FW: Comments on recent additions

[BURTON John]

Mesulam and all ...



> "Pamuk" is known. A "pamuk man", or a "pamuk meri", refers to
> someone who
> goes around having sex with many people. Currently in PNG, there is an
> advertisement emphasising "noken koap", as a deterrence to discourage
> "pamuk", it is as an awareness campaign agaist the spread of
> "AIDS" in the
> country.

John Burton - a question about finer shades of meaning is whether "pasin
pamuk" is primarily prostitution, extremely slack sexual habits, or a more
political variety of "hopping into bed". For example, "pamuk nabaut" means
to go around being promiscuous, but it could mean jumping from party to
party in parliament, could it not. Similarly, a "bladi pamuk" is someone you
are swearing about because of their sexual behaviour, but it could also be
an MP who does the above and won't stay still.

I'll let others think of idiomatic uses for "pamuk pikinini".

> "Kona" comes from the English "corner", as a Pisin speaker,
> we do not see it
> as an angle or corner as such, but it is more of a difficult
> bend on the
> road or on a playgroung. We use "kona" a lot in soccer, where
> people in the
> playing field who would call out to their team member, saying
> "konaim em",
> which simply means that you push him to a difficult situation
> before you win
> the ball from him.

John Burton - I refer you to the internet page on "kona" (which I'm sorry
you don't presently have, but I hope you will do soon). Notably, the
position in the New Guinea soccer game "Wau kik" known as "was kona" which I
glean was something similar to a forward pocket, but very dangerous because
it was deep inside the opponents half. Also, this game - dating to the
mid-1920s on the Morobe goldfields - has a number of other names notably
"kik kros", "pilai 12" or another name like this. Anyone know?

> "kranki" also phoneticall spells "kranggi or krangi" in many
> parts of PNG.
> It means "longlong" or something seriously wrong with you
> mentally. You
> could safely say that a person who cannot read and write is
> also a "kranki
> man or meri" to an extent.

John Burton - I know it may be pronounced like that, but we'll stick to
"kranki" as Mihalic had it and note the variants.

> "dunghi, never heard of it. Is it something similar to a
> sickness called
> "Dunghi Fever" or some mispelt or created from?

John Burton - It is nothing to do with Dengue Fever! It might be a Christmas
beetle, but husat i save - tokaut, plis.

> "Pekpek" is well known ...

John Burton - not quite. There is a little question mark over its source. On
the internet site I have wrriten this:

Kuanua: 'pekapeke'. Piet Lincoln notes that this Tok Pisin word does not
quite reflect the Tolai form /pekapeke/ as pointed out by Ross 1992:376.
Both Tolai and Tok Pisin may well reflect Proto-Oceanic *bekas
'defecate...'. 

What other works in ENB or New Ireland are related?

>
> "ful wok" is wrong. should be "wok pul" or (wok ful) "work fool". Not
> exactly "foolish work". It comes from the English word "fool" or being
> ignorant of how the system in general works. Most indentured
> contracts in
> the colonial past were designed on the ignorance of the
> indigenous natives
> of PNG. As seen years later as "wok pul" by the educated.
>
>
> Mesulam Aisoli
> mva at lihir.com.pg
> LIHIR


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