- Joined
- Nov 10, 2014
- Messages
- 1,764
I can't be the only one that finds our lingo.....well.....interesting lol I know Trinidad has British, Spanish, and French history which is evident by our language, but some words still catch me by surprise.
Raff: To grab suddenly
example: "Put yuh phone away before somebody raff it dey."
Wi: Yes (Creole)
Oui: Yes (French)
example: "He gone wi" "She finish already oui"
Tabanca: Love sick, infatuated. Often refers to obsessing over love songs, a person, or food. (African)
example: "How you dey behind dat gyal like you have tabanca so?"
Dotish: Stupid, slow, idiotic, dumb. (likely from English doltish, meaning "slow witted")
example: "How you get dat wrong? You dotish o wat?"
Doo-doo: Darling, honey, sweetheart. Often used by jealous counterparts referring to someone they believe is getting special treatment. (French Patois doux-doux meaning "sweet-sweet")
example: "Watch how he love up he doo-doo darling"
Mal Yeux: Evil eye, bad eye, hex, curses/spells (Patois)
example: "She watch meh hard yesterday an ah get stick wit ah belly gripe dey whole evening. I feel she Mal Yeux meh inno."
Bachac: Large red leaf-cutting ants. Often used to describe any large or biting ants (Spanish-Conquistador Bachaco)
example: "Watch de line ah bachac crossing dey before yuh geh bite!"
Chataigne: Jackfruit. Often curried or fried because.....well.....it's a Trini thing lol (French word for chestnut, which closely resembles the fruit)
example: "Ah feeling for some good curry chataigne dey!"
Carnation milk: Any brand of evaporated milk. Sometimes actually used to specify the Carnation brand of evaporated milk, but rarely.
example: "Gimmeh de Carnation milk dey. Oh gosh is de one dat mark "evaporated milk" on it right dey wit de butterfly logo."
Swell up face: to look pouty, sad, or angry. Also commonly known in modern times as "resting bitch face".
example: "Watch how she sit dong dey wit she swell up face looking vex-vex and nobody eh do she nutting inno!"
Vex: to cause anger or annoyance or to be in such a state (From old English "vexation", which is not commonly used in modern conversation.)
example: "He eh coming by alyuh because he say he vex de man eat out all de food."
Alyuh/Allyuh: All of you, you all, second person plural. Often used to refer to people who are not present as a common vernacular substitute for second person singular as well, and to refer to an invisible or temporarily unavailable audience. Easily used to popularize generalizations and stereotypes. (English Creole, with possible African roots)
example: "Alyuh feel I eh know bout alyuh so?"
Feel free to add to the list!
