‘Saga Boy’ in Oxford

http://www.newsday.co.tt/commentary/0,184262.html FREDDIE KISSOON Saturday, September 28 2013 About seven months ago, I wrote an article entitled “Mamaguy; in Oxford” which some readers enjoyed and asked for more. I even told a member in my drama class why didn’t she check the dictionary and give me the words. She said she would but never did, so I have no choice but to do it myself. I simply think of a “local word” and check to see if it is recorded in the Concise Oxford Dictionary – tenth edition. Yes, siree. Somehow, I remember Beryl McBurnie and in my mind’s eye, I see her all over again dancing to the tune of, “Fan Me Saga Boy Fan Me,” at the Little Carib. And now, it is “Saga Boy and Tan Tan” played by Peter Samuel and Allison Browne in Peter Minshall’s Carnival band. There was also a calypso – “Saga Boys in Town” by Lord Invader with a stanza which goes, “To get a set in a dance, I’ll tell you the truth, / You must have on your jitterbug green suit / Then the girls will adore you like a “play toy” / Your middle name will be Saga Boy.” Surely, this “saga boy” got to be a real Trini word. Checking it out in the Oxford Dictionary, it is there on page 1259. It is used as a noun and is a West Indian word meaning “a playboy.” Sometimes, the lexicographers give the origin of the words but in this case they didn’t. It seems to me that, “saga” originated right here from the verb “swagger” which means “walk or behave arrogantly or self-importantly.” https://youtu.be/NCOwmestHL0