Maybe you have heard these terms before, or like me— recently I saw “beenya” on a sticker at a tire shop.

“Beenya” (or “binya”) is a Gullah Geechee term that means “been here.” The origin of the word is that it’s used to describe people who are native to the area versus the term “comeya,” which refers to people who “came here.” It speaks to the Gullah culture that is ingrained here in the Lowcountry.

I, like many of us here these days, is a “comeya”.

And this will blow your mind if you’re an 80’s baby . . .
Remember the TV show Gullah Gullah Island? It’s based “off the coast of South Carolina” and it’s about the Gullah Geechee culture! I never put two and two together until very recently. “Binyah Binyah Polliwog”; the yellow frog on the show gets his name from the term “Binya/Beenya”. 🤯

Are you a “binya” or a “comeya”?