Bolikam

[John Burton]

There's a funny place called Boliwogam I visited in Ningerum in 1991. I
remember joking in TP with my guide about the similarly of this village name
and the others nearby to real words, or contractions of words in pidgin:
Hukim, Bankim and so on. It went down like a lead balloon! (People outside
the highlands like to yell 'Ol i kam! Ol i kam! Ol i kam!' and when they do
this they pretend to be highlanders. I don't think my guide got the joke at
all.)

I am looking out for more 'Bolikam' style contractions. 'Meki wanem', 'wane
wane samting' etc tripped off tongues at once, but we need to get a handle
on a good number. I don't known what to collect them for exactly, but it's
an interesting subject.

John Burton