Opposition Leader Sparks Controversy With ‘FISH’ Comment
A fish is defined as a limbless cold-blooded vertebrate animal with gills and fins and living wholly in water.
However in Jamaica, the word is oftentimes used to convey a very different meaning – as a derogatory term for a homosexual man.
Leader of the Jamaica Labour Party – Andrew Holness recently sparked controversy when he made a statement including the word ‘fish’ at a rally in Spanish Town on Sunday night.
According to a report by the Observer, Holness, in giving an address at the event, sought to take residents down memory lane as a child growing up in the old capital.
In one case, he explained that he went to a canal in the town to swim and got into difficulty. He said he “nearly drowned”.
Explaining how he got out of the situation, Holness said: “Well, you know we a nuh fish around here.”
He, however, managed to swim to safety.
“We are aware of how the international community may misinterpret this, but it shouldn’t be viewed as a jab at any member of the society,” the JLP member said.
Scores of persons wasted no time to share their views about the controversial statement:
See some comments below:
mchue: No funny or fishy business pon wi island….genderless bathroom and anti bullying all happened under Mama “P”overty and the PNP.
chikV2Ebola: We a nuh fish around here”.this has to be placed in context.he simply meant there were no good swimmers in his area at that time!
Gay in my time meant been happy, joyful and merry .now they have made such a “mess” of that word .recently even my favorite “fish” became controversial and will have to be ordered in hushed tones !
Blacktigershark: Another excuse for a poor choice of words. This is why Jamaica cannot grow, because people like you excuse bad behaviour by our politicians!
peterT: I do agree with you. However,as a politician who is seeking the highest office in the land ,he needs to be very careful of the choice of words. Just avoid the pun! Context or not he is a well educated and extremely smart and ought to have known “fish”would have cause some kind of interpretation .
Yardie+876: him was trying to scale out of the fishy situation him swam into lol…and as you stated, him level and command of the English language leaves a lot to be desired.
treetop: Not a foreigner and still nuh understand how a fish is = gay. Its one of the dumbness things I have ever heard. We are sounding too much like our brainless PM
Share your thoughts in the comments.
Source: The Observer