Goodman 1

Caribbean Words

Aloo (Guyn, Tbgo,Trin) n. A term used to describe a starchy plant tuber that has brown, yellow

or red skin with a white or yellow flesh. It is a popular staple food and is cooked and eaten as a

vegetable. Aloo is an allonym of the widely used term potato. It is also Hindi apport used by the

Indian and other ethnic populations of territories such as Trinidad to name potato based dishes.

‘Aloo pie is a dish made of spicy mashed potatoes, wrapped in dough and deep fried.’

Boar-stag (Baha) n. A term used to denote either partner in a barren union. It literally means a

castrated male pig. It is used as a term of ridicule when used to describe either partner in a

childless union.

‘Look de ole boar-stag Gertrude ova dey looking jealous jus cuz Nancy breed.’

Breadfruit swapper (Bdos) n. A person of very low social status in Barbados. It is used as an

insult to verbally attack or describe anyone with whom one has any kind of contention. Possibly

derived from a person with little means who resorts to stealing breadfruits to sustain him/herself.

‘Yuh old big head breadfruit swapper, I tell you doan lemme find you in my yard again!’

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Bruggadown (CarA) n. An echoic exclamatory word which describes the noise produced in an

accident or collision. It has many variations which are used with free variation throughout the

Caribbean e.g. bragadang, boodoo, badaps, bodow brukadown bruggadown briggadum

brugadum.

‘Just so de vase hit de floor, bruggadown! And mash-up into pieces!’

Caraho (Gren) n. An exclamation of anger. It is equivalent in meaning to the use of the swear

words hell, damn, shoot, fuck, shit in an utterance. It is a loan word from the Spanish expletive

term carajo which has similar derogatory meaning.

‘Oh gosh, why you so interfering? Caraho!’

Coolie (CarA) n. A person of East Indian ethnicity or descent. May be deemed as a derogatory,

racial slur in some cases but in most cases it is viewed as a term of endearment or simply a term

of identification.

‘De coolie man coming, you got de money fuh he yet?’

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Dougla ( Guyn, Tbgo, Trin) n. A person of mixed African and East Indian ancestry. Used more

often to describe an individual who has one parent who is of African descent and the another

parent of East Indian ethnicity.

‘Dem douglas got some sweet hair.’

Juck (CarA) v. To poke, prick or pierce. A West African apport of jukka meaning to poke.

‘A nail juck me unda’ my foot this morning!’

*Kiskadee (Gren, Guyn, Tbgo, Trin) n. A large, bright yellow-chested bird of 19 centimeters in

length that is a species of the Tyrannidae family. The term is believed to come about through

misplaced juncture of the French question Qu’est-ce qu’il dit meaning What is it saying .

‘Quick! A kiskadee outside by de pond!’

Nyam (CarA) v. To eat. A pure West African apport of nyam meaning eat. This word has

undergone aphaeresis losing the word initial nasal sound /n/ to produce yam. Most speakers use

yam however some older and rural speakers still say nyam.

‘I gon’ nyam dis plate of food so.’

*Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage was consulted.

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Panya-fall-down (Guyn) n. An emaciated, undernourished individual. This is used to describe a

person who looks like an “almost broken pannier”. A pannier is a 18th Century item of female

undergarments made of a frame which was used to extend the breadth of the skirt of a dress

while leaving the front and the back of the skirt. A broken pannier would give a dress a

disheveled appearance.

‘Why you don’t eat something? You wan tuh look like a panya-fall-down?’

Pholourie (Guyn, Tbgo, Trin) n. A fritter made from seasoned split pea flour. This savoury

deep-fried treat is traditionally served with a sweet chutney.

‘Eh-eh, all the pholourie gone already?’

Piece-a-idiot (Bdos) n. A person with a very short fuse and with violent tendencies. It can be

used to refer to a stupid or foolish person as well. Its literal translation into English is a piece of

an idiot. It is similar in meaning to another Barbadian term half-a-idiot.

‘You gun go an curse de magistrate? You is a bare piece-a-idiot!’

Slamming tar (Bdos) v phr. To walk. Possibly derived from the action of one walking on a

paved asphalt road which is commonly known in Barbados as a tar road.

‘Ron car brek down so he slamming tar til he get it fix.’

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Surrasy (Jmca) n. A bothersome, bitter, old woman who meddles in other people’s business.

This term is derived from the plant cerasee which is known to be a bitter herb which makes a

bitter tea.

‘Watch dat surrasy nah learn unna business.’

*Tabanca (Gren, Tbgo, Trin) n. A feeling of loss, rejection and overall sorrowful feelings

associated with unrequited love. It is used to describe the feeling one gets when separated from

one’s lover or separation from anything held in high importance.

‘Trinis at Cavehill suffering serious tabanca for pholourie and doubles.’

Tanta (Bdos) adj. A lot of or so much. A loan word possibly transferred from Spanish tanto

meaning so much or a lot. It is also possibly derived from the word tantamount (which means

equivalent to in effect or value) going under apocope (lost of one or more sounds at the end of a

word) and semantic shift.

‘He get tanta licks from he mudda last night.’

Tout bagay (FrCa Dmca, St.Lu, Gren) n. A term meaning everything. It is a French Creole word

and also an etymon of the French word tous which means everything.

‘Mwe manje tout bagay! (FrCr) I’ll eat everything!’(Eng)

*Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage was consulted.

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Caribbean Proverbs

*Me lickle but me tallawa (Jam) prov. A saying meaning, ‘Don’t underestimate me, I may be

small but I’m dangerous’. Tallawah means to be strong or tough. It also goes beyond physical

strength to mean dangerous. It can also mean an immoral, unethical individual, especially a

woman. This saying is used to exert one’s confidence in oneself by expounding on characteristic

strengths rather than physical attributes.

‘She tink she fi get Robert cuz she big and got money, but she nah know me. Me lickle but me

tallawa!’

Mouth open, torie jump out (Antg) prov. A proverb which means ‘Once you start saying a

little, the entire secret will be revealed’. It is usually used to describe a liar who accidentally

confesses his/her falsehoods. This proverb has many variations which are used in Trinidad,

St.Kitts &Nevis, Grenada and Suriname.

‘So den talk bout bananas start up, and up comp Peter and jump in and start talking bout some

red buffats that claim he buy from de market. But he ain know that I know he steal dem from my

yard, mouth open, torie jump out!’

*Jamaican Talk: 300 years of English Language in Jamaica was consulted.