Sunday, March 7, 2010

Schrubbing

Not sure how the term got its name, but schrubbing refers to a Kenyan speaking English but mixing up letters in words to do it. Usually it’s r’s and l’s that get switched. Those are the main two in Nairobi that get swapped. I think other parts of Kenya have folks that have trouble with b’s and p’s.

There are favorite schrubs. Recently one of the preachers at church caught her schrub, “We need to play for our situation.” This orator caught it right away and corrected the mistake. Another pastor’s proclaimed ‘favorite schrub’ is the quote from Hebrews 12, “since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses…” He likes it because it works just fine to say, “crowd of witnesses.”

There is a plot I pass often that has been working on becoming some kind of business. They have made the neat gravel drive and have tables and chairs in the garden. I don’t know if it’s a restaurant or is it a beauty salon. It could be both. The other day I was passing the sign for it and finally made an effort to read the scrawling font on it. It’s called Subrime. What more can I say?

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