Chat bout'! - a few useful (and not so useful) Jamaican phrases.
If you ever desired to speak like a Jamaican, one of the first things that you will have to work on is your body language.
At least 75% of the Jamaican language is communicated with body language.
It's more than exercising your vocal cords and trying out your best tropical accent; you have to get your eyes, nose, cheeks, and hands involved.
The next thing is, never spend too much time correcting your Jamaican speech.
The subject-verb agreement rule that governs the English language does not apply here.
Now that you have the basics out of the way, let's start off with simple phrases that are easy to remember.
Jamaican phrases
Chat ‘bout can mean more than one thing.
It can be used to agree with someone or as a disclaimer of disbelief (I hear you/What’re you talking about!?).
Some Jamaican phrases or words in Patois are used by many or only one generation in a location.
Here are a few other useful phrases to try out or at least just help you to keep up with a lively conversation!
Earth strong – Birthday
Irie – Everything cool (can be asked as a question)
Bless Up/Blessings – Sometimes used as a greeting
Yuh si mi?/Zimmi – Do you understand?
Zeen – I understand/agree
Small up yuhself – Move over and make room
Ovah deh so – Over there
Soon come – I’ll be right back/I’m on my way
Likkle more – In a while/See you later
Pickney – Child/children (singular and plural)
Broughtupsy – proper manners
Brawta – a little extra/bonus
Pree – to look at/watch closely
Jim Screechy – a suspicious act/a con
Ignorant – bad-tempered
Hush – used to soothe - my condolences
Yu too bright – being rude Hiss/Kiss Teeth – a noise made by sucking saliva through your teeth while pursing your lips used to display disgust, frustration, contempt, or dismissal (‘Kiss Mi Teet’ - KMT in messaging format).
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