The rasta and jamaican patois dictionary

Here is a first draw of our dictionnary. If you want us to add a word this dictionary please mail us.

A

Are, of

All a dem

All of them.

Armageddon

The biblical final battle between the forces of good and evil.

Babylon

The corrupt establishment, the "system", Church and State, the police, a policeman.

Back off

Take it easy, cool it.

Badda

Worse

Bag-o-wire

Betrayer.

Bambu

Rolling paper
Bandulu
Trick or fool someone. nah try fi bandulu me!

Batty bwoy, battie

Gay person.

Beenie

Little.

Binghi

Wise.

Bly

Chance.

Bobo

Member of the Bobo Dreads, a rasta brotherhood.

Bubble

To dance.

Bubbler

Dancer.

Bus water

Ejaculation.

Bwoy

Boy, person.

Callaloo

Spinach stew.

Chalice, chillum

a pipe for smoking herb, usually made from coconut shell or CHALEWA and tubing, used ritually by Rastas.

Clean di Rifle

Oral sex.

Cutchie

Pipe to smoke Cannabis.

Cuyah

Look at this

Dawta

Girl, woman, sister, girlfriend.

Degeh degeh

skimpy

Deh

There.

Dem

Them.

Di

The.

Don

Respected person.

Downpressor

Equivalent for oppressor.

Dread

Rasta, fellow.

Drop a fa shape

Not lookin good

Dub

A roots electronic music, created by skillful, artistic re-engineering of recorded tracks.

Dub plate

A pre-release copy of a record, often produced exclusively for a specific sound system.

Fi

To (before a verb).

Flash

Leaving.

Flash it

To allow.

Forward

To repeat.

Galang

move, go away

Ganja

Herb, cannabis.

Gimme

Give me.

Glimity, glamity

Virginal state.

Haffi

Have to.

Hail

A greeting.

Herb

Marijana.

Hot steppa

Fugitive.

I

me

I and I

I, me, also me and you.

Iditation

Meditation.

Idren

Equivalent to brother, bredren for the Rastas

In nah, Inna

In the.

I-ney

Greetings, hail

Irie

Nice, pleasing.

Isms, skisms

Negative term denoting Babylon's classificatory systems.

Ital

Stands for " vital ", natural ie Ital vegan food, or Ital person.

I-thiopia

Stands for Ethiopia.

Jah

God, the Almighty.

Kali, Kooly

Marijana.

Kumina

Ecstatic dance for the purpose of communicating with ancestors. 

Let off

To give something.

Lion

A righteous Dread, a great soul.

Manacles

Chains

Maroons

Free ex slaves black warrior-communities which successfully resisted British hegemony during eighteenth century and early nineteenth century.

Mawga

Skinny

Mi

I.

Nah

Not.

Natty, natty dread, natty congo

Dreadlocks, a person with dreadlocks.

Niyabinghi

" Death to black and white oppressor ". Also kind of spirital drum music.

Niyah man

Wise man, same meanings that binghi man.

Nyam

To eat

Obeah

traditional African "science", relating to matters of the spirit and spirits, spells, divinations, omens, extra-sensory knowledge, etc.

Oil

Sperm.

One love

a parting phrase, expression of unity.

Overstand

Understand.

Peel

To beg.

Politricks

Politics.

Pon

Upon.

Pum pum

Virgina, also female sex.

Rada

Rather.

Raggamuffin

Jamaican ghetto dweller.

Ras

A title used by Rastafarians meaning "lord" or "head".

Rasta, Rastafarian

A follower of Marcus Garvey who worships the Almighty in the person of haile Selassie, King of Ethiopia.

Rizzla

Brand of rollin paper.

Roots

Derived from the experience of the common people, natural indigenous, also a greeting, and name for a fellow Rasta.

Rude bwoy

A criminal, a hard hearted person, a tough guy.

Sata, satta

To meditate, rejice, give thanks and praise.

Secle

Cool.

Seen

I understand, I agree

Seen ?

Do you understand ?

Sinsemilla, sensi

Popular, potent, seedless, unpollinated female strain of marijuana.

Sista, Sister, sistren

Woman, girlfriend, Rastafarian woman.

Skank

to dance to reggae music, to move with cunning, ulterior motives.

Skettel

A very loose girl, a ho, Jezebel

Slackness

Lewd, vulgar lyrics popular in DJ singing.

Spliff

Large, cone-shaped marijuana cigarette.

Tan pon it long

Staying for a long time (sexual).

The I

You.

Upfull

Positive, encouraging

Winjy

Thin

Ya

You.

Yawd, Yawdi

Jamaican.

Youth

A child, a young man, an immature man.

Zion

Ethiopia, Africa, the Rastafarian holy land.