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Rasta Jamaican Patois Glossary T Z

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TACK: bullet TACUMAH: n. character in Anancy tales. Said to be the son of Anancy. Twin’ticuma TAKARI/TANKARI: stewed spicy pumpkin TALL: long TALLOWAH: adj. sturdy, strong, fearless, physically capable. From Ewe talala TAM: deep woolen hat, used by Dreads and Rastamen and sistren to cover their locks TAMBRAN SWITCH: n. a flail made from the wiry branches of the Tamarind tree, braided and oiled. Effective and much feared in the hands of Babylon TAN’: to stand; usually used in the sense of “to be”. “A so im tan”, “that is what he is like”; “tan deh!” or “yu tan deh!” means “just you wait!”. “Tan tedy”, stand steady, means “hold still” TARRA-WARRA: a polite way of expressing omitted bad words, a verbal asterisk TATA: n. father. Affectionate and respectful title for an old man. Fram many african languages. Ewe, Ge, N’gombe TATU: a little thatched hut, often made of bamboo TEETH: bullets
TEIF: a theif, to steal THE I: pron.) -you, yourself, yours THRU’: because TOAST: (v.) – to rap or sing spontaneously over a dub track TOTO: coconut cake TOPANORIS: uptown snobby person, wealthy but mean behind it TRACE: to curse or speak abusively to someone TRANSPORT: vehicle TUMPA: from stump, as in “tumpa-foot man”, a one-foot man TUNTI: female organ UNO/UNU: you-all. pron. you, plural. In usage close to Afro-American y’awl. From Ibo unu, same meaning UPFUL: postitive, encouraging UPHILL: positive, righteous UPTOWN: the upper classes VANK: (v.) – to vanquish, conquer VEX: to get angry
WA DAY: adverbial phrase, the other day WA MEK?: why? WHAFEDOO: we’ll have to (make) do or we’ll have to deal with it WAKL: wattle, a kind of woven bamboo work used to make house walls WANGA-GUT: hungry-belly WARRA-WARRA: politely omitted bad words, same as “tarra-warra” WENCHMAN: a kind of fish, “hail brother john, have you any wenchman?” (from “Row Fisherman Row”) WEST INDIAN: The term used to refer to the peoples and cultures of the Caribbean archipelago and parts of the Circum-Caribbean rimlands from present-day Belize to Jamaica in the Greater Antilles to Trinidad and Barbados in the Lesser Antilles WH’APPEN?: what’s happening? WHATLEF: What’s left over WHEELS: vehicle WHOLE HEAPa lot.WINE: “wine” appears in every West Indian dialect, and is literally a corruption of “wind.” It means to dance, sometimes seductively WINJY: thin and sickly looking
WIS: vine, liana, from withe WOLF: a non-rasta deadlocks WOOD: penis YA NUH SEE?: you know? YA: hear, or here YABBA: a big clay pot YAGA YAGA: Dancehall slang. a way to big up a brethren; to express a greeting or attract attention, i.e. yo! or yush! true friend; bonafide; brethren YAHSO: here (place) YAI: eye YARD: home, one’s gates, tenement YOUTH: a child, a young man, an immature man YUSH: Yush talk is bad boy talk. Or it can be a way of saying “YO”. In other words it is a way for rude boys to hail each other up ZION: From a Rasta perspective, Zion refers broadly to Africa and more specifically to Ethiopia as the ancestral homeland of all black peoples ZUNGU PAN: zinc pan

Acknowledgement

Thanks to some of the sources of this glossary…Reggae International, Stephen Davis, Peter Simon, R&B, 1982 – KSBR 88.5 FM, Laguna Beach, CA. Handout. – posted on rec.music.reggae – Mike Pawka, Jammin Reggae Archives Cybrarian – Understanding Jamaican Patois, L. Emilie Adams, Kingston – Richard Dennison/Michio Ogata – Glossary from “The Harder They Come” (Bo Peterson) – Norman Redington – The Beat – Allen Kaatz – Jah Bill (William Just) – Arlene Laing – Jennifer G. Graham – Norma Brown/Zoe Una Vella Veda – Richard V. Helmbrecht – Norman Stolzoff – Christopher Edmonds – Lisa Watson – Dr. Carolyn Cooper – Ras Adam – Chip Platt – Michael Turner from an article in “The Beat” – Nicky “Dread” Taylor – Simrete McLean – The Unofficial Web Site on Jamaica – Paul Mowatt – Carlos Culture – Liner Notes – Blood & Fire release: Jah Stitch:”Original Ragga Muffin”, presumably Steve Barrow – Clinton Fearon -Original member of the Gladiators/ – Barbara Kennedy – Itations of Jamaica and i Rastafari – Phil “Bassy” Ajaj – Karlene Rogers – Dean Holland – Scottie Lake – Roger Steffen’s Supersite – Sara Gurgen – Kevin Robison – Christopher Durning – Ronald E. Lam – Trainer Adams – Editor of Dub Missive magazine. – Karlene Rogers – Howard Henry – Messian Dread – Roger Steffens – Bunny Wailer (related to Roger Steffens) – Jahworks.org – Jamaican Handbook of Proverbs – www.jamaicans.com-The Reggae Box – Hip-O Records
A Great big thanks to Mike Pawka http://niceup.com/patois.txt

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