WORDS AND PHRASES THAT ARE TABOO IN MY CULTURE

In the culture of the people of southeastern Nigeria,there are many words and phrases that are considered taboo.The list is so large that writing down all of them would lead me into writing a book instead of the simple blog topic I set out to write.There are too many of them.However,I would discuss a few of them.

Firstly,the expression "burukwa okuko uzo lakpuo ura" means "may you go to bed before the chickens".This is a very terrible thing to say to anybody.It is considered a bad wish of abnormal proportions.It is believed that the speaker wishes the addressee dead.The chickens usually go to roost at about 4pm when ordinarily, all healthy men and women are supposed to be in offices and factories working.

Again, the expression "sikwa n'ala nuo mmanya" literaly translated, means " may you drink from the ground". This expression is also a terrible one and is considered a taboo.It is believed that anybody who says that to another wishes the addressee dead.Quite naturally, the use of the expression on another may attract very bizzare consequences.

That is not all.Telling a man or woman that he or she has two hands is also considered a huge insult. It is a figurative way of saying that such man or woman is a thief.It is believed that if the addressee is a child,he or she may grow up into a thief.

Outside the expressions above, there are still a host of others.It is forbidden to mention a snake by name at night. The elders believe that doing so may attract a snake.Instead,it is called "eriri" which means "rope".Tuberculosis is such a dreaded disease that it is forbidden to mention its name to the hearing of healthy people.It is instead, called "ukwara nta" which means "the small cough".The same applies to leprosy or "ekpenta". Anybody who suffers from the disease is called "onye oria ocha" or "the white disease". Sometimes, the person is called "onye ocha" which means "the whiteman".

At the risk of repeting myself,the taboo expresssions are too many to be exhausted in this essay.I do believe that the few I have discussed here would enlighten the reader to the fact that the color of human beings may look different,but we are all the same.