Panhead Dem Call Wi!
Here is an interesting one! A Jamaican bredrin at work told me that a British chick got him on the phone and in the ensuing discussion, the British lady found out that he was Jamaican, whereupon she said “Oh, so you’re a panhead!”.
He went on to say that ‘Panhead’ was a derogatory name given to Jamaicans by some of the older Caymanians. Apparently they were making fun of those Jamaicans (mostly women) who used to balance buckets of water or heavy packages on their heads and walk with them for miles and miles.
The ex-patriates who came here seemed to have picked up the term from the Caymanians, apparently. My bredrin said that there seemed to be a difference between the way the British lady used the name as against when the Caymanians used it. He said that the way the Caymanians said it, he would end up feeling like so much amoeba excrement, but the tone used by the British lady was much more positive… hmmm…
Panhead… I think that I prefer that to ‘looter’ or ‘tief’ still! What do you say? 
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Hmmm…actually, I always thought the balacing act was a Caribbean thing. Guess I was wrong.
Anyway, I learned something a long time ago. People often see or talk about others in a manner that makes them feel better about themselves.
Stu
Oh, I was talking to Shoma ands she said tyhat they also call Yardies ‘Onionheads’, because Jamaican higglers who used to come here were always buying lots of onions because Jamaica had an onion shortage at that time… Me nuh so like onionhead still, because it suggests stench to me…
Well, I’m in favour of none of those terms. Dem turtles better watch demself, with the water woes that many of dem experiencing after Ivan blow dem weh, it may actually be advantageous to be a panhead!
How people love to stereotype!
I find all the terms offensive. Should we call the Caymanians “turtleheads” or how about “slowmanians” after the turtles….I think they’d find that just as offensive. Why does anyone have to have degrogative names for anyone else.
Kiss mi neck…no boss, I refuse to be called any kind of head, be it onion or pan…dem can come kiss mi R.A.S.S. with that! That’s just as bad as being called a “coconut” in the 80s. Call me a Jamaican, call me a Yardie, but those are the only two terms I will accept! (well, outside of sexy chocolate monster)
{arf,arf}
Ciya,
I think people who don’t feel good about themselves often talk about others in a negative light that make them feel better about themselves.
You’ll seldom find people with “true” self respect talking poorly about others . Instead, they have compassion.