My Take on Jamaican Patois
I wrote this a long time ago and recently found it again. It still makes me laugh fondly at the country I’m in love with. There may be some inconsistencies in it so if you’re Jamaican and I’m wrong…..GO EASY ON ME.
Patois is not the first language of Jamaica. English is. Actually Patois IS English. Although Jamaica is part of the British Commonwealth it amazes me how many people have asked me, “What’s that language they’re speaking? It’s Spanish right?†I suspect people ask that question because Patois is spoken with such speed and fluidity that it actually does sound like a foreign language and it’s beautiful.
In my opinion Jamaican Patois is one of the prettiest dialects I’ve ever heard. It’s made up of mostly English words laced with a lot of slang and other words and phrases unique to the island. The dialect is somewhat broken and not put together the same way we would speak. Sometimes I think their way of putting things is so much more efficient. For example, instead of saying “the back of my neck†they would say “neckbackâ€. Duh. No wonder Jamaicans run faster than the rest of the world…they aren’t wasting their energy using excessive words. Although, that may not be true either because instead of using just the word “jeansâ€, they would say “jeans pantsâ€. No wonder I don’t speak the language yet, even though I understand it. There are no rules to follow for learning it!
In Patois, your hair and sleeves aren’t long; they’re tall. Your whole leg is your foot and the back of your foot is a footback. You don’t watch someone, you pree them. And you must say things twice in a row to get your point across effectively; chat you a chat – you don’t just chat. When a Jamaican is excited or in disbelief is when it gets really comedic. Who would ever think that when someone tells you to kiss their neckback or footback that they’re excited? And who would ever know someone’s upset with you when they yell, “Blouse and skirt!†See what I mean when I say Patois IS in fact English but putting it together is a whole other ballgame.
Skinning your teeth is actually smiling but to me it sounds like a form of torture, however kissing your teeth is something you would do if you’re upset, in disbelief or just plain don’t agree with someone. I can’t write on paper what kissing your teeth sounds like but there’s a definite noise it makes and not every foreigner gets it right when attempting it.
When people travel to different countries it seems that they always want to know the bad words first. I can understand why. It’s so that when you go back home you have a whole heap of different ways to curse your boss or your mother-in-law out without them actually knowing it. It’s so satisfying.
There’s a colorful array of offensive words and phrases unique to Jamaica that would sound absolutely ridiculous if you use them anywhere else. That’s one of the awesome things about Jamaica, nothing is very literal there and you can call someone you don’t like a p***yhole without them immediately thinking of a vagina. Instead they’ll tell you to go suck something (but not what you’re probably thinking). Entire fights go down with no physical action. Just a vibrant spray of creative, non-literal bad words that still sound pretty because of the dialect and accent.
Bloodclot is like the original sin in Jamaican bad language. It came first and a whole dictionary of derivative words came after it. The true meaning of the word Bloodclot (when used in Jamaica) came from blood cloth, only when Jamaicans say cloth it comes out as clot. A blood cloth is a feminine hygiene product. So, in essence when the word is used in anger towards someone you’re basically calling them a tampon. Now, call me crazy but when I’m pissed off enough to start name-calling, the last thing I’m going to call someone is a tampon.
From bloodclot came rassclot (usually spelled rassclaat, but still said as clot). As far as I know rass can be used like ass like when some people shout, “Kiss mi rass†it means kiss their ass. So I’m not exactly sure what an ass cloth is if we need to break this one down literally.
Also from bloodclot came bumboclaat (or clot), which also means ass cloth since bumbo is slang for butt. Sometimes I wish I had the assistance of a Jamaican while writing but I’m sure we’d just be drinking rum and this would turn out worse than it already is. I’ve already lost myself!
It’s hard to determine a hierarchy of all the bad words and which ones are the most offensive because how and when they’re used determines the outcome. It’s like our F-bomb, we don’t always use it when we’re angry. Sometimes it seems to be part of a well-balanced diet. It’s the same as Blood/bumbo/rass clot can be used in any instance. Sometimes they use a combination of it such as bumborassclaat. I believe that may be in the Jamaican dictionary because it’s sure in a lot of their songs.
Recently while I was driving on the island and had a Jamaican in my passenger seat, someone on the road cut me off and I yelled out, “Douchebag!†The person in my passenger seat had no idea what I was talking about so this was the perfect opportunity to explain to them what I find so funny about their own language. I proceeded to tell them what the literal meaning of a douche bag is and we laughed. In my opinion it’s just as bad as calling someone a blood cloth. The two are equals on the totem pole of stupid things we call people.
My own footnote: The best word out of the entire Jamaican dialect is “Fuckery”. It’s just so versatile.
Comments
21 responses to “Jamaican Patois”
Haha this made me laugh so hard!! I love to listen to reggae and some dancehall, and I have some Jamaican friends, but I still don’t understand most Patois. Perhaps I’ll start calling people tampons here in the US just to see how it goes over…
Lol Christina let me know how that goes hahaha!
Love the post! I agree; Patois is so creative. One of my personal favorites is “hand miggle” (the middle, or palm, of your hand). That one always makes me smile. But “fuckery” has oh so many uses!
LOL Theresa! Hand middle reminds me of likkle, bokkle and all a dem tingz hahahha.
haha nice post it really made me laugh and its so interesting the way they talk. Im sure I was like everyone else reading the post who tried to say some of the words in a Jamaican Accent lol.
Ah, I learned something new today. I kind of knew about douching before but I never understood the “bag” part of it. Anyway, Wikipedia cleared that up for me, and also gave me these two pearls of wisdom.
1. The same bag must not be used for an enema and a vaginal douche.
2. Douching after sexual intercourse is not an effective form of birth control.
Astonishing right.
DWLLLLLL Stewpeas! Lawd you broke that one down into simple terms LMAO! Thanks for the sex ed tip.
And yea, douchebag is a pretty common derogatory saying up here hahaha.
excellent information,keep up the good work and vibes!
Great article, I kept laughing the whole time I was reading it. Jamaican Patois is not only based on English, as it has been influenced my some African and European languages which is the reason why it so difficult to understand. Jamaican Patois came into existence as a medium for the slaves and their masters to communicate in the past. Here are some popular Jamaican curse words along with their meaning to add to your collection.
LOL thanks Paul! I laughed the whole time I was writing it a long time ago. And I just found it again in an old document so I thought I would post it.
Thanks for the link too…I will check it out!
i am proud to say that i am a jamaican lol mi love deh post yah ..yuh get most a di words dem right
LOL thanks for reading and commenting Nissia. Glad I could make you laugh! 😀
Actually Patois is not English! it has a lot of african words and a couple of spanish words and one other language! there are Jamaicans who have studied it at a linguestic level and say it is a language of it own!
Awesome article Kristi,
I’ve been following your blog for a few years now and it is crazy good! Don’t forget “Rahtid” as in “Mi Rahtid” when you are excited or surprised! I am from Jamaica and I thought you broke it down nice! I shared this with my friends as they were asking me about all the words and what they mean last night! hahaha…funny I found this today.
Thanks Kamoh….glad you found it funny. I always worry about what Jamaicans will think of my observations in their country so I’m happy you got some entertainment out of this. And THANK YOU for following! 🙂
me parents Dem fram back a yard.
and Me Member Me Daddy use Fe Tell Me Fe Brok Me Sleeves an Hopen Me Shot Neck…Now…Hungo A Jamaican Would HundaTan Whe Dat Mean?
This is a really interesting, exciting, informative post I love it and it was also funny…I am from Jamaica…I think rassclot as u say ass clot is maybe like tissue or suh if u get what am saying.
Domonique thanks for reading and I’m glad you got a laugh out of this post lol! Patois is such an entertaining dialect.
Nice post. I however disagree with a few things u stated. Jamaican Creole is the first language of the island technically and English the second. It is the mother tongue and what comes naturally to most Jamaicans. Jamaican Creole is indeed a language in its own right as it does have grammatical rules and guidelines. You can’t just say anything and claim it is ‘creole’ hence there are guidelines. Yes many of the words in the language sounds like that of the English language but that is because the language is English lexified. There is also a developed writing system for the language. If it is thoroughly studied, you would be amazed at the wonders and flexibility of the Jamaica Creole. It is a very interesting and diverse language.
Hi OBrian, I totally agree it’s a fascinating language all its own! As a foreigner I would never try to speak Patois because I know that I do not know its intricacies.
As it relates to hierarchy. The worst expletive is telling someone about their mother. Never tell a jamaican man to suck his mother.