Testicular perspicacity

TIMES INT'L

Satiricus is a man who just loves the English language – it is so unique. Which other language would have the words “tough”, “though” and “bough” – all ending with the same letters, but pronounced differently? But with all the words available in the dictionary, there are still some individuals blessed with the power to come up with combinations that just take your breath away.

Take Rodee of the PPCEE, thought Satiricus admiringly. He’d just called on Naga Man to have the “testicular perspicacity” to follow up on his promise during the elections to cut down the powers of the Guyanese Presidency to size. Now Satiricus, as an old newshound had heard of “testicular fortitude”. This was somebody who had had the courage to “tell it as it is”.

In the vernacular, it was called having “b*lls” – meaning the fellow was “a real man” – since only real men had a pair of them. The Americans would say admiringly of such chaps if their courage was oversized,, “he has brass b*lls”. In other circumstances the appurtenances were also called “the family jewels” or “nuts”. Like when his son had recently explained why he got into a fight: “He hit me on my nose, dad, so I kicked him in the nuts!”

So Satiricus knew about the “testicular” part of what Rodee spoke about. But “perspicacity”? Jeez…Satiricus had to go to the dictionary for THAT. “Having an insight…shrewnedness” he duly read. So was Rodee saying Naga Man should have an “insight with his nuts” to tell Pressie to reduce his powers?

Satiricus knew that Naga Man was full of himself – and a lot of other things, for that matter – but wasn’t Rodee giving Naga Man too much of a Herculean task? After all, right after the elections, hadn’t Pressie cut off Naga Man’s nuts when he gave him Larwah rather than “Governance”?

What kind of “testicular perspicacity” could a neutered man muster when he is bereft of his family jewels?

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