Book review: Inconceivable by ben Elton

This is the saddest funny book Ive ever read in a long time. The book revolves around a couple- Lucy and Sam Bell who have been trying to have a baby for five years. The book has been written in form of a diary where Lucy and Sam are all recording their thoughts in their individual diaries. And of course majority of what they write about is their feelings on trying to get pregnant and all they go through. So we get to see things from a man's point of view then from the woman's.

They have tried everything that has been suggested to them by their friends, family and colleagues. From flavored tea, having sex alfresco on a full moon, aromatherapy (which stinks up the house and gives Sam blocked nose), prayers (although Lucy is agnostic), performing fertility rites complete with chanting and all, massaging nutmeg oil on the crease of Lucy's bum to Lucy sleeping with her bum propped up  to make the sperms swim towards her uterus. They have read and watch all articles on trying to get pregnant. Lucy tapes anything about fertility and cuts articles off newspapers. Although some of the suggestions are ridiculous they just give it a try because everything else hasn't worked out. Its not like it can get any worse.

Readers get to see what couple who are having a hard time get pregnant go through. How they go through heartbreak after heartbreak. Although the book is sad, the author still managed to make it funny as well. You gotta read it to know how it ends. And if you have read any of Ben Elton's works you know the ending is always unpredictable.

Interesting columnists

Below are some of the columnist I read regularly. Please check them out when you find the time- and no they didn’t pay me to advertise:

1. JACKSON BIKO – MAN TALK

I love his column because he is entertaining and I get to see things from the male perspective. And this ninja has a way with words! He can be talking about something like weaves and still managed to make you laugh.

2. AKINYEMI WALE – CHANGE TALKS

This writer is very motivating and his column is best suited for those who are looking to improve themselves. He is not one of those irritating feel-good writers but he gives practical advice that would actually help when applies in one’s life. His column is on the Friday DN.

3. CHRISTOPHER HART – MEN AND WOMEN

This columnist gives very sound advice on relationship that can prove very useful for the young and old alike. I have watched a couple of his interviews on telly and he looks like a guy who has a good head on his shoulder. I believe you can take his word on most issues. I especially enjoyed last weeks topics on why you should avoid dating married men.

4. KATE GETAO- FLAKES

I have been reading her column since forever. She is just too funny. She sounds like a well travelled and well read women. If I ever get to become a columnist I would love to write just like her. I also like the fact that she has a deep knowledge of the bible and occasionally throws in some bible truths in her articles in a way that is not offensive to the non-believers. If you find the time read her last weeks column on ‘The new tourism’. Too funny!

5. MUNGAI KAHINYA- WORLD OF FIGURE

I never liked maths during my days in school but Mr.Mungai has a way of making mathematics fun. I remember his articles on calculations about the Phone billing methods and the payment of PAYE and I was blown away. I especially enjoyed his column yesterday about the words ‘most’ and ‘majority’. This is because I had the same argument with my students a few days ago about the meaning of the word ‘many’.

6. SUNNY BINDRA- SUNNY DAY

I wish I could find the right words to express just how much I enjoy Mr. Bindra’s articles. He is so passionate about Kenya. Just like his name he brings sunshine into my Sunday evenings. He is so optimistic and has so much hope and dreams that I wish he could put it in a bottle and sell it. I follow him on twitter and his tweets are always about growth and getting things done the right way. I have taken some of his advice and I can testify they have proven quite valuable to me. I also like the fact that he provides links to his articles via his twitter handle so you have no excuse for not reading his column.

7. PHILIP OCHIENG – MARK MY WORD

I love his mastery of many languages and how he can compare the use of different words in German, French, English and even in his native dholuo. He has inspired me to read more and learn about other languages apart from the ones I already know. I’m sure if he read this post he would cringe at some of the mistakes I have made. He even corrects some of the articles that some of our journalists write in away that you can’t even get offended. A few days ago I got the chance to hang out with some friends and somehow the topic came to him and I was happy to find people who read his column.

8. LITERARY DISCOURSE, FACE-TO-FACE, BOOK REVIEWS

These columns are found in the Saturday nation whereby they interview writers and do reviews on books, magazines and other kinds of literature. They feature articles from various writers such as Prof Egara Kabaji, Evan Mwangi and Julius Sigei. In this column they also features the feedback from the readers giving their reactions to previous articles which I think is cool! They have also featured famous writers such as David Mulwa, Prof Austin Bukenya, Mwangi Gicheru, John Kiriamiti, Ayi kweyi Ahmah, Taban Lo Liyon, Nuruddin Farah and Wole Soyinka among others. If you are an avid reader you will want to read this column religiously- I know I do.

9. CLAY MUGANDA- CLAY COURT

One thing I admire about this writer is his guts. He speaks his mind and woe unto you if you are easily offended. He tells it as it is and he is brutally honest. He says those things most people feel but dare not say. Some of his articles make me uncomfortable because they say what I don’t want to hear but I need to hear. I have to warn you that he is an acquired taste and if you are sensitive some of his articles might offend you. There have been quite a number of critics who have written very unsavory things about this writer in various blogs but he still soldiers on.

I guess now everyone knows which newspaper I subscribe to!

Sharing is caring!

I know it seems like I may be slacking off when it comes to posting here regularly. But not to worry very soon, things will resume to normal and i will go back to giving you more craziness on here. Thing is I thought all these crazy here is too much for just us, We need to put it in a bottle and sell it and make the whole world LMFAO. Since its impossible, for now lets settle for a guest blog I did here . Read and be edified.

ta ta
lovely people

Peculiar writers’ habits

I got another tip to help me improve my writing- spend more time with other writers. So a few weeks ago I had the pleasure of hobnobbing with a couple of writers in one of the local publishing house. And I can confess that the heady days I spent with them has convinced me that writers are definitely koo koo. Allow me to digress...

I watched a movie on KTN that followed the life of a character played by Kimberly Elise. She was a mentally challenged girl who couldn’t fit in a special school and in the mainstream curriculum either. This is because she was too fast for special school and too slow for the mainstream classes. She was straddling the fence between being completely normal and completely mentally challenged which means there was no where to go since the government doesn’t make provisions for such kind of people. The young lady was really frustrated because she couldn’t find where she fit in her surroundings. I didn’t know how the movie ended though because I fell asleep. Blame it on itis (remember boondocks). That’s how I feel sometimes, I’m light years from being a consummate writer but I’ve come too far to go back. Oh well....back to the topic.

Yours truly assumed she could easily segue into a great writer, write awesome stuff, shove it down the readers’ throats then wait for the awards to start pouring in but alas! I’m beginning to become ambivalent about this writing thing. It’s a jungle out there new writers! A writer writes an idiosyncratic article about a topic he/she cares about then puts on the last full stop satisfied that it’s a job well done. Before you know it, another writer writes a nuanced review of the article, which in most cases seeks to criticize the writer. Another writer comes in with a review of the review of the first writer, and then another writer writes the review of the review of the review... then it goes on and on and on...

Finally many other writers or bloggers (if it’s a blog post) join the fray and most of the time go out of topic such that you don’t even know what the original topic was all about. The comments, which are come thick and fast, quickly degenerate into attacking the writers personally and not their writing per se. Some trolls take it further by launching into a tirade attacking not only the writer but their loved ones, which feels me with so much indignation I get homicidal thoughts. They make sure to drop a few expletives to galvanize other reader’s emotions and as usual they invariably succeed. This is when I stop reading to keep from saying something I will regret later. But I must admit sometimes you can get some great insights and inspiration from the comment nazis that will help create something beautiful. That’s me... always looking at the glass as half-full!

Writers like to form camps; at least that’s how it seems to me. They hate those other publishing houses who in turn hate their writing projects. It’s hilarious to read the various blogs of them criticizing each other. I can’t complain because as they engage with each other us neophyte writers get materials from the articles that are edifying. One mans poison is another mans meat! And I like mine bovine (just though I should put it out there.LOL)

They also read a lot and are smart asses if you ask me. Some of the articles they graciously gave me make no sense at all.  I’m forced to keep referring to the dictionary to make sense of it all. Since all the articles they write have to be accurate, they do a lot of research and they know a lot about everything. 

(I can’t tell you how many times they kept correcting my grammar. They were appalled at my abysmal use of English language. I wonder what they could have done if they found out that I actually did English in college)

  

How many know you can’t argue with a writer and win? Ok hands down! They know how to organize their ideas and articulate all their thoughts. Writers know how to explain or put their feelings into words. They express themselves so beautifully which makes me envy them so much. Since they are so intense, they are able to feel things that the average person usually doesn’t. As one writer explained to me ‘they are in touch with their feelings’. Wish I could touch my feelings like that you know. Half the time I never know where my feelings are at. My writer friend tells me that makes me ‘emotionally handicapped’. (Where do people get such words?)

(Writers are the only one who can whip out words like “knowing yourself” “discovering yourself” and my own personal favourite “finding yourself”. I got another advice on being a writer about finding myself and my voice blah blah blah... Not that I was ungrateful or anything but why can’t they use normal words though? How pray tell do you find yourself? Personally, I, Me, Myself actually want to find ways how to get away from myself. If someone can help me find ways how I can get away from my self I would be eternally grateful. I’m full of my self. My cup of self runneth over! But for real though, how do you really find yourself? You have been always with yourself. You are all you know. Anything you need to find about your self will come forth during the few aha moments you experience or epiphanies you get from life-changing experience. I don’t think its something you can manipulate, but then again that’s why my writer friends still considered a Johnny-come-lately writer)

Even when they are wrong they know how to manipulate facts to win arguments. This is the only place where I have been unable to bull sh*t my way out of arguments. Clearly kuku wa shambani hawiki mjini!

Since writers think for a living they spend so much time trying to figure things out. This therefore simply means that they are loners. If you are going to create, you obviously need some alone time. This explains why they are always looking spaced out; lost in thought. They also love silence and abhor noisy people like me. I can’t tell you how many times I was shushed in that room. I tried putting on some music to lighten up everyone’s mood but of course they didn’t appreciate this benevolent gesture. The “silence is golden” sticker on the door should have been a clue for yours truly. I guess it’s because they won’t be able to resist listening to lyrics of the song and of course criticize it.

Writers are always trying to know why things happen that sometimes they go a bit koo koo. Since they spend so much time alone they come up with the most bizarre thoughts and ideas. Sometimes to strangers they can come off as taciturn. They are in most times antisocial ergo they have no one to bounce off their ideas. Staying away from other humans make them antisocial with no one to reality check them hence their ideas get crazier by the day. It’s no surprise to find that with time they begin to feel like gods thanks to being able to create characters who they manipulate whichever way they want. There is this joke I heard that you should never annoy a writer because he/she will use you as a character in their next book and “kill” you.

 I have read books that made me think that the writer must have been high on some potent drug or alcohol. One such writer is Roal Dahl whose book up to now I have never been able to read since they are scary and gross. I don’t watch horror movies, same for horror books.

There some things I think about that am afraid to even think about leave alone putting them down on paper. But not some writers, they put it all out there. I guess since they are alone for long periods of time there is no one to temper down their wild ideas, before long their actually lose their marbles. I swear writers are not normal. Like this time we are in the office of one writer and she shrieks loudly. I then ask her if she is ok. Then she goes “he sent me the email”. Then I read the email and I don’t see anything unusual. Then I ask her,”so?”. And she goes...and this is a true story “he didn’t break any grammar rules, it’s perfect”. This lady wanted to cream her knickers because her better half for the first time wrote an email correctly. There was no xaxa...powle...powua or xema.

If they don’t lose the plot, they are filled with a lot of angst at the things in the world that aren’t going according to how they want them to go. This can be seen in their works. They worry about colonialism, imperialism, war, death, female circumcision, slavery etc affecting the world around them. When I spoke to some of them, they were so passionate about some things which according to me they can’t really change, at least not in one day. Some writers actually get depressed when people read the works, get entertained but there is no real behavioural change. They brush the writer off as being idealist who worries too much about nothing.

Someone once said that being a writer is like having a homework everyday that you can’t get out of. Writers are sometimes oblivious of time. They write whenever they get inspired. At around 5 when I wanted to run away and beat the evening traffic, none of them moved a muscle. They didn’t even twitch as I was leaving. My goodbyes were met with a lot of shushing. If you live with a writer, don’t be surprised in the middle of the night you are woken up with someone typing away next to you. Their ideas flow thick and fast, that they may not even notice your pleas for them to go back to sleep. Writing becomes an obsession. It becomes a drug. It’s the first thing they do or think when they wake up. It’s the last thing before they go to sleep.

I can confidently say that some of them are so geeky it’s not funny. The jokes they have with each other are so weird that only someone in their circles can understand. I remember one of them telling me that they will delete me, and sure enough every one laughed (except me because I didn’t see how that was funny). Or when some talk they wiggle up their index and middle fingers to show what they are saying is in quotes. This is one of the gestures I hate after the thumbs up and the ku goteana one. sorry!

What I love about writers though is that they are great listeners. They listen to conversations more closely. They watch everything more closely too. I bet they can make great witnesses in court because nothing passes their gaze. Writers are always aware of what is in their surroundings no matter how mundane they seem. Its not that writers have voyeuristic interest in peoples lives; It’s just that have this innate ability to notice everything that happens around them. They look into your eyes when you speak so as not to miss any nuance of expression. Its almost like speaking to a therapist, they can even get a lot from just watching your body language. Explains why they are able to create characters in stories and explain things from their point of view. They are attentive to each any everything you say and they can even enunciate every word if you need them to. The down side of course is that they also have a good memory too. They can remember everything you said verbatim, so if you had lied earlier, you might get into a bit of a pickle.

After having such a good time with the writer I thought it would be cool to pretend to be one, that is, until one of the smart asses told me that I don’t look like one. You mean there’s a look? Veteran writers, you are killing me here. Why didn’t you tell me there is a look? Should I wear a dashiki and chunky jewellery? Should I dye my hair blonde or finally get that Mohawk cut? Should I go bald? Or go back to an au naturale fro like valentine Njoroge (saw her on k24 looking fiiinnnnneeee!*no homo*)? Should I get the orie-Rogo head gear? Should I get a tattoo? Should I have locks like Tony Mochama ? Should I pierce my nose and navel or something? Come on, somebody help me here. How is a writer supposed to look? ...sigh!

Awesome bloggers

They say a wise many changes his mind, a fool almost never does. Well today I want to recant what I had said about loving many things at the same time. I have read a couple of blogs and I think I have fallen in like with many of them. A little birdie told me that if I ever hope to grow from being a neophyte writer, I MUST read other writers work. Some article I read also said that I should probably read more than I write. Out of all the advice I have received on writing, this advice has been the best and worst at the same time, bittersweet if you will. For one I have read awesome articles that have not only entertained me but I have been edified. Now the trouble is that some of them are so good that I feel like am light years away from getting there (whatever there is)

In the movie ‘Midnight in Paris’ starring Owen Wilson, one character said that if you have a writer critique your writing there is no winning: if it’s bad they will hate it because they will see it as a travesty of the writing art. If it is good, they will be annoyed because they didn’t think of it first. I always look at the bright side of everything, ergo if am criticized I say they are just jealous, if am complemented then hallelujah! I’m doing something right. It’s called self preservation people; we should all try it sometime.

Well I know it has been done so many times by other bloggers and am a few years late, but today I present to you bloggers who I love. I love the trolls who go to the comment section to just barb and play the devils advocate with other followers. The other sensitive folk who take the bait are also hilarious to read; especially those who don’t know how to tell when someone is being sarcastic. Without further ado ladies and gentlemen, mums and dads, gays and bis, kids and pets... I present you the awesome bloggers in no particular order.

1. Bikozulu

First read his article on some magazine as I had mentioned in a previous post. He posts every Monday religiously to a point that if he doesn’t the loyal readers demand to know why. He is brutally honest and can make even the most boring topic like football that I care nothing for seem fun and exciting. One of the best Kenyan writers I know and definitely worth checking out.

2. Mind of Malaka

From her blog I have inferred that she is an African American with Ghanaian roots. The link to her blog was provided via face book and I have been reading her work ever since. She is hilarious as she speaks about love, marriage, motherhood, politics, education etc and is in touch with current affairs issues in the world. I love how she is able to present human interest stories in an amusing way but still deliver the message. Personally I think she is a cool mum and she makes motherhood seem fun even when she is describing all the gory details of her life. She makes even the most mundane of activities seem so exciting and adventurous. If I become a mum I hope am half as fun as she sounds.

3. shynarcissist

Got her blog from bikozulu’s blog and fell in like with her writing. She is unique; I don’t think I have ever read anything close to her style of writing. She is funny as hell and her words are so beautiful like you won’t believe. She is wise beyond her age, very observant and beautiful to boot. She knows how to express herself and the arguments she puts forth making her such a delight to read.

4. Obsessive Ed

I love this blog for the fact that the writer educates people on the common language mistakes we make daily (grammar Nazi is such a bad word). I stumble upon it while stalking someone on fb and loved it. It makes me want to go back and get a refund from my college. The way I abuse the English language... there should be a law against it. However he doesn’t hide his displeasure for people who abuse grammar and makes sure to be brutally honest when administering the correction.

5. Ian

I saw his name on the above blog but I didn’t check it out immediately until he made a guest appearance on the Kenyan soap ‘Mali’ that I got curious and went back to check it out. It’s nice to put a face to a blog. He talks about his everyday life and seems to be pinning after his estranged lover named Doris who I’m guessing inspired the blog title. In every post he always starts by asking how she is fairing and discusses their embattled relationship. I haven’t read much but the little that I have read, I likey. I wonder whether there is a post where Doris actually replies. Oh well!

6. Untonyto

Got a link to his blogs on @blogs_kenya and have been reading it ever since. The thing I admire most about this writer is that he is unashamedly Christian. He makes no apologies for believing in God which is a rare thing these days where everybody wants to be always PC. While Christians like me straddle the fence so as to not offend anybody (read atheists) he goes cold turkey on us. He tells it as it is and how it is supposed to be and how it will be if certain variables change or remain the same. In the words of one famous writer, “I never knew so young a body with so old a head.” You actually have to be well read and intelligent to get some of the themes in his work.

7. Lawschooler

This blog was provided as a link on twitter I don’t remember by who though. The writer is funny and sort of reminds me of poet Pablo Neruda especially when he describes beautiful women. He also writes about law stuff which half the time I don’t really understand but I love nonetheless. He is very interesting to read and definitely worth checking out too.

8. Sammy

For those who hate reading my long verbose posts will definitely love his blog as they are mostly short and funny as hell. He writes interesting topics and goes straight to the point. He is very funny and thinks about the weirdest of things. Although he rarely blogs, I still check him out to see if there are any updates.

9. Missterryanne

Love how she tackles issues in her blog. She is very intelligent and interesting to read and is always up to date with the current affairs. She chronicles her life as a single mother and all the things that are close to her heart. She also provides readers with links to other interesting articles that are worth checking out which makes her fun to follow.

10. Mutua Matheka

I don’t know much about photography but this blogger has me interested. Love how he tells stories with his pictures and connects with his audience. He has quite a following and like Untonyto he doesn’t hide the fact that he is Christian. I see people on fb using his photos all the time which means he is doing something right.

I promise to list the other ten that I like soon. For now check them out and be edified. You are welcome!

what i should have known about blogging but didnt and now im paying for it in instalments.

I quit my job in June.

…see me and my employer had creative differences. They were creative, I wasn’t. lol.

Anyway I found myself with a lot of time on my hands and quite frankly didn’t know what to do with myself. Then my awesome sister @antwaRogue, God bless her heart, suggested I start a blog.

To be honest until June I knew nothing about blogging. O.k. I had read a few but I didn’t think I really had anything to tell the world but after the first post I was a believer.

For the first time in a long time I was doing something I loved. I have so much to say. I have even shocked myself a couple of times. Like this time I started writing an article set with a title and all but in the course of typing the article took a different turn and became something else. Ive never had that happen to me before.

Usually am predictable and my every move calculated. Blogging has opened my eyes to so many possibilities and found out stuff about myself that I never even knew.

…wish I had done this a long time ago. oh well am here and its not too late.

Then I started becoming scared because I discovered I was in way above my head. My writing is in chaos and its formless and so out there.

Apparently there’s more to the writing process, than merely putting your raw thoughts on paper.

Who would have thought.I mean @antwaRogue never gave me a manual or something. Not that im complaining or anything. She just gave me a computer and told me to go wild and that’s what I did. I didn’t even know there were boundaries. I remember someone reading a few of my articles and telling me “they aren’t creative and a little bit too revealing.

O.k. he put it more crudely but for the sake of my fragile ego I have rephrased it.

After that comment left a bad taste in my mouth I decided to turn it down a notch and I felt very constricted. Being nice and appropriate has never been my thing. Saying what you think people want to read sucks! Breaking my back trying to please “them”.

Who are them by the way?

I guess this are the things you should be warned about when you put yourself out there. Sometimes I wish I had used a pseudonym like all these other people are doing so that I can deal with negative criticism in private. It gets even worse when someone reads your article and the only things they get out of it is your grammatical mistakes. Ouch.

I think some veteran bloggers get annoyed when they see other bloggers struggling to come up. They feel like it’s a mockery of their work, a travesty of the art of blogging.

I have seen some of my old post and even I cringe so its understandable.

I remember asking one veteran blogger how to upload a picture. Oh boy! You should see the reply he gave me. I think I left my dignity in that chat, am yet to go back for it.lol.

A close friend read one of my articles and thought that it was a hit on her. She made me swear never to mention her here. The funny thing is that article had nothing to do with her. Now i have to think about every story i write if is refers to someone i know. Swear sometimes i feel like using the disclaimer that directors use at the beginning of the movie to avoid law suit.

There's this other reader who always reads my blogs and tear it apart every time. Its like the more critical he is of my articles the more progressive he feels. If it isn’t my Titles, then its my pictures , the length of the blog...there's just isn’t pleasing this person.

Wonder why he always gives himself a hernia reading my blogs while he could go watch paint dry.The weird thing is that that reader doesn’t even have a blog, go figure.

I swear if it wasn’t for my sister I would have gone Virginia tech on his judgmental behind. I mean if you don’t like a blog move on to the next there are millions of other blogs which are bound to tickle your fancy.

So these days I have decided to go with trial and error MO and let my imagination run free. And think outside the box.

Wait… ill throw away the box and just think.

Wonder why people always have to think next to a box.lol.

whose box is it any ways..i have never seen it.have you?

o.k. now am just talking nonsense, ill go now...

The thing about words is….

In Netherlands, Monday is the most popular day to commit suicide, call in sick and surf the web.

Not a good way to start a blog eh?.

Forget Friday the 13th that most people are scared of, Monday is what you should be scared of people. I don’t know about the rest of the world but I’m guessing it’s also the same as Netherlands. I knew Mondays was not everybody’s favorites but I never knew that it has such a bad history though. Apparently in the Islamic and Hebrew calendar it’s considered to be the first day of the week. But in the Jewish and Christian calendar it’s considered as the second day of the week after Sunday. Not only are people killing themselves on Monday but they cant even agree on what day of the week it is, I mean how bad can it get.

According to history that I learnt in school, Monday is named after the moon and Sunday after the sun and Saturday after the planet Saturn. I cant remember what the teacher said after that or even what the days have to do with the solar system and frankly I really don’t care that much.
In various communities in Africa people are sometimes named after the days of the week. E.g. Kojo-means born on Monday

I don’t know if the same applies to our very handsome Boris Kodjoe.lol..
I don’t know what those people who are named after Monday will feel about this information or if they even know about it in the first place.

Some one once said that the thing about words is we never know where they have been. And someone jokingly said (on one of the two social networks that frequent) that the thing about words is you don’t know in whose mouth they have been. I mean until today I did not even know that Monday is associated with suicide and all that other stuff. Or even its connection with the planets or the big debate on which day of the week it is. Now that I know I’m intrigued, though I don’t even know what to do with this information.

This proves the statistics that says 80% of English language is borrowed from other languages…yes even Swahili (remember safari), Germany-kindergarten, French-façade etc. I’m guessing when they are borrowed into the English language the meaning slightly changes. As English continues to evolve a lot of words are being dropped along they way. For instant the word arse (ass) was actually acceptable in the old English and could be used in polite conversations .But I’m sure if I used it next to my mother I will be forced to leave my forwarding address and go.

Now let’s go to our Kenyan languages it gets even juicier. Words that mean one thing in this language mean another in the next language. e.g. in Kisii teta-means sexual intercourse while the same word in Kalenjin means –cows… yes both in writing and pronunciation . A story is told of a young man who wanted to marry a kisii lady said he was going to bring teta as dowry on a certain day. Im sure the wazees almost chocked on their local beer.

Another example is in my native luo the word theri- means vagina but in Kikuyu it means –soil or earth. So you can imagine how hard it has been for me to get used to them saying it right,left and centre , especially since I’ve been raised in a Town that has the Highest Kikuyu population after Central province. When my cousins came over for a visit they used to giggle whenever they heard it being said. This reminds me of a time when in our home town the words “ntakufinya” was sheng for I will beat you up. Then I moved to another town where “ntakufinya” had sexual connotation, So u can imagine what happened when I told some guy “ntakufinya”. Since then I’m afraid of sheng since I could easily say the wrong word in the wrong context and elicit negative reactions from the people im trying to communicate with. So people next time you open your mouth to say something, make sure you know where that word has been.