Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Your Haïtian friend gets a flat tire on his car. What does he mean when he says "Dèyè mòn, gen mòn." ("Behind the mountains, there are more mountains.")
2. A doctor in Haïti is performing a necessary, but risky surgical procedure. Not paying due attention, he inadvertently cuts out the patient's pancreas. He says, "No Problem", but his supervising surgeon scolds him by telling him,"Byen prè, pa lakay. ("If you miss by an inch, you miss by a mile.")
3. Two Haïtian teenagers are gossiping about how much another teen overeats. Their school teacher hears this and says, "Zafè kabrit pa zafè mouton!" ("The goat's business is not the business of the sheep!") What is the teacher trying to convey to these students?
4. My friend, a banker in Port-au-Prince, received a letter from a person not known to her who claims to be a representative of the state oil company in a certain West African country. In the letter, the sender tells my friend that there is US$10,000,000 in an account that was supposed to go the the former dictator before he was deposed in a coup. Furthermore, since the money is off the books, this "oil company representative" advises that he would share this money 50/50 with her and deposit it in her bank account, if she could accommodate him in getting the money out of his country. First however, he requested that my friend send him her bank account number and details plus four signed notarized, but otherwise blank copies of her business letterhead. My friend laughed and says, "Lafimen pa janm leve san dife." ("Smoke never rises without fire.") What does she mean by that?
5. A man walking out of his house in Port-au-Prince is overheard telling his wife "I don't have time for breakfast; I have too much to do at work today". His wife snaps back, "Sak vid pa kanp!" ("An empty sack can't stand up!")
6. Open his mail for the day, my friend examines his credit card bill and sees the charges that he racked up on his holiday in Miami. He sighs proclaiming, "Anprè dans tanbou lou." ("After the dance the drum is heavy.")
7. We are sitting at a café in the high rent section of Petionville, when a acquaintance of my friend stops by and proceeds to tell us his authoritative opinions about the political issues of the day, IN FRENCH. My friend retorts, "Pale fransè pa di lespri pou sa." ("Speaking French doesn't mean you're smarter.")
8. We are walking down the road in Cité Soleil, when a street thug runs by and steals my friend's bag. She yells out, "Chak kochon gen Samdi pa-l!" ("Every pig gets its Saturday!")
What was she trying to convey to the thief?
9. At the bank, I overheard an embarrassed Haïtian young man tell the bank teller that he only had 500 Gourdes to deposit in his bank account (about US$9.00 or 6 British Pounds Sterling in 2015). The bank teller comforted by reminding him that, "Ti pil ti pil fè chaj." ("A little amount plus a little amount make a load.")
10. I see an advertisement offering a three year old India made TATA pick up truck for US$500. When I called the seller, she says that another person was looking at the truck, but whoever agrees to purchase the truck first, gets it. Just as I was about to make an offer sight unseen, my friend stopped me and said, "Yo pa achte chat nan sak." ("Don't buy a cat in a bag.")
Source: Author
zombipi
This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor
stedman before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.
