Jamaican Lingo
Warning…… Do not attempt to use the following without proper supervision of a trained Jamaican. We will not be held responsible for any violent outbursts, physical endangerment or mental anguish…..and even then….we still nu kyaaaah!!!!
- Jamaican Dictionary
Hello – Waah gwaan king
Water – Wata
Ground Provisions (Potatoes, yams, carrot, Turnip) – Bikkle
Friend – breddrin (male), Sistrin (female).
ok!! – zeen!!
Look what we have here ! – Cooyah !!
babylon – police, any establishment
bak chat – back talk
badmine – jealous or having gudge
bandooloo – dishonest or dishonety
bangarang – disturbance, noice
bly – to give a chance, giving some a break
bex – Experiencig a state of vexation
chaka chaka – very bad quality, disorganized, a big mess , poor quality
cho – a term used to express disgust or regret
clath – diaper, in some case it is used as a strong expletive in combination with other words
crosses – problems, causing trials
gravelicious – being greedy
ded lef – an inheritance
fas – nosey, fast, used to describe an inquisitive peson
maskitta – mosquito
poppyshow – laughable, ridiculous
rathid – a term used in suprise
smaddy – somebody
whites – Jamaican white overproof rum
yardie – some one who is Jamaican, jamaican by birth. Similar to the British citizens being called Brits.
- Popular Jamaican Phrases
waah gwaan my yute? – What’s up Friend?
Him a draw Bunggy – He is snoring.
A which part yu did deh? – Where were you?
Get up off a yu backside nuh? – Why don’t you move your lazy butt?
Mi like yu ganzy – I like your T-Shirt.
Ah Good ?- Serves you right
Mi a bull buck an duppy Conquera!! – Person that is not affraid of nothing or no one.
kill mi dead – a term used in the same manner one would say “I would have to die first”
JEM FROM JAM DOWN
It’s about time somene finally broke it down for me! I was talking to this Jamacian guy and he used to always say zeen and I would always just go along with it as if I knew what he meant! But now I know. Thanks for that! And I love some of the oldies but goodies
Thank my cousin for this entry. She’s the best.
Damn Babylon, like a damn maskitta suckin’ my whites. See per your word list, I can speak Jamaican, Mon – Todd
you are a mess Todd. you just stringed a bunch of words together and came out with that one.
IT’s Seen not Zeen! As a born Jamaican I feel it ’s necessary to correct this.
No disrespect. Keep Tough.
Biggie.
It’s never disrespect to leave a comment. I would ask you to leave more comments and visit again.
Now to your point…I understand that it might be pronounced “seen” but as a courtesy to our non-native readership it would be better to keep it as “zeen” in order to distinguish easily between the figure of speech vs the actual word. Also, we referenced a few websites just for continuity and found that thats the best way to go.
i feel as a proud jamaican mother that i could go and cut my wrists after reading this
do tell me why you would want to do such a thing?