Growing up in Jamaica teaches you life lessons in the form of proverbs and parables learned at the feet of parents, grandparents and all the grown-ups in your life, caw likkle pickney mus’ learn how fi liss’n to dem elders. Well…that’s how it was when I was growing up at any rate. 21st century kids are a different breed and view authority figures with the kind of disdain reserved for the bothersome and the dull. There are dozens of proverbs and sayings in Jamaica but here are some of the ones that I heard almost daily while growing up, some of which only made sense to me after I was grown:
“WHEN TROUBLE TEK YUH, PICKNEY SHUT AGGO FIT YUH”…..stress and trouble will mek yuh mawgah dung like nutt’n!
“SWAP BLACK DAWG FI MONKEY”….the grass always looks greener on the other side.
“CHICKEN MERRY, HAWK DEH NEAR”….needs very little explanation. It usually meant that all my carousing would at some point earn me a meeting with a tamarind switch.
“FLING STONE INNA HOG PEN, HIM DAT SQUEAL IS HIM GET LICK”…..unless someone accuses you of something directly, shet up yuh mout! Yuh guilty? Dem call yuh name?
“COW NUH KNOW DI USE AH HIM TAIL TILL HIM LOSE IT”….don’t take anything or anyone for granted.
“MI AGGO SHOW YUH WHICH PAWT WATER WALK GO AH PUNKIN BELLY”…that one still has me stumped! Couldn’t figure it out then, and I can’t figure it out now.
“WHEN YUH AH DIG HOLE, DIG MORE DAN ONE”….before you spite someone, remember the laws of karma.
“EVERY DAY BUCKET AH GUH AH WELL, ONE DAY DI BOTTOM AGGO DROP OUT”….for everything, there is a breaking point
“TEK KIN TEET KIBBA HEART BURN”…..never let them see you sweat! Smile like all is well with the world!
“SARRY FI MAWGAH DAWG, HIM TUN ROUN’ BITE YUH”….all the good that you do for a person can result in sheer ingratitude and spite in return.
“AH NUH DI SAME DAY LEAF DROP AH WATER BOTTOM DAT IT ROTTEN”…have patience! Some things take time.
“COCK MOUT KILL COCK”….be careful of the things you say; they may come back to haunt you.
“DI FUS’ WATER HOG FIND, HIM WASH”…grab an opportunity the minute it presents itself; you never know if you’ll get another chance.
“PUSS AN’ DAWG NUH HAVE DI SAME LUCK”…all men are not created equal.
“TIDDEH FI MI, TOMORROW FI YUH”…..what goes around, comes around.
“COCKROACH NUH BIZZNIZZ INNA FOWL FIGHT”…mind yuh own business, straight up!
Now that I’m grown I realize just how wise the adults in my life were. All the sayings and warnings that I got…because I was a headstrong and willful child…that had just seemed like the mutterings of old people (anybody over the age of 30 is ancient and decrepit to a child) taught me as an adult about discretion, compassion, prudence and reciprocity. Now when I use these proverbs on youngsters and I get that same pained expression, complete with the rolling of the eyes and the belly-bottom sigh, I smile, because I know that one day, they’ll be the age I am now, and it will all suddenly make sense. Until then I will continue to teach it the same way I learned it.
Walk gud, an’ tell dem oddah
one howdy!