Hesusé! (& Hopi, & Hodé) -- #Curaçao Expressions on the #AtoZChallenge 2015)

Because in Papiamentu the J is pronounced the Dutch way (as Y), any J words sourced from Spanish or Portuguese are spelled with H. Which makes H a popular section in a Papiamentu dictionary. (And my life difficult for J day.)

Hesusé! [heh-soo-SAY] Literally: Jesus-ehIn context: Oh, god (negative), Wow (positive).
In a crowded street, you spot a friend you haven't seen for years. "Hesusé! Is that--?"

Hopi [HOH-pee] many (Papiamentu has hopi words that start with H)very (I'm hopi glad you visited today)very much (I love you hopi) -- but not much; that's masha, coming to a blog near you on M day
A song you'll hear everywhere in Curaçao -- anywhere there's a live band, anyway -- is Dushi, Mi Stimabo (Sweetie, I Love You). The first line of the song says,

"Dushi, mi stimabo hopi..."




Hodé [hoh-DEH] Literally: f*cked, screwed (the dictionary says 'sodomized')In context: your favorite @%$#&* of frustration

(NOTE: not an insult, not even seriously vulgar, but out of place in conversation with, say, your in-laws)
You're running late, and this is your third red light in the last seven minutes. You bang the steering wheel and mutter, "Hodé."

You run out of cigarettes at a party. It's 3 am; everything's going to be closed. Yeah. "Hodé."

(I think this one is borrowed from the Castilian Spanish joder, which has the same meaning and use--and isn't all that impolite in Spain [and Venezuela, I think], but in México would make eyebrows shoot up.)


Today's bonus word (what with H being so popular and all):
hòfi [HOH-fee] Hint: it's not coffee. Okay, that wasn't much of a hint. Here's another:



Take a shot. If you're the first to guess the right answer in the comments (or the closest, if no one gets it right), you'll be entered to win a copy of The Miracle of Small Things, a collection of short stories about Curaçao coming out later this year. The three winners will be announced the first week of May.