Ilka Hilton-Clarke

ilkahiltonclarke@gmail.com

About TnT>>Flu

Dear Reader, if you remember any recent "Flu Names", please email me your contributions at ilkahiltonclarke@gmail.com

If  "yuh is ah Trini", you are familiar with the strange practice of calling the latest Flu after some  event that is taking place, either in Trinidad and Tobago or the rest of the world. Usually, this is an event  which has a negative impact on society or part of society, maybe something gruesome or awe inspiring.One of the latest flus was called " D' Ringbang".
( " How yuh doing, man ?" " I doin' so so, I have d' ringbang" )...

Please email me names of flus you remember: ilkahiltonclarke@gmail.com  I will add  your contributions to this page.

Here are the names of some Flus from the past:

Jaws -  called after the movie

Ten Percent - a 10% pay cut  of civil servants during the NAR regime

Vat - or Selby Wilson ? - When Value added tax was introduced

COLA-  When the  coast of living allowance was suspended

Saddam -  during the Gulf war

Abu Bakr - after the 1990 coup attempt

Hijab -  after a conflict which arose when a  new student  entered a catholic school  wearing the hijab

Dole ( Chadee ) - after the "druglord" who was hanged in 1999 together with his 8 companions

Hangman - after the 1999 hangings

Donald Trump- After he was here in 1999 during the Miss Universe show- this cost the country 70 million dollars

y2k -  needs no explanation

Ringbang - Eddie Grant's bust Ole Year's fete ( 1999/2000) which was televised around the world from Tobago , costing 40 million TT dollars

Impasse - ( between President Robinson and  Prime Minister Panday 2000 )- contributed by Helen
 

Wang Yu-  Called after the  Kung Fu movies which were the craze in Trinidad at that time- contributed by C.C. Perez

The Dhanraj- After "The Sheriff", Dhanraj Singh - January 2001

The 18/18- The last election ( 2001) with an 18/18 deadlock of the PNM and the UNC

Contributed by Linda Valentine:

The Bin Laden- speaks for itself- after the Sept 11th 2002 attacks in the USA

contributed by Daniel Castagne:

in early 2004, the flu going around was widely known as "Saddam" after Saddam Hussain who had been recently captured. it was common to hea rconversasions such as:

"boy I cyar go nowey today, I real sick"

"wha u sick wit?"

"boy I catch de Saddam"

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