Jamaican Language Dictionary K - Q
K
KALI; COOLY: the herb;
KALLALOO: a dark, green leafy vegetable, very nutritious and cheap.
KASS KASS: n. quarrel or contention. From combination of English curse
or cuss, and Twi kasa kasa-to dispute verbally
KATA: a roll of cloth or vegetation placed on top of the head to cushion
the skull from the weight of a head load.
KAYA: see ganja
KETCH UP : grapple
KEMPS: a little bit, a tiny piece, from skimps.
KIN TEET : see kiss teet
KISS ME NECK!: common exclamation of surprise.
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.
KOUCHIE: bowl of a chalice or chillum pipe
KRENG-KRENG: an old-fashioned meat rack, hung up high over the fire
to catch the smoke.
KU : verb, look!
KU DEH!: look there!
KU PAN: look at.
KU YA!: look here!
KU YU : To say "Look at you." To the person you are refering to.
KUMINA: n. Ecstatic dance for the purpose of communicating with ancestors.
From Twi akom-to be possessed and ana-by an ancestor
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
KYAAN: can't.
KYAI: to carry.
KYAN: can.
L
LABA-LABA: to chat, gab; gossip.
LABRISH: gossip, chit-chat.
LAGGA HEAD: Dumb acts as if you have no common sense. Stupid.:
"yu dam Lagga head bud"
LAMBSBREAD: a form of high-quality marijuana
LARGE: respected
LET OFF: pay out
LEGGO BEAS' : wild, disorderly, like a let-go beast.
LICK: To hit
LICKY-LICKY: fawning, flattering, obsequious.
LILLY BIT: little bit, tiny.
LION: a righteous Dread a great soul
LITTLE MORE: see you later
(TOO) LIKKY-LIKKY : title given to those who like to eat any food they
encounter , without discretion
M
MAAMA MAN: a gay person, an effeminate man, a weakling
MAAS: n. from master or massa. Now freed from its class origin; a respectful
form of address to an older man; chill out, be by ones self for a while
MACA: thorn, prickle.
MADDA: mother
MAFIA: big-time criminals
MAGA DOG: mongrel
MAGA: thin (from meagre)
MAMPI: Fat or overweight
MANACLES: chains
MANNERS: under heavy discipline or punishment. for example when Kingston
is under "heavy manners", they have a curfew or call out the army.
MARINA: a man's undershirt, guernsey; a tank-top style.
MAROON: n. free black warrior-communities which successfully resisted
British hegemony during eighteenth century and early nineteenth century.
From Spanish cimmaron- untamed, wild
MASCOT: denoting inferior status
MASH IT UP: a huge success
MASH UP, MASH DOWN: destroy
MASSIVE: respected, used with LARGE to add emphasis
MATEY: mistress
MEK WE: Let Us.
MENELIK, RAS: n. Ethiopian nobleman who rallied his troops to resist
Italian aggression. Defeated Italians at Adowa 1896
MONKS: amongst.
MORE TIME: see you later
MR. MENTION: Talk of the town, originally talk of the females
signifying someone with many female conquests
MR. T: the boss
MUS MUS: a rat
MY BABY MOTHER/FATHER: the mother/father of my child (1,6)
MYAL: n. a form of benign magic oposed to Obeah, hence myalman. From
Hursa maye-wizard, person of mystic power.
N
NAGAH: n. pejorative for a black person
NAGO: n. Yoruba person, practice or language. From Ewe anago-Yoruba
person
NAH: adv. will not. Emphatic as in "Me nah do that"
NANA: midwife; nanny or nurse.
NANNY GOAT: "What sweet nanny goat a go run him belly" is a cautionary
Jamaican proverb which translated means: What tastes good to a goat will
ruin his belly. In other words - the things that seem good to you
now, can hurt you later...
NASH: female genatalia
NATTY, NATTY DREAD,
NATTY CONGO: 1. dreadlocks 2. a person with dreadlocks
NAZARITE: Ancient Hebrew meaning to "separate", consecrated, set apart
by choice and devotion 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
NIYAMEN: name for Rastas referring to Niyabinghi warriors of East Africa
NO KYA: no matter, as in "no kya weh im tun", no matter where he turns
NO TRUE?: isn't it so?
NOTCH : Don or top ranking badman
NUH: interrogative at end of sentence; literally, "Is it not so?"
NYAM: to eat.
(TOO) NYAMI-NYAMI : title given to those who like to eat any food they
encounter, without discretion
NYING'I-NYING'I: nagging, whining.
O
O-DOKONO : boiled maize bread.
OBEAH: traditional African "science", relating to matters of the spirit
and spirits, spells, divinations, omens, extra-sensory knowledge, etc.
OHT FI: about to, on the vergeof, as in "it hoht fi rain", it is about
to rain, it looks like rain.
ONE LOVE: a parting phrase, expression of unity
ONE-ONE: adjective, one by one, thus any small amount.
ONGLE: only.
P
PAKI: calabash, gourd.
PAPAA: pawpaw, or papaya melon.
PATTAN: pattern, style and fashion
PATU: owl.
PAYAKA: heathen
PYAKA: tricky or dishonest.
PEEL-HEAD: bald-headed, usually certain chickens or vultures.
PEENYWALLY: a kind of large fire fly, actually a type of flying beetle.
PEER: avocado pear.
PHENSIC: JA equivalent to Tylenol, Excedrin, etc.
PICKY, PICKY HEAD : brush haircut
PICKY-PICKY: 1. finicky or choosy; 2. Used of uncombed hair just starting
to turn into dreadlocks.
PIKNY: pickaninny, child.
PINDA: peanut.
PIRA: a low wooden stool.
PITY-ME-LIKL: a type of very tiny red ant whose bite is so hot and
long-lasting it resembles a sting.
POCOMANIA, POCO: christian revival, distinct drum rhythm
POLYTRICKS: politics (by Peter Tosh)
POLYTRICKSTERS: politicians (by Peter Tosh)
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.
PUM-PUM: a woman's genitals
PUNAANI or PUNNI: a woman's genitals
PUPPALICK: somersalt.
PUSSY CLOT: A curse word ref. to a woman's sanitary napkin.
PUTTIN' AWAY: a preposition, meaning "except for", or "except".
PYAA-PYAA: sickly, weak; feeble, of no account.
PYU: from spew; verb used of running sores or anything similarly dripping
or oozing.
Q
QUASHIE: n. peasant, country bumpkin, coarse and stupid person; racial
pejorative generic term for blacks; originally Twi name of a boy born on
a Sunday
QUIPS: 1. nouns (from squips) a tiny piece or amount; 2. verb, the
Jamaican art of washing clothes making a "squips-squips" sound.
