Monday, April 28, 2014

A DIFFERENT KIND OF ACCIDENT



In English, we have all kinds of euphemisms and slang terms for being pregnant.  Some are considered offensive, and some are socially acceptable like, having "a bun in the oven," or having "one on the way."

But we have less slang terms for getting pregnant.  And they are usually highly offensive to some people.

In Chamorro, being pregnant is plain old mapotge'.  I am not aware of any slang terms in Chamorro for that.

But as far as getting pregnant is concerned, I have heard the slang term aksidente.  As you can guess, it simply means "an accident" or to "have an accident."

I have heard the word applied to an unwed woman who got pregnant outside of marriage.  Aksidente i palao'an.  The woman had an accident.

But I have also heard it applied to priests.

It is common knowledge among older Chamorros that some priests, as far back as Spanish times, fathered children.

In those days, such an occurrence was not spoken about openly.  It was obviously a sin, for both priest and woman, and thus it was not something to publicly acknowledge. 

But if the fact had to be stated, a Chamorro might say, "Ombre, sa' pot aksidente si påle'..."  "Well, because Father had an accident..."

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