peace and Love in Schools (PALS). Its goal is to promote non-violence in an ultra-violent society. The organization has now changed its name to Peace and Love in Society in an attempt to broaden Continue reading Peace for one day 4 comments to Peace for one day
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funny how it only evokes mild amusement every once in a while in French, where I’m used to hearing it, while it’s downright hilarious in English…
:-)
The first time I heard it was in Baghdad. A map drawn by a parent (how to find the birtday party in a city without proper streetnames and no city map available – state secret!) showed one as the spot to make a left turn. Now I had also frequently noticed sleeping policemen in that country, but that there were actually some so regular that you could use this as a mapmarker amazed me. Wonder where does the expression come from.
According to PJ nuff man have cyar and nuff man have gyal (but not him). By now dat deh policeman suppose fe ded, im nah sleep again.
I can remember referring to sleeping policemen as far back as my childhood in the 70s in south London. My parents now have one directly outside their house, though they’ve now taken to cutting them up and putting gaps in them so that motorcycles and bikes can get through them more easily, which I guess partly explains why these days they tend to be referred to as speed bumps rather than sleeping policemen – “dismembered policemen” doesn’t have quite the same ring about it.