A Few Jamaican Sayings And Their Meanings

Years ago, many Jamaicans talked in ‘parables’.   They’d quote a folk saying, which covered the topic.  They didn’t have to explain, expound or do more than say it, and a world of meaning was revealed.

We were in a shop and a widow was in sugary conversation with the guy behind the counter; “Ole firestick easy fi catch..” said Miss Maggie to me.

An ole firestick,  that is an old piece of dry wood which was used already to light a fire, is easy fi catch, that is, is easy to ignite.   Meaning, the widow, (the old firestick) is easy to flirt with and friend up and get involved with.

An expression I’ve used her before is; “When faight di tawk, lit yu pipe,”   Meaning, when a fool talks, just sit back and don’t say anything.

Another expression I have mentioned in previous articles; “When neighbour beard catch fire, tek water wet fi yu,”   Although it seems odd to say if your neighbour’s beard catches fire you wet your own, what it means is similar to the statement, “If they come for you in the morning, they will come for me in the afternoon.”    One should never think, ‘oh, it won’t happen to me.’

And easy one to understand, “When you toss a stone inna hog pen, the one that squeal is the one that got hit,”  which is pretty straight forward.   It is usually said when some one jumps up to protest their innocence or takes offense at a statement not really directed at them.

“Finga neva seh look ya, always seh look dere,”   which means a finger never points to it’s own it always points to another, that is, casting blame.

As many Jamaicans can trace their ancestors to what is today Ghana, and carried the Akan language with them, many of these expressions came from Africa.