The balubas

HeadPig

Have you ever heard of a song/poem that references "The Balubas"? They are an African tribe so mods please note that it is not a racist term.

I believe it went roughly like "If you go to the jungle the balubas will get you"

It makes reference to the Irish armed forces that fought this tribe quite a few years ago

El Guapo!

I thought it meant drunk.

"I was fcukin balubas last night."

HeadPig

El Guapo! wrote: »

I thought it meant drunk.

"I was fcukin balubas last night."

The word entered into Hiberno-English slang as a result of the aforementioned conflict in the Congo in 1960. All these words come from places you see.

Chancer3001

It also means somebody who looks worse for wear.

Eg stay away from them balubas

HeadPig

Yes, I'm interested in the song/poem though.

Pighead

Pighead thought it meant boobies. Eg 'My word, what a wonderful pair of balubas that lady has' or 'Sorry Josephine, I didn't see you there, sorry for sitting on your balubas'

Sir Osis of Liver.

I thought it was slang for testoolicles.

wazky

"She has some set of balubas."

The Backwards Man

I always thought it was something from a Kipling story.

Wicklowrider

I cannot help you with the song (although I have heard it)

The Baluba tribesmen were congo natives. They were the warriors responsible for the Niemba ambush where 9 Irish soldiers lost their lives and they made up a large contingent of the attacking force ( along with Belgian Gendarmie and Mercenaries) who besieged the Irish at Jadoville. I remember my primary teacher screaming at the class that we were a "load of balubas"

I would often call people "silly balubas" in jest. Have absolutely no idea where I got it from! Always thought I had made it up.

BNMC

I thought it meant shite, as in "Pighead posts a lot of balubas".

P. Breathnach

The word "baluba" entered Irish popular culture after Niemba. It was pejorative, and orginally meant something in the realm of wild, savage, or primitve. Wicklowrider's primary school teacher obviously used it in that way.

I once met a member of the Baluba tribe. We got past the "your people killed my people" point in conversation, and discussed the Congo a bit. She corrected me on usage. "Baluba" is a generic plural (so the teacher should have said that they were "a load of [fecking] Baluba". One member of the tribe is a "Moluba."

Thought you would like to know.

biko

Never mind me, I'm just here because I thought you meant baubles.

glass_onion

Probably not close.But i post it anyway-

losthorizon

Wicklowrider wrote: »

I cannot help you with the song (although I have heard it)

The Baluba tribesmen were congo natives. They were the warriors responsible for the Niemba ambush where 9 Irish soldiers lost their lives and they made up a large contingent of the attacking force ( along with Belgian Gendarmie and Mercenaries) who besieged the Irish at Jadoville. I remember my primary teacher screaming at the class that we were a "load of balubas"

Same as our teacher who also called us "Mikey fattenheads" and used to say " the monkeys in the zoo are smarter than you"

losthorizon

Are you sure its not the baloo song?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFvQTvbw4JE

Pighead

BNMC wrote: »

I thought it meant shite, as in "Pighead posts a lot of balubas".

Big Nasty Moany Critic.

Frosty McSnowballs

I just want to add that the guys were not simply just killed by the Baluba tribe/mercenaries......some were eaten.

I know it's on Wikipedia but have a look, it's interesting enough. There are also a number of books about the Irish deployment to the Congo.

Can't link cos I'm on the mobile.

Poor bastards had it rough over there.

arybvtcw0eolkf

Senor Jingle Balls wrote: »

Poor bastards had it rough over there.

Yea but think of the 'mingys' they brought home ~ interestingly another word (used in the defense forces daily but never by a civilian) 'mingy' was brought home from the Congo too.

I think its meaning more or less stayed the same, that the item you'd gotten was either free, very cheap and obviously faked.

Although I don't know the song from the Congo one from the earlier trips to Lebanon went;

"Christian shells from Saff Al Howa came raining down upon Tibnine..... (I've lost a lot of the words to father time but it ends with a few of the villages which would be under daily atttack)... And Sultanyiah too 'cause we don't care about your Christians shells'..

[Christian shells mean't artillery from South Lebanese Army positions in and around Saff Al Howa a village in the IDF security zone, and Tibnine was the Head Quarters of the Irish battalion in UNIFIL.

Another old one went to the tune of 'Old McDonald had a farm' and it went;

"There's a flair in the air, there's a body in the wadi Eee Iii Eee Iii Ohhh"... And if you had a particularly bad superior NCO or officer the lads (out of ear shot and often in the bunkers under fire) would add that persons name to the song to go (for example);

"There's a flair in the air, [Makikomi's] body's in the Wadi............."

Wicklowrider

Some videos on youtube if anyone wants to look - here is one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srBJNRoCpvo

wiki article on jadoville siege http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Jadotville

When I was young army private a sergeant made me laugh. He had served in the congo and seen serious fighting even though he was just 16. People my age and older might remember in school there were collections for the African starving children. Well, this sergeant asked me if I remembered being asked for " A penny for the black babies" (no messing - that what the appeal was) He said his poor mother could barely spare that penny but always gave it. " Then I goes over there and the so & so's tried their best to blow my head off....."

Frosty McSnowballs

That's a really good write up on wiki.....good job.

Agricola

P. Breathnach wrote: »

The word "baluba" entered Irish popular culture after Niemba. It was pejorative, and orginally meant something in the realm of wild, savage, or primitve. Wicklowrider's primary school teacher obviously used it in that way.

I once met a member of the Baluba tribe. We got past the "your people killed my people" point in conversation, and discussed the Congo a bit. She corrected me on usage. "Baluba" is a generic plural (so the teacher should have said that they were "a load of [fecking] Baluba". One member of the tribe is a "Moluba."

Thought you would like to know.

Yeah heard it used with that connotation. Dublin people call savages culchies, culchies call people who are more savage, balubas.

czechlin

Haha, I would've never guessed. My boss calls any foreign currency except the euro and sterling 'balubas'. I just assumed that's an Irish thing :eek:

My mother use to say we were worse that the balubas if we were fighting as children.

Iwasfrozen

BNMC wrote: »

I thought it meant shite, as in "Pighead posts a lot of balubas".

You watch your tongue around Pighead, newb.