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Rasta Gear Shop Rasta Patois Glossary A-D |
Jamaican Patois Dictionary of terms from Amharic to Dutty |
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AMHARIC: One of the many languages of Ethiopia; the language of the royal Ethiopian dynasty since the 13th century.
BABYLON: From a Rastafari perspective, Babylon is the historically white-European colonial and imperialist power structure which has oppressed Blacks and other peoples of color.
DIASPORA: dispersion; a migration; the dispersion of an originally homogeneous people.
A: (pronounced as a short 'a') means: I eg. a goin tomorrow - I'm going tomorrow
ACCIDENT : a girl who will go after any man, whether he has a wife/girl friend or not.
A GWINE: I'm going to.
ALMSHOUSE: something bad, tragedy see: SHEGGRIES.
ANNADA: another.
ARINJ: orange.
ATTACLAPSE: a very big event eg. Lord have mercy, di police come, whatta attaclapse. A GO: aux w/v. going to do, as in "Me a go tell him"
A DOOR: outdoors.
ACCOMPONG: n. name of Maroon warrior, Capt. Accompong, brother of Cudjo; also name of town. From the Twi name for the supreme deity.
ACKEE: n. African food tree introduced about 1778. From Twi ankye or Kru akee.
AGONY: the sensations felt during sex.
AKS: ask.
ALIAS: adj. (urban slang) dangerous, violent.
AMSHOUSE: poorhouse.
AN: than.
ARMAGEDDON: the biblical final battle between the forces of good and evil.
ASHAM: n. Parched, sweetened, and ground corn. From twi osiam.
BAIT: punk BAD MAN = gangsta.
BABYLON: feds = police.
BASHMENT: phat.
BAXIDE: ass = bottom.
BIGGA HEADZ: DODS = important people.
BRAWTA: the little extra that you might get eg.extra sweets.
BUZZ: the police
BABYLON: 1. the corrupt establishment, the "system" Church and State 2. the police, a policeman.
BAD: good, great.
BAD BWAI: (bad boy) 1. refering to a bold man; a compliment 2. : One who has committed a crime.: (rude bwai, ruddy, baddy).
BADNESS: hooligan behavior, violence for its own sake.
BAFAN: clumsy; awkward.
BAFANG: a child who did not learn to walk the 1st 2-7 years.
BAG-O-WIRE: a betrayer.
BAGGY: underpants for a woman or child.
BALMYARD: n. place where pocpmania rites are held, healing is done, spells cast or lifted.
BAKRA: white slavemaster, or member of the ruling class in colonial days. Popular etymology: "back raw" (which he bestowed with a whip.)
BALD-HEAD: a straight person; one without dreadlocks; one who works for babylon
BAMBA YAY: by and by.
BAMBU: rolling paper.
BAMMY: a pancake made out of cassava, after it has been grated and squeezed to remove the bitter juice.
BANDULU: bandit, criminal, one living by guile a BANDULU BIZNESS is a racket, a swindle.
BANGARANG: hubbub, uproar, disorder, disturbance.
BANKRA: a big basket, including the type which hangs over the sides of a donkey.
BANS: from bands; a whole lot, a great deal, nuff, whole heap.
BANTON: a storyteller.
BASHMENT: party, dance, session.
BAT: butterfly or moth. English bat, the flying rodent,is a rat-bat.
BATTY: bottom; backside; anus.
BATTYBWOY: a gay person.
BEAST: a policeman.
BEENIE: little.
BEX: vex (verb), or vexed (adjective).
BHUTTU (BUHTUH): an uncouth, out of fashion, uncultured person Use: Wey yu a go inna dem deh cloze? Yu fayva buttu.
BIG BOUT YAH: Large and in charge. Superlative indicating status (power, fame, money, talent, etc) within some social group.
BISCUIT: a particularly attractive woman.
BISSY: cola nut.
BOOPS/BOOPSIE: Boops is a man, often older, who supports a young woman; boopsie refers to a kept woman.
BLACK UP: To smoke weed. Like somene would ask "You Black up: today?" Meaning did you smoke today?
BLACKHEART MAN: a rascal, a hooligan .
BLOUSE AND SKIRT: common exclamation of surprise.
BLY: chance, "must get a bly", "must get a chance".
BOASIE: adj. proud, conceited, ostentatious. Combination of English boastful and Yoruba bosi-proud and ostentatious.
BOASIN TONE: Swollen penis or testicles.
BOBO: fool.
BOBO DREAD: a rastafarian sect based on the teachings of Prince Emanuel Edwards distinguished by turbin-like headdresses, flowing white robes and communal living.
BODERATION: Boderation comes from the word bother and that's basically what it means. If something is a boderation then it's a bother.
BONG BELLY PICKNEY: a greedy child who ate too much.
BOONOONOONOUS: Meaning wonderful.
BOX: To smack or to hit in the face.
BRAA: from BREDDA; brother.
BRAATA: a little extra; like the 13th cookie in a baker's dozen; or an extra helping of food. In musical shows it has come to be the encore.
BREDREN: one's fellow male Rastas.
BRINDLE: to be angry.
BRINKS: title given to a man who is supplying a woman with money.
BUBU: fool.
BUCKY: home-made gun , slave.
BUCKY MASSA: master over the slaves.
BUD: bird.
BUFU-BUFU: fat, swollen, blubbery; too big; clumsy or lumbering.
BUGUYAGA: a sloppy, dirty person, like a bum or tramp.
BULL BUCKA: a bully.
BULLA: a comon sugar and flour cookie or small round cake, sold everywhere in Jamaica.
BUMBA CLOT, (TO GET) BUN: to have one's spouse or girl/boy-friend cheat on oneself, to be cheated out of something.
BLOOD CLOT, RAS CLOT: curse words.
BUCK UP: meet.
BUMBO: bottom; backside. A common curse word, especially in combination with CLOT (cloth), a reference to the days before toilet paper.
BUN: burn.
BUNGO: n. racially pejorative. Crude, black, ignorant, boorish person. From Hausa bunga-bumpkin, nincompoop.
BUNKS: to knock or bump against, from "to bounce", BUNKS MI RES, catch my rest, take a nap.
BWOY: Boy.
CATTY: when used as a person's name, it usually ends up being Cathy mispronounced. it more generally means a girl or woman.
CEMETERY: a girl whose had many abortion.
CHARLENE: a girl who has 'pretty car eyes' meaning: she'll go after a man who has a nice car eg. Benz.
CHATTA BOX: someone who talks alot.
CROSSES/TRIALS: comes from the expression trials and tribulations eg. But a coulda wah dis crosses pon me doe lawd?
CUT OUT: leave somewhere.
CYAA: can't, cannot
CAT: a woman's genitals.
CALLALOU: A spinach stew.
CARD: to fool someone.
CEASE & SEKKLE!: stop everything and relax!
CEPES: (n.) - beard.
CERACE: a ubiquitous vine used for boiling medicinal tea, and for bathing. It is proverbial for its bitterness.
CHA! or CHO!: a disdainful expletive (1) pshaw! (2) very common, mild explanation expressing impatience, vexation or disappointment.
CHAKA-CHAKA: messy, disorderly, untidy.
CHALICE or CHILLUM: a pipe for smoking herb, usually made from coconut shell or CHALEWA: and tubing, used ritually by Rastas.
CHANT: (v.) - to sing, especially cultural or spiritual songs.
CHEAP: just as cheap, just as well.
CHI CHI MAN: a gay man.
CHIMMY: chamber pot.
CHO: very common, mild explanation expressing impatience, vexation or disappointment.
CLAP: hit, break, stride.
CLOT: 1. cloth, an essential part of most Jamaican bad words, such as bumbo clot, rass clot, blood clot, etc. The essence of Jamaican cursing seems to be nastiness, rather than the blashemy or sexuality which is characteristic of the metropolitan countries. 2. to hit or strike - from the verb "to clout". 3. literally means a used tampon.
COCO: a potato-like edible root, known elsewhere as the taro or the eddo. It was brought to Jamaica from the South Pacific. This is completely distinct from cocoa, usually called chocolate.
COIL: money.
COLD I UP: humiliate or be-little.
COME DUNG: come down, get ready (as to prepare to play a tune)
COME EEN LIKE: to seem as if; to resemble.
CONTROL: to be in charge of, responsible for, to own; to take.
COO 'PON: v. (origin unclear) Look upon!
COO YAH: v. (origin unclear) Look here! pay attention.
COOL RUNNINGS: usually used at a time of departure on a long journey meaning have a safe trip.
COOLIE: the traditional Jamaican epithet for East Indians. It is never used for Chinese Jamaicans. Usually in the form coolie-man or coolie-oman. It is not considered polite today anymore than the term nega, but it is still used widely in rural areas.
COLLIE: n. (urban slang) ganja.
COME YAH (cumyu): come here.
CORK UP: jammed, filled, crowded .
CORN: 1. marijuana 2. money 3. a bullet.
COTCH: verb (cotch up), to support something else, as with a forked stick.
COTTA: a roll of cloth or vegetation placed on top of the head to cushion the skull from the weight of a head load.
CRAB: aside from it's usual meaning, it is a verb meaning to scratch or claw.
CRAVEN: greedy.
CRAVEN CHOKE PUPPY: someone who wants everything but when they get it , they can't manage it.
CREATION STEPPER: means you step it in and throughout Babylon without fear - cuttin' edge, livin' on the edge, fear no foe.
CRIS: crisp; popularly used for anything brand-new, slick-looking.
CRISSARS: crisp, brand-new.acks from the Gold Coast believed to be rebellious.
CROCUS BAG: a very large sack made of coarse cloth, like burlap.
CROSSES: problems, vexations, trials; bad luck, misfortunes.
CRUCIAL: serious, great, "hard,", "dread"
CU: verb, look!
CU DEH!: look there!
CU PAN: look at.
CU YA!: look here!
CU YU: To say "Look at you." To the person you are refering to.
CUBBITCH: covetous.
CUDJO: n. name of famous Maroon warrior; mn born on Monday, from Fante, Twi kudwo.
CULTURE: reflecting or pertaining to the roots values and traditions highly respected by the Rastas.
CUSS-CUSS: a quarrel or fracas, with lots of cursing.
CUT YAI: to cut your eye at somebody is a very common means of expressing scorn or contempt, for example; one catches the other person's eye, then deliberatly turns one's own eyes as an insult.
CUTCHIE: pipe for communal smoking.
CYA: 1. to care; "donkya", don't care, careless; "no kya" means no matter, as in "no kya weh im tun", no matter where he turns. 2. to carry.
CYAAN: can't.
CYAI: to carry.
CYAN: can.
D.J.: a person who sings or scats along with dub music, sometimes called "toasting"
DAAL: split peas, usually a thick soup, from Indian cuisine, from Hindi.
DADA: father.
DALLY: executive zig-zag movements on wheels or on foot to ride a bicycle or motorbike with a weaving motion, as when ones weaves around potholes.
DAN DADA: the highest of DON'S.
DAN: than.
DARKERS: sunglasses.
DASHEEN: a big soft yam-like root, often slightly greyish when cooked. It is related to the coco, but one eats the "head" instead of the tubers.
DAWTA: a girl, woman, "sister," girlfriend.
DEAD HOOD: (the H is silent) = A man that can't perform sexually. Impotent.
DEADERS: meat, meat by-products.
DEESTANT: decent.
DEGE or DEGE-DEGE: adjective, little, skimpy, measly, only, as in a two dege-dege banana.
DEH: there (place)
DEY: v. to be, exist, as in "No yam no dey". From Ewe de or Twi de - to be.
DEY 'PON: (aux. v.) - to be engaged in action or continuing activity (35) literally "there upon" As in "it dey pon de table".
DI: the.
DILDO MACCA: dangerous macca or thorn that will bore you up.
DINKI: a kind of traditional dance at funerals or "nine nights" ("set-ups"); now popular among school children.
DIS or DIS YA: this.
DJEW: as a verb, rain a djew; as a noun, djew rain. It means a light rain or drizzle.
DOGHEART: a person who is especially cold and cruel.
DOLLY: executive zig-zag movements on wheels.
DON: one who is respected, master of a situation.
DONKYA: from "don't care"; careless, sloppy, lacking ambition, etc.
DOONDOOS: an albino.
DOWNPRESSOR: preferred term for oppressor.
DOTI: "Dutty" means dirty, dirt or earth.
(TO) DRAW CARD: the act of fooling someone.
DREAD: 1. a person with dreadlocks. 2. a serious idea or thing. 3. a dangerous situation or person. 4. the "dreadful power of the holy". 5. experientially, "awesome, fearful confrontation of a people with a primordial but historically denied racial selfhood"
DREADLOCKS: 1. hair that is neither combed nor cut 2. a person with dreadlocks.
DREADY: a friendly term for a fellow dread.
DUB: a roots electronic music, created by skillful, artistic re-engineering of recorded tracks.
DUB PLATE: A pre-release copy of a record, often produced exclusively for a specific sound system (see "sound system").
DUCK-ANTS: white ants, or termites.
DUKUNU: sweet corn-meal dumplings boiled in wrapped leaves.
DUNDUS: an albino.
DUNGLE: n. legendary West Kingston slum surrounding a garbage dump, now cleared: From English dunghill.
DUNS,DUNSA: money.
DUPPY: a ghost.
DUTCHY: dutch cooking pot, low round-bottomed heavy pot.
DUTTY: dirty.
Thanks to some of the sources of this glossary...Reggae International, Stephen Davis, Peter Simon, R&B, 1982 - KSBR 88.5 FM, Laguna Beach, CA. Handout. - posted on rec.music.reggae - Mike Pawka, Jammin Reggae Archives Cybrarian - Understanding Jamaican Patois, L. Emilie Adams, Kingston - Richard Dennison/Michio Ogata - Glossary from "The Harder They Come" (Bo Peterson) - Norman Redington - The Beat - Allen Kaatz - Jah Bill (William Just) - Arlene Laing - Jennifer G. Graham - Norma Brown/Zoe Una Vella Veda - Richard V. Helmbrecht - Norman Stolzoff - Christopher Edmonds - Lisa Watson - Dr. Carolyn Cooper - Ras Adam - Chip Platt - Michael Turner from an article in "The Beat" - Nicky "Dread" Taylor - Simrete McLean - The Unofficial Web Site on Jamaica - Paul Mowatt - Carlos Culture - Liner Notes - Blood & Fire release: Jah Stitch:"Original Ragga Muffin", presumably Steve Barrow - Clinton Fearon -Original member of the Gladiators/ - Barbara Kennedy - Itations of Jamaica and i Rastafari - Phil "Bassy" Ajaj - Karlene Rogers - Dean Holland - Scottie Lake - Roger Steffen's Supersite - Sara Gurgen - Kevin Robison - Christopher Durning - Ronald E. Lam - Trainer Adams - Editor of Dub Missive magazine. - Karlene Rogers - Howard Henry - Messian Dread - Roger Steffens - Bunny Wailer (related to Roger Steffens) - Reggaeblitz.com glossary - Jahworks.org - Jamaican Handbook of Proverbs - www.jamaicans.com-The Reggae Box - Hip-O Records
A Great big thanks to Mike Pawka http://niceup.com/patois.txt | | Go to Next Page | |  | | | | | |
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