Understanding Jamaican slang

Jamaican slang is the fast-changing, informal layer that sits on top of Patois. Patois itself is a language: its grammar and core words (mi, nyam, pickney, unnu) have been around for centuries and are used by everyone from grandmothers to newsreaders. Slang is the newer vocabulary that comes from the street, the dance and, increasingly, the internet. Some of it lasts for decades, and some is gone in a year. Knowing which is which is the difference between sounding current and sounding like an old phrasebook.

Slang vs Patois: why the difference matters

Many websites list pickney, nyam or unnu as "Jamaican slang". They aren't. They're ordinary Patois words, as neutral to a Jamaican as "child", "eat" and "you" are in English. Calling the whole language slang reinforces the old idea that Patois is just broken or casual English, which is wrong. See is Jamaican Patois a language?

A rough way to tell them apart:

The line is blurry, and that's normal. Slang that lasts long enough becomes everyday vocabulary. Wah gwaan is so established that it's really just a greeting now. Slang also never changes the grammar: a new word still goes into a sentence like Di vibes tun up! using normal Patois rules.

Dancehall: Jamaica's slang engine

Since the late 1970s and 80s, dancehall has been where much new Jamaican slang is coined, tested and spread. Deejays compete on lyrics, and a catchy phrase from a hit can be on everyone's lips within weeks. Dance names, party words and ways of praising or dissing someone come straight from the music and the sessions where it's played.

Some of the vocabulary of the dance itself:

• bashment: a big party or dance, and the style of music played there. Also an adjective for anything flashy.
• riddim: the instrumental backing track. Many artists may record over the same riddim.
• selecta: the person choosing and playing the records.
• pull up: when the selecta stops a song and starts it again because the crowd loves it.
• big chune: a hit song.
• sound system: the mobile speaker rigs at the heart of Jamaican music culture.
• bruk out, wine: letting loose and dancing.
• tun up, nice up: turned all the way up; making the place lively.

Music also carries words abroad. Reggae spread Rasta vocabulary such as irie, Babylon and Jah worldwide, and dancehall did the same for party slang. More in Jamaican music and language.

Everyday slang that has lasted

These words are informal, but they've been around long enough that you can use them without sounding dated:

• big up: praise, respect, a shout-out. Big up yuhself!
• criss: sharp, new, excellent. Yuh look criss.
• link / link up: meet up, connect. Mek wi link up dis weekend.
• seen / zeen: understood, agreed.
• dun know: "of course", "you already know".
• ramp: play, joke around. Mi jus a ramp wid yuh.
• braff: show off.
• mussi: must be, surely. Yuh mussi mad!
• bun: literally "burn"; also to reject something, or to cheat on a partner.

Diaspora slang: London and Toronto

Jamaican speech has had a huge influence beyond the island, especially where large Jamaican communities settled.

London: Multicultural London English

From the Windrush generation onward, Jamaican families helped shape the speech of young Londoners. Linguists describe a variety called Multicultural London English (MLE), a mix of influences in which Jamaican Patois is a major ingredient. Words like wagwan, ting, bare and vex moved from Jamaican homes into general London youth speech, and from there into grime and UK drill. Sometimes the meanings shift: bare in London often means "very" or "a lot of", and ting can mean a thing, an event or, more crudely, a person someone is attracted to.

Toronto

Toronto has one of the largest Jamaican communities outside the island, and Jamaican speech is a backbone of Toronto slang: ting, yute and wasteman are familiar there, along with many other words that Torontonians of every background use, often without knowing they came from Patois.

What this means for learners

If you learned "Jamaican" words from London or Toronto friends, you've learned real borrowings, but sometimes with local meanings and pronunciations. Wagwan in London is closely related to Jamaican wah gwaan, but London slang isn't Patois grammar. A Jamaican might not use a word the way a Londoner does, and the reverse is also true.

What dates quickly (and what doesn't)

Slang has a shelf life, and the trendier a word, the shorter it tends to be.

• Dates fast: dance names, catchphrases from a single hit song or viral clip, and words for the latest fashion. If you learned it from a specific song last summer, check before using it.
• Lasts longer: greetings and responses (wah gwaan, big up, respect), words for people and relationships (bredrin, sistren, yardie), and general praise or insults (criss, facety).
• Sounds dated or touristy: some phrases have become associated with older speech, or with how outsiders imagine Jamaicans talk. Ya mon is real, but its spelling and constant use are tied to tourism marketing. Boonoonoonoos is affectionate but old-fashioned, and many people now use it with a smile.

Slang and strong language

Some of the best-known Jamaican words online, such as bumboklaat, aren't slang at all. They're strong swear words, and in Jamaica they can be deeply offensive. Internet memes treat them as jokes, but they don't land that way in a Jamaican shop or family home. Read Jamaican curse words explained before using anything in that family.

Where to go next

• Common Jamaican expressions: the everyday sayings people actually use.
• Jamaican music and language: ska, reggae, dancehall and the words they spread.
• Speak Patois naturally: register, and how to avoid tourist Patois.
• Slang in the dictionary, with register and meaning for each word.

Questions people ask