Considering all that has been said about 'passa passa' in Guyana you would think that people are through with the theories surrounding it. Not so. As recently as two weeks ago, a Jamaican man now residing here had a mouthful to say on the subject.

The only reason we entertained his opinion is because passa passa remains a hot topic and he spoke with vigour. His theories were very clear-cut and whether they were accurate or not, he was convincing.

Just about everything these days is being identified with passa passa. The music aside, there is passa passa wear, passa passa earrings, passa passa jargon, passa passa belts and chains, passa passa wigs, passa passa looking people and a host of other passa passa things.

Frankly we feel it should have ended with the music and perhaps the wear. This takes us back to the Jamaican who had a thing or two to say about passa passa.

Just so everyone is clear: he considers himself an authority on the subject of passa passa. Some fifteen minutes into the conversation the man said he lives and breathes passa passa - an impression we got from the minute he started talking.

The fact that he was driving a taxi and initially came over as someone who felt he needed to chat up the customers so they would travel again faded into oblivion when he started talking. According to him, passa passa is really about conflict.

He said that for many Jamaicans passa passa has to do with strife so when two persons are in contention they would be in 'passa passa'.

"Yuh know how some women always in a problem. Well we would say that them in passa passa. As long as them fighting and them cussing out one another we call it dat and unto today we still see it as dat", the man said.

Contention is a central theme in the Jamaica stage show, "Passa Passa" which first hit the mainstream. The main character "Precious" takes you on a wild journey which often involves her mother and a few male acquaintances of the mother.

According to the Jamaican, people started to view passa passa differently after certain video tapes hit the market in the Caribbean. He explained that whole night street parties that run into morning have always been regular features in

Jamaica and so were the presence of video cameras. However when the tapes from those parties were released outside of Jamaica the passa passa craze started.

But more importantly, he said, people at those parties danced a certain way. He said they dressed alike, their dance moves were coordinated and they branched out into several groups that would spend the night dancing. This, he said, is what passa passa has evolved into.

Over the last two years he said the meaning of passa passa has changed because some people saw a video tape and got the wrong impression. He said passa passa has less to do with scantily clad women and more with persons who get together and dance. But he pointed out that women at passa passa events are dressed a certain way, often very provocatively.

The man said that street parties which people are now referring to as passa passa are not. He said Jamaicans who attend such events go there to have fun and would leave the 'passa passa' behind or at home. "People suppose to left dem passa passa at home and go to the dance and be free. Nobody ain't suppose to bring strife and dem thing to de dance but dem don't understand jus wha is passa passa".