A |  B |  C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |

Word

Meaning

A Ogun

Shango person shrine

achar or anchar

Indian food; a mixture of pieces of free mango and other fruit with peppers, ground massala, vinegar and salt in mustard oil; it is an E Indian preserved condiment

acqui

teacher

ageable

old

Ah

substitute for ‘I’

Ah gone

‘I am leaving now’

Ah sah

an expression of despair

akara

a fritter made of shredded saltfish mixed in a batter of flour and seasoning.

alé

to go

Allah

the Supreme Being (Islamic)

allyuh or among you

all of you people; group

alpargata

shoe

aredi

all ready

arrada-a

common Big Drum Dance used for healing sick people

asham

sugar and ground parched corn. A must for All Saints night

ax

ask, to ask a question

aye-yah-yie

expression of anticipation or pain, etc.

babu

grandfather (Hindi)

bacchanal

scandal, heavy quarreling, big party, confusion

back chat

insolent response, especially from a child to an adult

backayo

back of yonder (refers to an area over the village of Windward in Carriacou. Near St. Hillaire (St. ‘laire) (accent the last syllable)

bad-eye (cut-eye)

a look of anger, especially when looking from the corner of the eye

badman

a macho, brave, fearless and courageous Rasta; sometime may mean violent or showing unsavory behavior

bageede

a kind of evil spirit that takes people and drags them in the bushes

baho

behind back

ba-john or bajon

a bully or a really tough customer

bakra béké

white boss

baldhead

non-Rasta members of one’s family

balis

to eat

balishae

broad-leafed plant

bambye

bye and bye, in time to come, in the future (accent the first syllable)

bamsee

the rear end, what you sit on

bamsee lambe

rather attractive bamsee

bangalang

a loud metallic sound

bashie

in the old days a féte where you paid 10 cents a dance

basodi

confused, stupefied, light-headed

bath suit

bathing suit

basourdi

stupefied

batiment de cheh

asthma

bavay

dry saliva around the mouth in the morning after bed

bawl-out

to cry out loud

bazoodee

stupidity, evil

bed time stories

when husband and wife discuss privately at nights

beff!

to fall with a loud noise

beh-beh

a stupid person (eg.) ‘Shaddaye is ah real beh-beh’

Béké

Whites

bête rouges

minute little insects, almost invisible to the naked eye

bladdaw or broadies (modern, 1960s)

big disk shaped dumplins (pronounced blah’ daw)

blammin’

slamming and banging

bluggoe

vegetable in the plantain/banana family

bobo

skin sore; sore foot; badder than anything else; figuratively a high compliment – “Bwhy, I had a lawyer for she arse; ‘e bad as bobo and ‘e hard as grugru…Huh, e go give ha cat piece and pepper.” (pronounced boh’ boh)

bobol or bubul

dishonesty, bribery, bribe

bol’face

a pushy person, unreasonably demanding

boli or  bolie dish

calabash, a large round fruit (a word of African – Wolof - origin

Bon Jay Peni Mueh

Good God Help Us!

Bon Jé or Bon Jay

Good God (Bon Dieu)

Bongo

Rasta honorific; in everyday speech, the status of male individuals as elders

boobooman

ghost

borve tup

lie too much

bounce

run into something; hit

bram

same as bashie

Bram

a professional dance, which is popular in La Portie and St. John, St. Andrews

brango

spicy gossip

breaking biche

playing truant

broughtupsy

showing that a person was properly brought up; decorum

brutalize me tap

damage the faucet

Buckras

White people

buh wait nah

but wait a minute, now hold on/it

bujut

a man who likes to fight in dance with his razor and knife

bull pistle

a tough, long whip made with the penis of a bull

bush bath

a bath with herbs, or bush, in it, given by an obeahman or obeahwoman for illness or bad luck

buss he face

hit him hard in the face

‘But look my cross!’

‘Well, I never;’ ‘Well, how do you like that!’

bween

cutlass

cab-e-a bird

the biggest bird in Grenada

caboosay or kabusy

dented, bent up

cabre or cabress

light-skinned man or woman

caca jay (caca yeux)

same as yampee. Crusty stuff in the corner of your eye upon waking.

callaloo or calaloo

dasheen leaves (used like spinach), often used in soup; a thick soup made from dasheen leaves, ochroes, coconut milk seasoned to taste, invariably includes crab

calypso

a musical and lyrical comment on any subject, usually composed for, but not limited to, the Carnival season

Calypsonian

one who sings calypsos

caraho

an expression of annoyance, perhaps of Spanish origin

catch you nenen

catch you hell (suffer)

catching me royal

catching hell

ceiba

Silk-cotton-tree; Jumbie or Devil’s tree

chabin

fair-skinned

chaining the clock

winding the clock

chandel kléwé

light the candle (from a song: chandel, candle, and kléwé, to light

chang-chang

said to be reference to the sound made by a barber’s cheap scissors; ‘the barber chang-chang my head’ a very uneven trim or haircut

channa cones

channa is an Indian food, salted chick peas sold as a snack in little paper cones

Chanti

Chantimelle

chapat

a sandal shoe

chappie

cutlass

charged

full of liquor

cheenky; chinkee

tiny; very tiny portions of anything

chennette

small, hard-skinned tropical fruit which grows in bunches

cheups (see steups)

chigoe

chigger; like a bête rouge, tiny insect

chipping

the sliding step done during Carnival while following a band

choongsie

a tiny piece

‘Chou poule!’

‘To hell with that!’

chrisening

baptism

Christmas wind

the strong winds that come in December and January

chuck

push

chunks

a little piece of food

chupid

stupid

chupid-I; chupidee

stupid person (i, he, she)

chupidness

stupidity

cièl

heavens

close the pipe

turn off the water

coal-pot

what most of the population cooked on. Looks like a Japanese hibachi

coco tea

any hot drink made of real cocoa with or without milk or sugar

cocobay

coki-eye

cross-eyed

colas

tar used to play Jab Jab Mas

come forward

come back

coming to come

coming slowly

commesse or comess

confusion associated with arguments, gossip and slander; complete foul-up

compè

male crony

compère

godfather of my child

con-crocket

dried flying fish

congoree

millipede

coolie

racist term for Indian; an expression denoting someone of East Indian descent

coraile

bitter herb

cotaysi cotayla

and the story goes on (etcetera, etcetera)

country-bookies

country bumpkins

cow

breadfruit

craft

girl

crapaud-face

frog-face

creature

person –“Madam, that creature is here.”

creole

native-born

cribo or creebo

large black serpent; a large colorful serpent which lives preferentially in damp holes in the ground

crix

any brand of crackers

crocus bag

jute sack

cu’n

contraction for ‘cousin’ (pronounced cuh – n. Two syllables. The ‘n is a syllable a hard N. Sing song accent)

cuff

hitting someone or something with a clenched fist

cunumoonu

foolish person

cupaye

partner, friend (used in addressing one). Example: ‘A goin’ dun de rode cupaye (pronounced cuh – pie

curry-favour

to be supportive of one against the other

cursing

scolding

cut skin (cut arse)

to spank

cutlass or cutliss

machete; poor man’s pen

cut-tail