Acclaimed Jamaican poet Safiya Sinclair’s sumptuous memoir, How to Say Babylon (Bookshop|Amazon) tells the story of her struggle to break free from a rigid Rastafarian upbringing, and how her discovery of poetry, both memorizing it and writing it...
The term palaver, meaning an idle or prolonged discussion, comes from the old Portuguese term palavra that British sailors picked up at West African ports in the 1700s, where palaver huts are places where villagers can gather to discuss local...
Jamrocks
n.— «Jamrocks (the word is Jamaican patois slang for the island country) is a funky little place.» —“It’s ’Marley and me’ at Jamrocks Grill” by Mary K. Means Bradenton Herald (Florida) June 18, 2009. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Germaican n.— «In 1876 this village was inhabited by 100 German immigrants who were promised free passage, land and persuaded to settle and develop the plantations. The hardship that followed left just a few remaining, and their descendants now...
kino n.— «“He needs to be going for kino!” an instructor grumbled. In the patois of the seduction industry, “kino” stands for “kinesthesia,” or touching. Something needed to be done! Something subtle but effective! So, pretending to be on his...
browning n.— «Some students once met a radio personality and marvelled that she was a “browning.” This host speaks the real Jamaican patois and they thought she would be “jet black.” Why? Because brownings don’t talk like that of course.» —“ If it...