Talk Jamaican

A DOOR   adoor.au outdoors. (5)
AGONY   agony.au the sensations felt during sex (6)
AN   an.au than (5) 
ARMAGEDDON   armagedon.au the biblical final battle between the forces of good  and evil (1) 
BABYLON  babylon.au 1. the corrupt establishment, the "system, Church and State" 
2. the police,  a policeman (1) 
BAD    good, great (2) 
BADNESS   badness.au hooligan behavior, violence for its own sake (1) 
BAFAN   bafan.au clumsy; awkward (5)
BAFANG   bafang.au a child who did not learn to walk the 1st 2-7 years. (5)
BAG-O-WIRE  bagawire.au a betrayer (1)
BAGGY   baggy.au underpants for a woman or child. (5)
BAKRA   bakra.au white slavemaster, or member of the ruling class in colonial days. Popular etymology: "back raw" (which he bestowed with a whip.) (5) 
BALD-HEAD  baldhead.au a straight person; one without dreadlocks; one who works for babylon (2)
BAMBU   bamboo.au rolling paper (1)
BAMMY   bammy.au a pancake made out of cassava, after it has been grated and squeezed to remove the bitter juice. (5)
BANDULU    bandit, criminal, one living by guile (1) bandit, criminal, one living by guile (1)
BANGARANG    hubbub, uproar, disorder, disturbance. (5) 
BANKRA    a big basket, including the type which hangs over the 
sides of a donkey. (5) 
BANS   from bands; a whole lot, a great deal, nuff, whole heap.(5)
BAT    butterfly or moth. English bat, the flying rodent, is a rat-bat. (5)
BATTY    bottom; backside; anus. (5)
BATTYBWOY   a gay person (6)
BEAST    a policeman (1) 
BEX    vex (verb), or vexed (adjective). (5)
BISSY    cola nut. (5) 
BLY    chance, "must get a bly", "must get a chance". (4) 
BOBO    fool. (5)
BRAA    from BREDDA; brother. (5)
BRAATA   a little extra; like the 13th cookie in a baker's dozen; 
or an extra helping of food. In musical shows it hascome to be the encore. (5)
BREDREN    one's fellow male Rastas (1) 
BRINDLE    to be angry (6)
BRINKS    title given to a man who is supplying a woman with money (6)
BUBU    fool. (5)
BUCKY    home-made gun (2)
BUFU-BUFU    fat, swollen, blubbery; too big; clumsy or lumbering.(5)
BUGUYAGA    a sloppy, dirty person, like a bum or tramp. (5)
BULL BUCKA    a bully (1)
BULLA    a comon sugar and flour cookie or small round cake, sold everywhere in Jamaica. (5)
BUMBA CLOT,     
(TO GET) BUN    to have one's spouse or girl/boy-friend cheat on oneself, to be cheated out of something (6)
RAS CLOT,    
BLOOD CLOT    curse words (1)
BUMBO    bottom; backside. A common curse word, especially in combination with CLOT (cloth), a reference to the days before toilet paper. (5)
BUNKS   to knock or bump against, from "to bounce",
BUNKS MI RES    catch my rest, take a nap. (5)
(THE) CAT    a woman's genitals (6)
CARD    to fool someone (6)
CEASE & SEKKLE!    stop everything and relax! (6)
CERACE    a ubiquitous vine used for boiling medicinal tea and for bathing. It is proverbial for its bitterness.(5)
CHA! or CHO!    a disdainful expletive (1) pshaw! (2) very common, mild explanation expressing impatience, vexation or disappointment. (5)
CHAKA-CHAKA    messy, disorderly, untidy. (5)
CHALICE or CHILLUM    a pipe for smoking herb, usually made from coconut shell and tubing, used ritually by Rastas (1)
CHEAP    just as cheap, just as well. (5)
CHIMMY    chamber pot. (5)
CHO    very common, mild explanation expressing impatience, vexation or disappointment. (5)
CLAP    hit, break, strike (1)
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". (5)
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. (5)
COIL   money (6)
COME DUNG    come down, get ready (as to prepare to play a tune) (6)
COME EEN LIKE    to seem as if; to resemble. (5)
CONTROL    to be in charge of, responsible for, to own; to take (1)
COOL RUNNINGS    a greeting; things are going smoothly (1)
COOLIE    the traditional Jamaican epithet for East Indians. It is never used 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. (5) 
CORK UP   jammed, filled, crowded (2)
CORN    1. marijuana 2. money 3. a bullet (1)
COTCH    verb (cotch up), to support something else, as with a forked stick; to balance something or place it temporarily; to beg someone a cotch, can be a place on 
a crowded bus seat or bench; or it may mean to cotch a while, to stay somewhere temporarily. (5)
COTTA   a roll of cloth or vegetation placed on top of the head to cushion the skull from the weight of a head load. (5)
CRAB    aside from it's usual meaning, it is a verb meaning to scratch or claw. (5)
CRAVEN    greedy (5)
CRIS    crisp; popularly used for anything brand-new, slick-looking. (5)
CRISSARS   crisp, brand-new (2)
CROSSES    problems, vexations, trials; bad luck, misfortunes. (5)
CRUCIAL   serious, great, "hard", "dread" (1)
CUBBITCH    covetous. (5)
CULTURE    reflecting or pertaining to the roots values and traditions highly respected by the Rastas (1) 
CUSS-CUSS    a quarrel or fracas, with lots of cursing. (5)
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. (5)
CUTCHIE    pipe for communal smoking. (5)
CYAAN    cannot, can't (6)
D.J.   a person who sings or scats along with dub music, sometimes called "toasting" (2)
DAAL    split peas, usually a thick soup, from Indian cuisine, from Hindi. (5)
DADA    father (6)
DALLY   executive zig-zag movements on wheels (2) or on foot (6) to ride a bicycle or motorbike with a weaving motion, as when ones weaves around potholes. (5)
DAN DADA    the highest of DON'S (6)
DAN    than (5)
DARKERS    sunglasses (6)
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. (5)
DAWTA    a girl, woman, "sister", girlfriend (1)
DEADERS     meat, meat by-products (1)
DEESTANT    decent. (5)
DEGE or DEGE-DEGE    adjective, little, skimpy, measly, only, as in a two dege-dege banana. (5)
DEH    there (place) (6)
DI    the (6)
DINKI   a kind of traditional dance at funerals or "nine nights" ("set-ups"); now popular among school children. (5)
DIS or DIS YA    this (6)
DJEW    as a verb, rain a djew; as a noun, djew rain. It means a light rain or drizzle. (5)
DOGHEART    a person who is especially cold and cruel (6)
DOLLY    executive zig-zag movements on wheels (2)
DON    one who is respected, master of a situation (6)
DONKYA    from "don't care"; careless, sloppy, lacking ambition, 
etc. (5)
DOONDOOS    an albino. (5)
DOWNPRESSOR    preferred term for oppressor (1)
(TO) DRAW CARD    the act of fooling someone (6)
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" (1)
DREADLOCKS    1. hair that is neither combed nor cut 2. a person with 
dreadlocks (1)
DREADY    a friendly term for a fellow dread (1)
DUB    a roots electronic music, created by skillful, artistic re-engineering of recorded tracks (2)
DUCK-ANTS    white ants, or termites. (5)
DUKUNU    sweet corn-meal dumplings boiled in wrapped leaves. (5)
DUNDUS    an albino. (5)
DUNS, DUNSA    money (1)
DUPPY    a ghost (1)
DUTCHY    dutch cooking pot, low round-bottomed heavy pot. (5)
EASE-UP    to forgive, to lighten up (6)
EVERYTING COOK & CURRY    all is well, all is taken care of (6)
FAS'    to be fast with, meaning to be rude, impertinent, to meddle with sombody's business, to be forward, etc.(5)
FASSY   eczema-like scratchy sores on the skin; also a verb meaning to cause oneself to be covered with fassy by scratching. (5)
FAYVA    to favour, resemble, or look like; "fayva like" also means "it seems as if". (5)
FEEL NO WAY    don't take offense, don't be sorry, don't worry (1)
FENKY-FENKY    (from finicky) choosy, proud, stuck-up. (5)
FIESTY    impudent, rude, out of order, cheeky. (5)
FIRST LIGHT    tomorrow (1)
(HIM A) FISH    a gay person (6)
FIT   when used of fruits and vegetables, it means ready to pick, full grown, though not necessarily fully ripe. (5)
FORWARD    1. to go, move on, set out 2. in the future (1)
FRONTA    tobacco leaf used to roll herb (1)
FUCKERY    wrong, unfair (6)
FULLNESS, TO THE FULLNESS    completely, absolutely, totally (1)
FUNDS    Money (6)
GAAN TO BED 
 
  an adverbial phrase; following a verb of liking or loving, it has a superlative meaning; Can be used in any context, such as "I love hafu yam gaan to bed!". (5)
GANJA    herb, marijuana (1)
GANSEY    t-shirt, any knit shirt (2)
(TO) GET SALT    to be thwarted, to encounter misfortune (6)
GATES    home, yard (1)
GENERAL    cool operator (1)
GIG    spinning top. (5)
GLAMITY    a woman's genitals (6)
GORGON    outstanding dreadlocks (1)
(DON) GORGON    outstanding dreadlocks, a person who is respected (2,6)
GRAVALICIOUS    greedy, avaricious. (5)
GRINDSMAN    one who displays great prowess in bed(6)
GROUNATION    large, island-wide meeting and celebration of Rastas (1)
GROUND    home, yard (4)
HACKLE    to hassle, bother, worry, trouble. As a noun, hackling.(5)
HAFFI    to have to... (6)
HAIL    a greeting (1)
HARD    excellent, proficient, skillful, uncompromising (1)
HEETCH    itch. Many such words could be listed under H, as initial H is added to scores of words at will. (5)
HERB    marijuana (1)
HIEZ-HAAD    ears-hard, thick skulled, stubborn, unwilling or unable to hear. (5)
HIEZ    ears. (5)
HITEY-TITEY    upper class, high tone, "stoosh". (5)
HOOD    penis. (5)
HORTICAL (DON)    respected, acclaimed (6)
HOT-STEPPER    fugitive from jail or gun court (1)
I-MAN    I, me, mine (1)
I-NEY    a greeting (2)
I-REY    1. a greeting 2. excellent, cool, highest (1)
I-SHENCE    herb (1)
I-TAL    vital, organic, natural, wholesome; refers to way of cooking and way of life (1) in colors, red, green and gold (2)
I   replaces "me", "you", "my"; replaces the first syllable of seleted words (1) I and I, I&I& I, me, you and me, we (1) Rastafari speech eliminates you, me we, they, etc., as divisive and replaces same with communal I and I. I and I embraces the congregation in unity with the Most I (high) in an endless circle of inity (unity). (3)
IEZ-HAAD    ears-hard, thick skulled, stubborn, unwilling or unable to hear. (5)
IEZ    ears. (5)
IGNORANT    short-tempered, easy to vex, irate. (5)
INNA DI MORROWS    tomorrow (6)
INNA    In the (4)
ISMS and SKISMS    negative term denoting Babylon's classificatory systems (1)
ITES    1. the heights 
2. a greeting 
3. the color red (1) great (2)
JA, JAM-DOWN    Jamaica (1)
JACKASS ROPE 
 
  homegrown tobacco, twisted into a rope. (5)
JAH KNOW    Lord knows (1)
JAH    God; possibly derived as a shortened form of Jahweh or 
Jehovah (1) 

Jah Ras Tafari, Haille Selassie, King of Kings, Lord of 
Lords, conquering Lion of Judah; rastas revere Haile 
Selassie as the personification of the Almighty (2)

JAMMIN    to be having a good time, to be dancing calypso/soca (6)
JANGA    shrimp, crayfish. (5)
JELLY    a young coconut, full of jelly. (5)
JOOK    to pierce or stick, as with a thorn or a long pointed stick. (5)
JUDGIN'   adjective, everyday or ordinary clothes or shoes worn in the yard or in the bush, as in "judgin' boot". Also as a verb, to judge, with a similar meaning. (5)
JUU    as a verb, rain a juu; as a noun, juu rain. It means a light rain or drizzle. (5)
KALI; COOLY    marijuana (1)
KALLALOO    a dark, green leafy vegetable, very nutritious and cheap. (5)
KATA    a roll of cloth or vegetation placed on top of the head to cushion the skull from the weight of a head load. (5)
KEMPS    a little bit, a tiny piece, from skimps. (5)
KISS ME NECK!    common exclamation of surprise. (5)
KISS TEET 
 
  to kiss one's teeth or to suck one's teeth is to make the very common hissing noise of disappoval, dislike, vexation or disappointment. (5)
KOUCHIE    bowl of a chalice or chillum pipe (1)
KRENG-KRENG    an old-fashioned meat rack, hung up high over the fire to catch the smoke. (5)
KU DEH!    look there! (5)
KU PAN    look at. (5)
KU YA!    look here! (5)
KU   verb, look! (5)
KYA    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. (5)
KYAAN    can't. (5)
KYAI    to carry. (5)
KYAN    can. (5)
LABA-LABA    to chat, gab; gossip. (5)
LABRISH    gossip, chit-chat. (5)
LAMBSBREAD    a form of high-quality marijuana (1)
LARGE    respected (6)
LEGGO BEAS'    wild, disorderly, like a let-go beast. (5)
LICKY-LICKY   fawning, flattering, obsequious. (5)
LILLY BIT    little bit, tiny. (5)
LION    a righteous Dread (1) a great soul (2)
LITTLE MORE    see you later (2)
(TOO) LIKKY-LIKKY    title given to those who like to eat any food they encounter , without discretion (6)
MAAMA MAN    a gay person, an effeminate man, a weakling (6)
MACA    thorn, prickle. (5)
MADDA    mother (6)
MAFIA    big-time criminals (1)
MAGA DOG    mongrel (4)
MAGA    thin (2) (from meagre) (5)
MARINA    a man's undershirt, guernsey; a tank-top style. (5)
MASCOT    denoting inferior status (2)
MASH IT UP    a huge success (1)
MASH UP, MASH DOWN    destroy (1)
MASSIVE    respected (6), used with LARGE to add emphasis
MONKS    amongst. (5)
MORE TIME    see you later (1)
MR. T    the boss (2)
MUS MUS    a rat (4)
MY BABY MOTHER/FATHER    the mother/father of my child (1,6)
NANA    midwife; nanny or nurse. (5)
NASH    female genatalia (6)
NATTY, NATTY DREAD, NATTY CONGO    1. dreadlocks 2. a person with dreadlocks (1)
NAZARITE    Ancient Hebrew meaning to "separate", consecrated, set apart by choice and devotion (1)
NIYABINGHI    1. "death to all black and white oppressors" 
2. East African warriors who resisted colonial domination 
3. large Rastafarian meeting and spiritual gathering 
4. referring to orthodox, traditional Rastas 
5. a variety of drumming (1)
NIYAMEN    name for Rastas referring to Niyabinghi warriors of East Africa (1)
NO KYA   no matter, as in "no kya weh im tun", no matter where he turns. (5)
NO TRUE?    isn't it so? (1)
NYAM    to eat. (5)
(TOO) NYAMI-NYAMI    title given to those who like to eat any food they encounter, without discretion (6)
NYING'I-NYING'I    nagging, whining. (5)
O-DOKONO    boiled maize bread. (5)
OBEAH    traditional African "science", relating to matters of the spirit and spirits, spells, divinations, omens, extra-sensory knowledge, etc. (5)
OHT FI    about to, on the vergeof, as in "it hoht fi rain", it is about to rain, it looks like rain. (5)
ONE LOVE    a parting phrase, expression of unity (1)
ONE-ONE    adjective, one by one, thus any small amount. (5)
ONGLE    only. (5)
PAKI    calabash, gourd. (5)
PAPAA    pawpaw, or papaya melon. (5)
PATU    owl. (5)
PEEL-HEAD    bald-headed, usually certain chickens or vultures. (5)
PEENYWALLY    a kind of large fire fly, actually a type of flying beetle. (5)
PEER    avocado pear. (5)
PICKY, PICKY HEAD    brush haircut (3)
PICKY-PICKY    1. finicky or choosy 
2. Used of uncombed hair just starting to turn into 
dreadlocks. (5)
PIKNY    pickaninny, child. (5)
PINDA    peanut. (5)
PIRA    a low wooden stool. (5)
PITY-ME-LIKL    a type of very tiny red ant whose bite is so hot and 
long-lasting it resembles a sting. (5)
POCOMANIA, POCO    christian revival, distinct drum rhythm (2)
POLYTRICKS    politics (by Peter Tosh) (6)
POLYTRICKSTERS    politicians (by Peter Tosh) (6)
POPPY-SHOW    from puppet show, it is used in the idiom, tek smadi mek poppy-show, which means to make fun of someone or shame them, making them look ridiculous. (5)
PUM-PUM    a woman's genitals (6)
PUNAANI or PUNNI    a woman's genitals (6)
PUPPALICK    somersalt. (5)
PUTTIN' AWAY    a preposition, meaning "except for", or "except". (5)
PYAA-PYAA    sickly, weak; feeble, of no account. (5)
PYU    from spew; verb used of running sores or anything similarly dripping or oozing. (5)
QUIPS    1. nouns (from squips) a tiny piece or amount. 
2. verb, the Jamaican art of washing clothes making a 
"squips-squips" sound. (5)
RAATID!    a common mild expletive of surprise or vexation, as in "to raatid!".  It is likely a polite permutation of  "ras", a la "gosh" or "heck". (5)
RANKING    highly respected (1)
RAS or RASS    backside, rump; a common curse is to rass! or rass clot! a title used by Rastafarians meaning "lord" or "head". (5)
(TO) RAAS   "really?", "damn!"(6)
RASTA, RASTAFARIAN    a follower of Marcus Garvey who worships the Almighty in the person of haile Selassie
RAT-BAT    bat, the night-flying rodent. (5)
RATCHET    a switchblade knife popular in Jamaica (1)
RED    1. very high on herb 2. mulatto color (1)
RENK    1. foul-smelling, raw-smelling. 
2. out of order, impudent, as in a rank-imposter. 
"Yu too renk!". (5)
RHAATID    a curse-exclamation, similar to "what the hell" (6)
ROCKERS    reggae music (1) reggae music as it is played today, the latest sound (2)
ROOTS    1. derived from the experience of the common people, 
natural indigenous 
2. a greeting 
3. name for a fellow Rasta (1)
ROTI    flat Indian pan breads. (5)
RUDE BOY    a criminal, a hard hearted person, a tough guy (6)
RUN-DUNG    food cooked in coconut juice, obtained after grating the dry coconut meat and squeezing it in water, thus extracting the coconut cream. (5)
RYAL    royal. (5)
SAL'TING    1. dishes cooked with saltfish or meat. 
2. that part of the meal which is served with the "food" 
(starchy food, ground food). 
3. by some strange extension, the female organ, often 
simply called "sal". (5)
SALT    adjective, broke, empty-handed, low on funds or food, as in "tings salt" or "i' salt". (5)
SAMBO    the colour between brown and black; someone who is a cross between a mullatto (brown) and a black. (5)
SAMFAI MAN    trickster, conman. (5)
SATA    to rejoice, to meditate, to give thanks and praise. (5)
SATTA    sit, rest, meditate (1) relax (6)
SCIENCE    obeah, witchcraft (1)
SCIENTIST    occult practitioner (2)
SCOUT    denoting inferior status (6)
SCREECHIE    to sneak by (6)
SCREW    to scowl, to be angry (1)
SEEN    I understand, I agree (1)
SEEN?    Do you understand? (6)
SHAG    home-cured tobacco, straight from the field. (5)
SHAKE OUT    leave without haste, casually (2)
SHEG (UP)    verb, to bother, as in "all sheg up", all hot and bothered, or or spoiled up (as of work). (5)
SHEG-UP    to be messed up, ruined (6)
SHOOB    to shove. (5)
SIDUNG    sit down (6)
SIGHT?    do you understand? (1)
SINKL-BIBLE    the aloevera plant. (5)
SINSEMILLA, SENSIE    popular, potent, seedless, unpollinated female strain 
of marijuana (1)
SINTING    something. (5)
SIPPLE    slippery; slimy. (5)
SISTER, SISTREN    a woman, a friend, woman Rastafarians (1)
SITTIN'    something. (5)
SKANK    to dance to reggae music (1) to move with cunning, ulterior motives (2)
SKIL    kiln, as in "limeskil". (5)
SKIN    rolling paper (1)
SKIN YOUR TEETH    smile (1)
SLABBA-SLABBA    big and fat, slobby, droopy. (5)
SLACKNESS    lewd, vulgar lyrics popular in DJ singing (4)
SMADI    somebody. (5)
SO-SO    only, solely, unaccompanied. (5) weak, pallid (6)
SOFT    not well done, amateurish; unable to cope (1) broke, no money (2)
SPLIFF    large, cone-shaped marijuana cigarette (1)
SPRING    to sprout, as of yams or cocos, making them inedible.(5)
STAR    common term of affection, camaraderie (1)
STEP    to leave, to depart (1) briskly, quickly (2)
STOOSH/STOSHUS    upper class, high tone, "hitey-titey". (5)
STRING UP    a muscial rehearsal (2)
STRUCTURE    body, health (1)
SU-SU    gossip, the sound of wispering. (5)
SUFFERER    a poor person stuggling to survive (2)
SUPM, SINTING    something (6)
TACK    bullet (2)
TAKARI/TANKARI    stewed spicy pumpkin. (5)
TALL    long (1)
TAM    deep woolen hat, used by Dreads to cover their locks (1,6)
TAN'    to stand; usually used in the sense of "to be". 
"A so im tan", "that is what he is like"; 
"tan deh!" or "yu tan deh!" means "just you wait!". 
"Tan tedy", stand steady, means "hold still". (5)
TARRA-WARRA     a polite way of expressing omitted bad words, a verbal asterisk. (5)
TATU    a little thatched hut, often made of bamboo. (5)
TEETH    bullets (2)
TEIF    a theif, to steal (6)
TOTO    coconut cake. (5)
TRACE    to curse or speak abusively to someone. (5)
TRANSPORT    vehicle (1)
TUMPA    from stump, as in "tumpa-foot man", a one-foot man. (5)
TUNTI    female organ. (5)
UNO/UNU    you-all. (5)
UPFUL    postitive, encouraging (2)
UPHILL    positive, righteous (1)
UPTOWN    the upper classes (1)
VEX    to get angry (1)
WA DAY    adverbial phrase, the other day. (5)
WA MEK?    why?
WAKL    wattle, a kind of woven bamboo work used to make house 
walls. (5)
WANGA-GUT    hungry-belly. (5)
WARRA-WARRA    politely omitted bad words, same as "tarra-warra". (5)
WH'APPEN?    what's happening? (4)
WHEELS    vehicle (6)
WHOLE HEAP    a lot (1)
WINJY    thin and sickly looking. (5)
WIS    vine, liana, from withe. (5)
WOLF    a non-rasta deadlocks (2)
WOOD    penis. (5)
YA NO SEE IT?    you know? (1)
YA    hear, or here. (5)
YABBA    a big clay pot. (5)
YAHSO    here (place) (6)
YAI    eye. (5)
YARD    home, one's gates (1) tenement (2)
YOUTH    a child, a young man, an immature man (1)
ZION    Ethiopia, Africa, the Rastafarian holy land (1)
ZUNGU PAN    zinc pan. (5)

 

Created by The House of David
©Copyright 1996 - 1998