Why Everyone in Curaçao Says “Dushi” 🇨🇼 | The Untold Story

Why does everyone in Curaçao say “dushi”? 🇨🇼 You see it on signs, shirts and souvenirs. You hear it in restaurants, shops and everyday conversations. It can describe delicious food, a beautiful place, a wonderful moment, someone you love — and even Curaçao itself. But “dushi” did not begin as a tourism slogan. Its earliest known written appearance in Papiamentu was preserved inside a private letter from October 5, 1775. It was a secret message written by Abraham da Costa Andrade Junior to Sara Pardo — correspondence that survived because their relationship became part of a court investigation. Hidden inside the fragile handwritten document are the words: “My dusie.” In modern Papiamentu: “Mi dushi” — my darling, my sweetheart, my love. In this episode of The Real Curaçao: UNTOLD, we explore: • The different meanings of “dushi” • Its connection to Portuguese “doce” and Spanish “dulce” • How Papiamentu developed between Africa, Europe and the Caribbean • The secret love letter from 1775 • The 1940 appearance of “Nos dushi Corsouw” • The 1953 dictionary defining dushi as “sweet, sweetheart” • The 1960 headline “NOS DUSHI CORSOU” • How an intimate word became a symbol of Curaçaoan identity Important historical note: the 1775 letter contains the earliest known surviving written use of “dushi” in Papiamentu. This does not mean the word was invented in 1775. It was almost certainly used in spoken language before someone wrote it down. From “my dusie” to “Dushi Kòrsou,” this is the remarkable journey of one small word through more than 250 years of Curaçaoan history. Paradise is only part of the story. This is The Real Curaçao — and this is another Untold Story. 🌴 Discover the real Curaçao: https://www.therealcuracao.com SOURCES & HISTORICAL RECORDS The 1775 court dossier — Dutch National Archives: https://www.nationaalarchief.nl/onderzoeken/archief/1.05.01.02/invnr/223/file/NL-HaNA_1.05.01.02_223_0190 The Secret Romance of Sara and Abraham — Dutch National Archives: https://www.nationaalarchief.nl/onderzoeken/nieuws/de-geheime-romance-van-sara-en-abraham Facsimile of the 1775 letter — Shirley Freitas, University of São Paulo, PDF page 296: https://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/8/8142/tde-13102016-145726/publico/2016_ShirleyFreitasSouza_VCorr.pdf#page=296 The Sephardic Jews in Curaçao and Their Role in the Formation of Papiamentu — academic study: https://www.scielo.br/j/alfa/a/4pKNjFycyp6sFncDJs7Z7xS/?lang=en “Nos dushi Corsouw” — Amigoe di Curaçao, May 11, 1940: https://www.delpher.nl/nl/kranten/view?coll=ddd&identifier=ddd%3A010281886%3Ampeg21%3Ap001 English–Papiamentu / Papiamentu–English Dictionary, 1953: https://archive.org/details/BNA-DIG-LAGO-DICTIONARY-1953 “Nos Dushi Corsou” — Amigoe di Curaçao, February 10, 1960: https://archive.org/download/AMIGOE-1960-02-10/AMIGOE-1960-02-10.pdf Wilhelmina Park, Curaçao, circa 1936 — Rijksmuseum: https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/object/Wilhelmina-park-Curacao-DWI--2dea0a86a0a67f7d3a94f1a270dd4e2d FOLLOW THE REAL CURAÇAO Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therealcuracaoofficial Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thelifereset Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1G9Tf6ttiu/?mibextid=wwXIfr TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@therealcuracao YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LifeResetCaribbean Threads: https://www.threads.net/@therealcuracaoofficial X: https://x.com/thereal_curacao Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/therealcuracao #Curacao #Dushi #Papiamentu #CuracaoHistory #UntoldStory