FAT ALBERT

Fat Albert is not a man. It's a blimp full of radar equipment which the United States Air Force keeps high in the air over the Exumas, a suspected transshipment point for drugs on the way to the US,  to track boat and airplane movements.

BAHAMA TALK

Here are some expressions you might hear in the Bahamas:

back-back the car: to put it in reverse

biggety: boastful and overbearing

bound: constipated

calm head: smooth hair in a female

camolly: lump or damaged skin

to get confuddle up: to become confused

a fast person is one who steals, or does not mind his/her own business

fishenin' :  fishing

free gift: costs only 10 bucks

gussy mae: overweight female

jook: to stab

jumbey: ghost

kerpunkle up: very intoxicated

leg short: arrived  late

long out (the mouth): to pout

a low fence: anyone who can be easily taken advantage of

muggage up: to beat up

shuttail (shirt tail)without pants

sip sip: gossip

skylark:  horseplay

if your spirit agrees with someone you'll get along well together

tank you too:  you're welcome

DEVIL'S BACKBONE 

What's The Devil's Backbone? It's a stretch of shallow razor-sharp elkhorn coral reefs bordering the north end of the island of Eleuthera in the Bahamas. It owes its name to the fact that its sharp coral heads are up to no good and have ripped the bottoms of ships in the past. It is a veritable graveyard of wrecked ships and is therefore full of opportunity for those wishing to explore shipwrecks.

CHICKCHARNIES

Folk wisdom on the largest island in The Bahamas, Andros, requires that visitors carry flowers or pieces of brightly colored cloth. Such items charm the resident creatures called chickcharnies. If you see a chickcharnie, the people say, show it respect. The benefit is good luck for the rest of your life. The consequence of disrespect is that your head will be turned around forcibly and completely.

Chickcharnies are supposed to be forest-dwelling elfin creatures resembling birds. Their nesting sites are constructed by joining the tops of two pine trees. Their piercing eyes are red. They have three fingers, three toes and a tail, which they use to suspend themselves from the trees.

It is believed that the origin of the chickcharnie idea was the large, three-toed, burrowing owl which once lived in these forests, but became extinct in the 16th century.

CONCHY JOE

In the Bahamas, Conchy Joe is a derogatory term for a white person or a non-white person who acts white. The origin of the expression is uncertain. In one posting on the Web, someone who called himself a Conchy Joe (and proudly too)  "lite brite and damn near white."