goat’s mouth
n.— Note: According to G. Llewellyn Watson’s Jamaican Sayings, “A person is said to have a goat’s mouth when he/she wishes another evil, and the wishes are fulfilled. It also applies to one who has the foresight to discern impending danger and forewarn those concerned.” «Until you put your signature on the dotted line, only then you know things are for sure.…Or, as they say in Jamaica, don’t put your goat’s mouth all over it. We are superstitious that way!» —“Kirk Pickersgill, Stephen Wong: Designers” by Derick Chetty Toronto Star (Canada) Dec. 30, 2008. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
A North Carolina listener remembers that when she happened to predict things that later came true, her mother would say she had a goat’s mouth. Among other places, oi most of the islands in the Caribbean and also on the island of Mauritius, sayings...
Trombonist Benjamin Jacobs-El, who toured with jazz great Lionel Hampton, calls from Huntsville, Alabama, to say that Hampton regularly addressed friends and band members as gate, as in Hey, gates, how’re you doing? Is that because good jazz swings...