Left: Tony Deyal. Right: Monica Lewinsky
WHILE SOME countries go to the dogs, Trinidad these days has gone to the fruits. The word 'impeach' has become as familiar to Trinis as it was to Americans when President Clinton's desk job was in jeopardy after his affair with Monica Lewinsky was blown. The use of the term by the Prime Minister of that country in the context of getting rid of the Chief Justice caused one of my journalist friends who knows my love for language, to ask, "Why peach? Why not some other fruit? Or is it a matter of colour ?"
Even though Barbadians are called 'beige', I ruled out the question of colour completely. My first thought was that it was a phrase ripe for exploration and had to deal with the souring of relationships on the vine and other vegetative matter. I can see it with grapes, for instance. When some ungrateful wretch cannot get his own way and decides to sully the reputation of the fruit, he can be called an 'imgrape'. And when some coronary case decides on a holistic and herbal solution to his heart disease, he can get an 'implant'.
THE STAGGERING POSSIBILITIES
But is there an 'imapple' or more appropriate to the Trinidad context, an 'immango'? Would a word like 'imcashew' denote a lack of teeth? The possibilities are staggering. If you eat too much avocado, can you suffer from an 'impearment'? I suppose we will all eventually get to the botany of it but still, would a carpet repairer be considered a flora? Can someone be impeached if he is not a fauna?
I re-examined the word 'impeach' to see whether, like 'harass', it might be two words instead of one. Sure enough, I got 'imp' and 'each' meaning that the protagonists might each be imps. However, given that one is a Prime Minister and the other a Chief Justice, it is hardly likely that two such dignitaries would be engaged in the impish pastime of mischief making. I then viewed it as perhaps a Jamaicanisation of the term where possibly an 'h' could be missing as in 'him peach' which could only make sense in an introduction like 'I'm curious yellow, him peach.' It might make sense with words like him-modest, or himmigration, or even "him no talk, him preach" but not peach. Can you be so angry that you give someone a peach of your mind? Or can you get peach and quiet? There is a place in Barbados called 'Peaches and Dreams'.
'IMPEACH'
Unfortunately, 'impeach' has nothing to do with fruits or flavours. According to one source, the word entered English in the late 14th century as empechen, 'accuse or hinder', from Anglo-French empecher. The latter word arose from Old French empëcher, 'hinder'. This in turn came from Late Latin impedicare, 'to fetter' (from Latin im + pedica 'shackle', derived from pes 'foot').
English 'impede' arose from the same source. Until the 17th century, impeach retained the meaning 'hinder' or 'impede'. It was in the mid-16th century that it came to be used to mean 'accuse a public officer of misconduct'. Interestingly, the association of impeach with 'accusation' arose (in the 14th century) due to confusion with Latin impetere 'attach, accuse', which is where we get impetuous.
The problem here is that it is not 'we' who get impetuous, it is the head of government of Trinidad and Tobago who might be impetered (accused) of this by those who don't know how cool, calm and collected is his temperament, especially when he feels empechened.
Having watched my theory about the fruit fly out the window ("Son of a peach," I muttered under my breath), I proceeded to develop a new one. I think it is the names of the officials in question that have something to do with what is coming down. They reveal our true calling. For instance, the word 'manning' is listed in the Encarta Dictionary as a noun which can mean the 'supplying of people to do jobs' as in many of the make-work programmes with names like CEPEP and URP that abound in Trinidad.
However, the Oxford English Dictionary lists it as a verb meaning 'provide (a place or machine) with the personnel to run, operate, or defend it'. Maybe that 'defending' part is what it is all about. Sometimes whenever one tries to jump defence, defeet get into the mouth and detail gets caught in a jamb.
Another big player in the play is named John. The problem is that in the same way that the abbreviated form of the name 'Richard' became 'Dick' and that is no longer a good word for those who watch American television (which is almost all of us), the word 'John' has also fallen into disrepute and now means 'a toilet or a prostitute's client'.
However, it is in the name of the Chief Justice of the republic that we really see how culture changes meaning. His name is 'Satnarine'. 'Narine' is a name for the absolute divine of the Hindu religion, known by other names like Shiva and Vishnu. 'Sat' in this context means 'saint' or 'holy person'. Unfortunately, in English, it is the past tense and past participle of 'sit'. This means that when the sit hits the fan, you get sat upon.
Tony Deyal was last seen following the fruit fashion trying a reconciliation with his dearly beloved after a misunderstanding. He said, "I come in peach". Unfortunately, he was told, "Mango to hell!"
