THE NEXT MOUNT KENYA KINGPIN

Da Vinci

Elder Lister
Don't we abuse the word KINGPIN, as we do many others? And why is it that it is only the Mt Kenya region that has kingpins?


Etimology dictionary
kingpin (n.)
also king-pin, 1801 as the name of the large pin in the game of kayles (similar to bowls except a club or stick was thrown instead of a ball; see "Games, Gaming and Gamesters' Laws," Frederick Brandt, London, 1871), from king with a sense of "chief" + pin (n.).

The modern use is mainly figurative and is perhaps from the word's use as synonym for king-bolt (itself from 1825), a large, thick, heavy bolt used in a machinery to couple large parts, but if this is the origin, the figurative use is attested earlier (1867) than the literal (1914)
 

Denis Young

Elder Lister
First of all, Kikuyus have no kingpins. Uhuru thought he could direct us like a trainer commands his dogs, akajionea. Baks recommended Mudavadi, nobody followed, even when we loved him. (Why do the good ones always die quickly and we are left with kimuguruki?) Sasa this kioni who could not see is the one who thinks we will follow him? Ata rigathi atajionea. You cannot yoke the kikuyu, we choose and we discard. We hire you and we fire you.
 
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