Pompasettin is an old-fashioned word for being a bit pompous and full of your own importance. In other words, it applies to someone who is ‘showing off. ‘ It’s a variation of the word pompous meaning to be full of grandeur. This phrase is usually used critically, and often followed with a chuckle.
Pompasettin a Colourful Bajan Phrase
According to cultural trip, Pompasettin is one of the 13 Essential Barbados Phrases you should know when visiting the island. It’s featured in the first chapter of the upcoming book Rogues in Paradise.
Mr. Pompasettin Gets a Tongue-Lash
Pompasettin was the case with one fine gentleman who thought his fashionable attire would get him a privileged place in the queue for coconuts on the ABC highway. He was gravely mistaken. Clothes may make the man but not on the ABC highway!
He was not expecting a tongue-lashing from a lady who got his number and let him know exactly what she thought. Of course with eloquent Bajan directness, wit, and humour.
There is humour even in these alterations with good Bajan dialect and lively banter. A vital part of the Barbados psyche.
For more about the book on Rogues see https://barbados.org/blog/rogues-in-paradise-book
Summary Video of Pompasetti Social Etiquette
This short video illustrates the key points of the story of Pompasetting, chapter 1 of Rogues in Paradise.
In the book, this lack of social etiquette and the rebuttal from a non-suspected source is examined with philosophical and playful insight. The core of the story is the lady in the queue who refused to let the pompous man get away with his arrogance.
She lit into Mr. Executive leaving him speechless and left giving him a sharp look to make sure he knew his place in the line for coconuts, in no uncertain terms.
It was one of those lessons Barbados teaches. You can dress for effect, but no matter how you look and what you do, coconuts are chopped in order of arrival, and your place in the queue is your right. No one should step out of line in front of a man chopping coconuts with a razor-sharp cutlass—or a woman with an even sharper tongue!
Editors Review
The book’s anecdotes and histories are made compelling not only through this storytelling craftsmanship but also through your narrative perspective; Rogues in Paradise has a playful, celebratory tone that makes the charms of its subject matter irresistible.
Video Coconut Vendor on Highway
Unfortunately, the sound got chopped on this video of chopping coconuts. But you get the idea. This vendor takes on a large and hard coconut and has to make many swings. Imagine how tiring that can be if you do this all day long.
Life-Lessons from Paradise
Know your place and don’t step on others’ toes, or you may just get called out when you least expect it.
more about eating your coconut
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