manning number plates indies

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FRANK E. MANNING

NicknamesandNumberPlatesinthe BritishWestIndies'

AMONG THEMORECOLORFULUSTOMS of the British West Indies are the wide-spreaduse of nicknamesand the universalmemorization f automobilenumberplates.Suchdesignationsas "Hot Dog" or "PI7i3," for example,often serveto identifypersons n lieu of formalnamesor as complementso them. Yet nick-namesandnumberplatessymbolizemorethanindividualdentity; heyalsosym-bolize cultural dentity, locatingpersonsin a moralorder and classhierarchy.Nicknamesandnumberplatesmaybe seenas elementsof folk taxonomic ystemsthathavea cultural esonance erived rom nativevaluecategories.In this articleI wish, first,to offera briefethnographic ccountof nicknamesandnumberplates, ocusingon their inguisticroleas alternateormsof nomencla-ture.Second,I will consider hefunctions ervedbynicknames ndnumberplateswithintheirsocialstructural ontext.Third,I want to examine heculturalmean-ing of nicknamesand numberplates and show how this meaning governs theextentandcircumstancesf theirusage.My data are drawnprimarily rom Ber-muda2and Barbados,but arecollaborated y observations havemade in manyotherBritishCommonwealtherritoriesn the Caribbean ndcircum-Caribbean.

Ethnographyof NicknamesThe prevalenceof nicknamesamongWest Indianmen is trulystriking.Myacquaintances ave included such personagesas "Froggie,""Cracker," King-fisher,""PeterRabbit,""Spider,""Forty,""Bird,""Gates,""Workey,""Saltand Pepper,""D A," "Hungry,""Smock,""Smokey,""BrickDust," "Boun-cer," "Buggywhip,""Tuppence,""Stagolee,""Fleas,""Peacemaker," Comi-1 Field research was conducted with the assistance of grants from the National Science Founda-tion and the Institute of Social and Economic Research, Memorial University of Newfoundland.I am grateful to my wife, Gail, who retrieved some of the data used in this paper. I also wish tothank Heather Batten for typing the paper.2 Although Bermuda is geographically outside the area commonly designated as the West Indies(i.e., the Caribbean islands), it has been shaped by political, economic, and cultural influencescomparable to those that have prevailed in the British Caribbean. A precedent for including Ber-muda under the West Indian heading has been set by Gordon Lewis, The Growth of the MfodernWest Indies (New York and London, 1969), 308-329.


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124 FRANK E. MANNINGcal," "World,"andmanyothers.Womenarealso knownbynicknames, utto alesserextent hanmen.In everyday onversation icknames reemployedbothvocativelyandreferen-tially, that is, in speakingto personsand in speakingaboutthem. Sometimesaman'snickname s usedto theexclusionof his formalname.On severaloccasionsI noted that informantswere unable to recallthe formalfirstnames of personswith whomtheyhadfraternizedor years.Theysaidsimplythattheyhadalwaysknownthesepersonsbynicknames ndhadneverconsideredusinganother ormof address rreference.I learnedan importantobjectlessson to this effectwhen I was lookingfor aman n Barbados. went to theneighborhoodwhereI thoughthe lived andbeganinquiring or himbyhis legalname.I askedseveralpersonswithoutsuccess,untilI metsomeonewhotoldme thatin anadjacentneighborhoodwerea few familieswith my informant's urname.I went to the secondneighborhoodand was di-rected o ahouseholdwiththe surnamen question.There,while I wasdescribingthe man I sought,a woman'sface suddenly it up. She sent me backto the firstneighborhoodwith instructionso ask for her nephew,who lived with a familywhose surnamewas differentfrom his own, but who was commonlyknownas"Fergie." did, andwaspromptly hownwherehe livedbyapersonwhomI hadpreviouslyquestioned.His remarkexpressed he culturalgapbetweenus: "Whydidn'tyousaybeforethatyouwere lookingfor 'Fergie'?"he asked n bewilder-ment.In addition o theirusage n theconductof socialrelations,nicknames lso findtheirway into news stories,radio and TV broadcasts,weddingannouncements,appreciationacknowledgments, ourt proceedings,and even obituaryand me-morialnotices.But the outstanding xampleof nicknamepopularitys foundintelephonedirectories. n the Bermudadirectory, or instance, here are listingsunder"Nappy,""Centipede," Snooks,""Squeaky," CaptainTired,""Dodie,""Pilot,""Chippy,""Grasshopper,"PeeWee," "Chummy," Bummy,""Chick-en,""Easter," Chinky," Speedy,""Steamer," Icewater," Bumpsy," Sweets,""Tricks,""Jimbo,"and hundredsof othersuchsobriquets.Women'snicknameslisted in the Bermudadirectory nclude "Fern," "Babs,""Tiny," "Mosie,""Molly,"and"Patsy."The semantic ignificance f nicknames aries.Some areprimarilydescriptive,referringto features of an individual'spersonality,appearance, r experience.Othersarethenamesof folkloric iguresor local celebrities.A thirdtypeare basi-callynonsensicaland have no particularexicalcontent and a more-or-less rbi-trary elationshipotheirbearer.The conferralof nicknamess typicallya serendipitous vent.Two exampleswill illustrate.A Bermudian nown as "Pauper"wasgiventhatnamebyan ado-lescentfriend who was studyingcomputers ndhence in the habit of fabricatingcode names;the friendlookedat him one dayand said, "You're'Pauper.'" ABarbadian known as "Gilgamesh" acquiredhis nicknamein school while the classwas reading the Epic of Gilgamesh; a pupil looked up from his book and randomlyassigned the names of fictional characters o boys who caught his attention.As the above examples indicate, nicknames are normally acquired in youth.Thereafter, as my nicknamed informants put it, they tend to "stick" to a person


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NICKNAMES AND NUMBER PLATES IN BRITISH WEST INDIES 125for life. Occasionally, nicknameor secondnicknames gainedin adulthood.ABermudianknownas "SilverCity"was given that nameafterhe had acquireda rathershockingcropof grayhair. One dayhe was drinkingwith somefriendsin a workmen's lub.Behindhim was a trophycasefilledwith cupsandmedalswon bytheclub'schampionshipports eams.Thesizeandnumberof thetrophieshad earnedthe collection he epithet"SilverCity."Observing he chromatic e-semblancebetween the trophiesand the gray-hairedman, someoneexclaimed,"Thatmaybe 'SilverCity'overthere n the case,butwe'vegot 'SilverCity'righthereat thebar."

Ethnographyof NumberPlatesAutomobilenumberplatesarememorizedthroughout he BritishWest Indies.Womenaswell asmen,childrenaswell as adults,non-drivers s well as drivers,have animpressiveotalof licensenumbersn theirstockof socialknowledge.Thetaskof learningandrecalling hesenumbers s facilitatedbyat least fourfeaturesof the registration ystem-a system,incidentally, hat is basedon British li-censingcustomsand is thereforedifferent rom thatusedin Dutch, French,His-panic,andAmerican reasof theCaribbean.First,BritishWest Indian icenseplatesarehighlyconspicuous.Theyare twiceaswideastheirNorthAmericancounterpartsnd areplacedon boththefrontandrearof the car. Moreover, he characters n the plates are not embossed andpainted,as is generallydoneelsewhere n the Caribbean ndNorth America; n-stead,theyare large,three-dimensionalfigures hatareattached o a dear back-ground.Themostpopular olorcombinationswhiteor silvercharactersn a darkbackground, suallyblackorgreen.A commonvariant(whichis becomingmorewidelyused becauseof its greatervisibilityat night) consistsof blackcharacterson areflectorized hiteoryellowbackground.Second,the numberof charactersn BritishWest Indianlicenseplatesis lowenough not to strainone's memory.Vehicle registrations re generallya com-bination of five or fewer characters.The firstone or two characters re letters,which signify eitherthe class of the vehicle (privatecar,taxi, or truck) or theparishwherethe registrant ives. The othercharacters renumbers.Sincemostpersonsarealready ognizantof thedesignationsignifiedbytheletters, heyhaveto memorizeonlytheremainder f theplate-a maximumof fourcharacters,ndsometimesonlyone ortwo.On someof theWindward slands, ettersarenotusedatall, so thatplatesconsistsimplyof four orfewernumbers.Third,numberplatesareeasilyrelatedto other familiarphenomena hataidtheirrecall.Religious undamentalists, hoseranksarerapidly wellingthrough-out the islands,often appropriatecripturepassagesas a mnemonicdevice.Forexample,Barbadians ememberhe licenseplate J2415 by associatingt with afavorite text from the Book of Joshua, chapter 24, verse 15: "Choose you thisday whom ye will serve." Similarly, in Bermuda the license plate RP623 is asso-ciated with the Epistle to the Romans by Paul, chapter 6, verse 23: "The wagesof sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life .. ." A combination of hymnnumbers and the pages of the hymnal on which they appear is also used as amemoryaid.Finally, West Indian license plates have continuity. Unlike their North Ameri-


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126 FRANK E. MANNINGcan neighborswhose tax dollarsare spent to buynew platesevery yearor two,West Indianskeepthesameplates ndefinitely. na sense,theplatesbelongto thecarandmaybe left on thecar f it is sold.If aperson unkshis car nsteadof sell-ing it, he canretain he platesandputthemon his next car.This,in fact,is whatusuallyhappensin Bermuda,where a personwho has sold a car is legally re-stricted rom buyinganotherone for a year.In order to avoidbeing withoutacar for thisperiod,mostpersonsuse their carsuntil theyarewornout, andthenjunkthemandtransferheplatesto anewcar.Thus, t is common orBermudiansto havehadthe same icenseplatefor a lifetimeandtohaveusedit onseveralcars.Number plates committed o memoryserve a numberof sociallyuseful pur-poses. Among these is the recognitionof personson the road. It is a canonofetiquette n the West Indiesto saluteanypassingmotoristwith whomone is ac-quainted.In societies that are small and close-knit,this means that a driverisacknowledgingeverysecondor third car he passeswith a shout, a wave, or atootof the horn.The recallof numberplatesfacilitatesa socialobligationbypro-viding a meansof recognizing arseasilyandat a distance.Unintentionally,t isalsoconduciveo highwaysafety, n that it enablespersons o exchangegreetingswithouttaking heireyesfromthe road.The recognitionof numberplatesis also a meansof gathering he kindof in-formation hat is eventuallydisseminatedn the gossipnetworkcharacteristicfWest Indiansocieties.3When passinga parking ot, mostpersonshave the habitof scanningthe license plates to determinewho is on or near the premises.Through he sametechniqueone can tell who is attendingchurch, pending imeattheclub,orhavinganaffairwith a neighborhoodwoman.Sometimes, f course,identifications remistakenand haveembarrassing onsequences. n BarbadosretiredEnglishmanboughta secondhand arataprivatesale.A few days aterhewasgreetedon a Bridgetown treetbya womanwhocasually skedhim abouthis"girlfriend."He saidhe had no girlfriend,but the womanpersisted.Eventuallyshe told him that the girlfriendwas a neighborof hers,andrevealed he districtwhereshe lived. WhentheEnglishmantill deniedhavingagirlfriend hewomanchided, "Oh,comenow. You wereparkedoutsideher houseall nightlastweek."

Number plates are also used to designatedwellings.A residentof the Bar-badianvillagewhereI livedpaintedhis licensenumberon his frontporch, herebyidentifyinghis homein muchthe samewayas the North Americanwhoputshisformalnameon asignpostormailbox.Anotherneighborwho wasa self-employedtradesman alledattention ohisbusinessbymakingupanarrow-shapedignwithhis licensenumberon it; heplaced hesignattheendof thestreet,withthe arrowpointed owardhishouse.AlternateFormsof NomenclatureI haveneverwitnessedan occasionwhen numberplateswereusedvocatively.Theyare,however,usedreferentially-a usage n whichtheirroleconvergeswiththatof nicknames.Early nmyBermudaieldwork n informantwastalking omeabouta manwhomhe describedas "Legs."When I saidI didn't know "Legs,"

3 For a discussion of the role and meaning of gossip in West Indian societies, see Roger Abra-hams, "A Performance-centeredApproach to Gossip," Man (N.S.), 5 (1970), 290-301. See alsoRoger Abrahams and Richard Bauman, "Sense and Nonsense in St. Vincent: Speech Behavior andDecorum in a CaribbeanCommunity," American Anthropologist, 73 (197I), 762-773.


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NICKNAMES AND NUMBER PLATES IN BRITISH WEST INDIES 127my informant reminded me that he was "Buck's boy." Since I continued to showa blank expression, my informant responded not by volunteering the man's formalname (which he may not have recalled), but by mentioning the license numberofhis vehicle.In Barbados nicknames and number plates are used together in two rather dif-ferent types of public references: dance announcements and death notices. Thefollowing dance announcement, taken from a store-window poster, illustrates thestandardformat used in advertising the dozen or more dances held everyweekendunder private sponsorship.

Rideon, Baje,Comedo yourownthingataGrand

DANCEto be givenbyMr. LeroyBoycebetterknownasRocka,popularbusconductor

and Mr.GeorgeBromeownerof CarL408

atRiverBanksCasinoSt. Lucyon Saturday ight, 29thApril, 1972MusicbyWrenBabbsHi-Fi

Admission-$i.ooBarSolidasaRockSoDig It,You SoulBrothers ndSisters

On the bottom of the poster, handwritten with a magic marker, was the adden-dum, "Trans.by L74-."As in the above example, dance announcements invariably contain both nick-name and number-plate information. Death notices may contain both, neither, orone of the two types of information. When both are included, the typical formatof death notices (which in Barbados are usually given over the radio, not in thenewspaper) is as follows:

We regret o announcehedeathof-------alsoknownasdriverof carThe notice proceeds to list surviving members of the family and to give details ofthe funeral arrangements.Dance announcements and death notices are, of course, intended primarily foran audience well acquaintedwith the subjects. Dances are patronized primarilybyrelatives, friends, and co-workers of the sponsor(s), while funerals are attendedprimarily by relatives and close friends of the deceased. Yet in each case formalnames are supplemented by other attributes of identity, notably nicknames and


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128 FRANKE. MANNINGnumberplates.As the danceposter ndicates, t is by suchalternatedesignationsthata personmaybe "betterknown."

Social Structure ndSymbolicFunctionA glanceatWest Indiansocialstructureeadily uggestsanimportantunctionservedbynicknames ndnumberplates.Caribbeanocieties,especiallyhosewithfewer than ioo,ooo inhabitants,are essentiallya collectionof large, extendedfamiliesthathavebecomeclosely nterrelatedduringcenturiesof marriage, on-cubinage,and casualmating. Consequently,wo or three dozen surnamesareusuallysharedby the majorityof an insularpopulation.Within localareas heconcentrationf a few surnamess even moreapparent.Neighborhoods, illages,and sometimeswhole parishesmaybe populatedalmostentirelyby a few largefamilies.Since the repertory f common irstnames s also limited,there s a high inci-dence of namesakes.Formal names are nonfunctional rom the standpointofindividuatingpersons;alternatedesignationsareneeded. Nicknamesand num-berplatesfill theneedbyservingasidentity ymbols hat ndividuatepersons romtheir kinsmenandnamesakes.The importance f theircommon unction s seenmost vividly in its absence.Consider he following newspaperaccountof courtproceedingsn Bermuda:

The wrong Michael Eugene Smith had been broughtup on a charge of riding while dis-qualified,it was revealed in magistratescourt yesterdayto the Wor. Austin Ward. The casewas adjourneduntil the right man was found. The defendant present in court was provedto be in prisonat the time of the allegedoffenceon November 19 last year.4Suchexamplesndicatewhynicknames nd numberplatesareoftenused n officialrecordsandpublicreferences s well as in the discourse f socialrelations.With-out these alternatenamingterms,mistaken dentity s an ever-present ossibility.The functionalrole of nicknamesas symbolic ndividuatorshas currencynsimilarly tructuredocieties.A lucidcross-culturalxample s foundin the Scot-tish highlands,whereDorianreportsthat upwardof 70 percentof the Gaelic-speakingpopulationn small communitieshareonlythree surnames.5ndividualidentity s represented ynicknames nownas "by-names,"ndit is bythesethatpersonsaremostcommonlyknown.In one schooltherewere thirteenboysnamedWillie MacKay.English-speakingeachersunfamiliarwiththeby-names eferredto the boysas Willie A, Willie B, Willie C, andso on, all the wayto Willie M.In effect,asDorianobserves, he teachersdevelopeda substitute amingsystemoftheirown, in response o the same functionalneed that is servedby the Gaelicby-names.Theparallel unctionof West Indiannumberplates nvitesaprovocative truc-tural contrastbetweenmodernmass societiesand smallinsularsocieties.To mostNorth Americans, he prospectof being knownby a number(such as an IBMnumberor socialsecuritynumber)evokesan Orwellian hudder. t is seen as theepitomeof bureaucraticepersonalization. ne longs insteadto be identifiedbywhat he considers o be the symbolof his uniqueness:his name.To a West In-

4 Royal Gazette (Hamilton, Bermuda), March io, p973,P. 7.5 Nancy Dorian, "A SubstituteName Systemin the ScottishHighlands,"AmericanAnthro-pologist, 72 (1970), 303-319.


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NICKNAMES AND NUMBER PLATES IN BRITISH WEST INDIES 129dian, number dentityhas the oppositemeaning.It representshis individuality,whereashis namemerelyplaceshim in a largegroupof formalnamesakes.Thus,both Americanand Caribbean ocietiesdepersonalize, ut in structurally iffer-ent ways. In the formercase,depersonalizations accomplished y bureaucracy;in the latter,by extendedkinship.The sametypeof symbolthat is viewedas asymptomof a sociopsychologicalroblemin one societyworksas a solutiontothatproblemn another ociety.

The Heroic TriumvirateFunctionalutilityis not the only considerationo be taken nto account n ex-aminingthe role of nicknamesandnumberplates.As I suggestedat the outsetof thisarticle, hetwoidentitysymbolsactnotonlyto individuatepersonsbutalsoto locatethem in a socioculturalrder.In a broader ense,however, hemeaningsof nicknamesand numberplatesareat variance.Nicknamesconnotean identitythatis heroicwithina socially imitedvalueorientation.Numberplatesrepresentanidentity hat s acceptedhroughoutocietyashavingahighstatus.Thisdiscrep-ancy n meaning iesbehind woobservationshatI will nowconsider: i) the ten-dencyof somepersons o covet nicknamedentitiesand of otherpersons o avoidthem; (2) thegeneralwillingnessof allpersons o acceptnumber-platedentities.Letme begin by lookingat conceptsof popularheroismandtheirrelationshiponicknames.In theWestIndiestherearetwobasictypesof celebrity eroes:entertainers ndsportsmen. n the Caribbeanultural ontext(as well asthebroaderAfro-Ameri-cancontext), the two figureshavemuch n common.Theyareplayers n the dra-matisticandagonisticsense. The entertainers a performer-competitor. is roleis bothto rendera performanceor his audienceand to competeagainstotheren-tertainers or exaltedtitles andvaluedprizes.Similarly,he sportsmans a game-ster-showman.His popularitydependsnot only on his athletictalents,but alsoon his abilityto entertain he publicwith flamboyant isplaysof personalstyle,on andoff the field.The interrelationbetween dramaticperformance nd agonisticencounter n

the popularestheticof the West Indiesexplainsthe culturalheroismof anotherfigurewhoseskillscombinebothtropisms:he "goodtalker"or"manof words."6As I have shownwith respectto Bermuda,'and as Kochmanand othershavedemonstrated n a moregeneral evel,8oralcommunicationamongAfro-Ameri-cans s notprimarily meansof conveying ontent nformation.Rather, t is a formof symbolicactionthathas two broadaims: (I) to impress,amuse,or persuadeone or morelisteners;and (2) to contestagainstothers n verbalbattlesof wits.The good talker s thus the thirdmemberof the dramatistic-agonisticeroictri-umvirate.Thoughnotusuallya nationalcelebrity,he enjoysconsiderableprestige6 The "man of words" has been discussed at length by Roger Abrahams. See especially DeepDown in the Jungle: Negro Narrative Folklore from the Streets of Philadelphia (Chicago, 1970);Positively Black (Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1970); "Patterns of Performance in the British WestIndies," in Afro-American Anthropology: Contemporary Perspectives, ed. Norman Whitten andJohn Szwed (New York, 1970), 163-179.7 Frank Manning, Black Clubs in Bermuda: Ethnography of a Play World (Ithaca and London,1973), 61-63.8 Thomas Kochman, ed., Rappin' and Stylin' Out: Communication in Urban Black America(Urbana, Chicago, London, 1973).


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130 FRANK E. MANNINGin localcentersof sociability,where his latentroleis thatof generatingandsus-tainingpopularappreciationor the abilitiesthat aredemonstratedmoreglam-orouslybyentertainers ndsportsmen.

Besidestheseformal and structural ffinities,he three heroicfiguresare alsolinkedbynicknames.Themostfamousbearers f nicknames reentertainers,spe-ciallycalypsonians,whoareknownexclusivelybyflamboyanttagenames hataregenerallyeithermock aristocraticitles or epithets mplyingexaggeratedmascu-line prowess.But athleticcelebritiesandpersonsesteemed or verbalfluencyarealsowidely dentifiedbynicknames;ndeed,virtually llthenicknamesited n thisarticlebelong to individualswho arecategorized rom the nativeviewpointaspartof whatI havecalledtheheroictriumvirate.A collaborativebservation asbeen madeby Wilson, who notes that nicknames re a sign and an integralpartof "reputation"-a pan-Caribbean, redominantlymalevalue ideal symbolizingproficiencyn such histrionicand competitiveactivitiesas hustling, gambling,sports,music,and sexualconquest.9Nicknameusagein the Caribbean as alsobeenseen in closerelation o the jocular,agonisticexchangeof verbal nsults,oneof the most familiarscenariosn which good talkersdemonstrate heirfluencyand wit.1oA nickname, hen, is a symbolwith important ulturalimplications. t identi-fiesa personwith the heroicworldof entertainment,port,andverbalvirtuosity.It follows thatthepopularity f a nicknames a roughmeasureof heroicstature,for it suggeststhe extentto whichits bearer'sdramatistic-agonisticbilitieshavedrawnconversational ttention.Thus,it is understandablehatpersonsarequickto disseminateheir nicknamesby such meansas enteringthemin the telephonedirectory rusingthem npublicannouncements.Adulationfor the triumvirates, however,balancedby aversion.The symbolsthatrepresentpopularheroismare scornedbyboththereligiousandelite sectorsof society.Religious oppositionis centered n the rapidlygrowingevangelicalProtestant hurches,which view the settingsof heroicaction-Carnivalgrounds,calypsotents,dancehalls, sports ields,rumshops,clubs,andthe like-as placesof sin and devilment.To thosewho are"saved," he heroicworldis the domainof "backsliders." heycompletelyavoidit, to theextentof fleeingto thecountry-sideon nationalholidaysgivenover to entertainmentestivalsandsportingrival-ries.'1The non-useof nicknamess partof the symbolicrepertoryhroughwhichtheconvertedchurchgoer xpresseshis separatenessrom the wider society.In re-searchamongreformistandrevivalist ongregations, discoveredhatmostof myinformantshad acquirednicknamesduringtheir lives, usuallyin youthor in aperiodwhentheyhadfallen away rom church.Presently, hough,theytendedtoconcealtheir nicknames ather hanpublicize hem,and wererarely dentifiedbynicknameswithin churchcircles.A Seventh-DayAdventist mpliedthe rationalefor eschewing nicknameswhen he said that, while it was all right for a man named

9 Peter Wilson, "Reputation and Respectability: A Suggestion for Caribbean Ethnology," Man(N.S.), 4 (1969), 74-76.1o Anthony Lauria, " 'Respeto, 'Relajo' and Inter-Personal Relations in Puerto Rico," Anthro-pological Quarterly, 37 (1964), 58.11For an extended discussion of the opposition between evangelical Protestantism and the ac-tivities I have here deemed heroic, see Manning, 60-83.


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NICKNAMES AND NUMBER PLATES IN BRITISH WEST INDIES 131Robertto be calledBob, the morefrivolous nicknameswere to be viewedunfa-vorablybecause f their"worldly" onnotations.Turningfromthe religiouselectto the socialelite,we noticethatanother ypeof aversioncomesinto play againstthe symbolic-socialystemthat supports heheroictriumvirate.Elitistavoidance temsprimarily roma senseof cultural u-periorityrather hanmoralrighteousness;he dichotomybetweensalvationandsinfulness is thus replacedby one between colonialrespectability,mulatedbythe middleandupperclasses,andthe creoleethos,the folk wayof life followedbythe statistically ominantowerclasses.Yet thelower classeshavedevelopedacharacteristicbilityto shift betwencreoleandcolonialposesas the situationde-mands.The role of nicknamesn makingsuch a shift is seen in the followingplea given by one of Bermuda'snotoriouspettycriminalsduringa recentcourtcase nwhichhe stood rialoneightcountsof burglary ndtheft.They called me names all my life--"Eggs" Smith! I come in court and they call me Ken-neth Maxwell Smith. My name is KennethJames Maxwell Smith. I respectpeople, but don'tget respect. Regardless of the outcome of this here, I will survive, because I am strong. Icould kill one of these policemen for the way they treat me, but I will maintain myself. Ijust want to be straight.... I don't want to own a lot of things like a businessmanin a tux-edo. I just want to be straight.In otherwords-peace."'2

Thedefendant's bility o "shuckandjive,"that s, toprojecta favorablemagefor the benefitof a middle-classauthorityigure, stronglysuggestshis capabilityas a manof wordsandhencehis claim to creoleheroism.Yet, it is precisely hisidentificationhathe seeksunderthe circumstanceso escape.He doesso by dis-avowing wo of the symbolsassociatedwith the creole ife styleandthereby ikelyto stigmatizehim in the eyesof the judge: a nicknameanda fondness for flashyclothes.He argues hat he respectsothersandshould himselfbe deemedrespect-able-a treatmenthe does not receiveby beingcalled"Eggs."The effectivenessof this typeof plea in its socialcontext s suggestedby the outcomeof the case.While the defendantwas convictedon all eight counts,the judge allowedthesentences o runconcurrentlyndtold the court hathe was showingleniency nviewof thedefendant'sack of violence.In a departureromBermudianudicialconvention, he judgealsoleveledsharpcriticismat thepenalsystem or its fail-ureto reformoffenders.The association f nicknameswith a cultural ystem hat is viewedbyone seg-ment of societyas sinful andanotheras sociallydisreputable xplainswhy therearelimitationson thedesirability f anicknameidentity,despite heheroicstaturethatsuchan identityrepresents.Thosewho aresavedaswell asthosewho seek topresenta respectablemagearelikelyto see nicknames s formsof identity o beshunned or concealed.The culturalimplicationof nicknamesalso suggests (al-though herearemanyother actorsinvolved)whywomen'snicknames reknownandused less widelythanthose of men. As I haveshownfor Bermuda,13andasWilson has observed for the Caribbean as a whole,'4 a greater percentage ofwomen than men not only adhere to the tenets of the church but also strive tomaintain animage of social respectability.

12 Royal Gazette (Hamilton, Bermuda), October 13, 1973, p. 3.13Manning, 163.14Wilson, 70-84.


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132 FRANK E. MANNINGA number-platedentity,on theotherhand,has neitherheroicconnotation ormoral-culturalstigmatization.t indicatesonlythe obvious-that its bearers theownerof an automobile.The automobiles, moreover,an important tatussym-

bol. In mostof the West Indies,wagesandliving conditionsareat a level wherecarsareat aconsiderablepremium.A car s, therefore, symbolof material uccessand economicaccomplishment-goalsthataresoughtbyheroesandsaints,creolesand colonials,alike.To an entertainer, portsman, r good talker,a carsignifiesfinancialgain, one of the basicindicationsof recognitionand heroicstature.Acaris equallyvalued, however,by the religiouselect andthe socialelite. To theformer, t is a "blessing romtheLord"; o thelatter, t is animportant artof thematerialrepertoryhatvalidatesmiddle-andupper-classtanding.*5A number-platedentity s thuspositivelymeaningfulacross he religiousandsocialsegmentation f society,without,perse, locating ts owner n any segment.Accordingly,t canbe used by personsas diverseas dancepromoterswho placeit on advertisingpostersandpiouschurchgoerswho remembert throughassocia-tion with scriptureverses. Indeed, I will never forget an elderly Pentecostalwoman n Barbadoswho habituallyntroduced onversationboutherson byre-ferring o his numberplate;typically hewouldsay,"Youknowmyson-SI70o-myson,Stuart."Nicknamesandnumberplatesareexamplesof whatGeertzhas termed"sym-bolic ordersof persondefinition."'6Theyserve o individuatepersonsand to sug-gest something urtheraboutthemthatis culturally ignificant.To appreciatehenativeresponse o thesesymbolsandto understandhe circumstanceshatgoverntheirusage,we mustbe attentive o hermeneutic s well as functionalconsider-ations.MemorialUniversity f NewfoundlandSt.John's,Newfoundland

15 See, for example, M. G. Smith, "The Plural Framework of Jamaican Society," British Journalof Sociology, 12 (I96i), 260.16 CliffordGeertz, Person,Time, and Conduct n Bali: An Essayin CulturalAnalysis (NewHaven, 1966), 13.

manning number plates indies

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