Greeting Try this phrase
Wah gwaan?
What’s going on? / How are you?
A familiar everyday greeting. The tone can be warm, casual, or energetic.
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Wagwan Irie Nyam Tallawah Soon come Seen
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Dupes
Fake, knockoff goods made to imitate expensive designer brands — 'dupes' of Clarks, Gucci, Nike, and the like, sold cheaply in…
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Words yuh hear every day.
Learn the meaning, pronunciation, and context behind expressions you hear in conversation, music, and across the diaspora.
Greetings & Conversation
Wagwan
'What's going on?' — the everyday Jamaican greeting, a run-together of 'what a gwaan'.
Food & DrinkNyam
To eat — especially to eat heartily, hungrily, or greedily.
Greetings & ConversationSoon come
An assurance that the speaker will return or arrive shortly — 'I'll be right back' or 'coming…
Descriptions & EmotionsTallawah
Strong, sturdy, fearless, and full of fortitude despite small size — the word carrying the…
Dunny
Money — slang, in the same family as 'bread', 'corn', and 'paper'.
See examples and origin →Browse the language
Start with what you care about.
Explore the words through the parts of Jamaican life that make them meaningful.
Why RebelOne Patois
More than word-for-word.
Meaning lives in phrasing, tone, and situation. Every translation can teach you how the sentence is built.
Natural
Mi deh yah, everyting criss.
I’m here; everything is good.
Literal
I am here, everything is excellent.
The literal parts help learners see the grammar.
Context
A relaxed, positive response.
Often used when someone asks how you are doing.
Language lives here
Not just words. A whole way of seeing.
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Culture & history 
Music 
Food 
Proverbs
How Jamaican Patois carries history forward
Trace the languages, migrations, and creativity that shaped everyday speech.
Read the story → Music Riddim, selecta & dubplate
The vocabulary behind the sound-system session.
Learn the language → Food Nyam good
What Jamaican food words reveal about place and memory.
Open the guide → Proverbs One one coco full basket.
Small steps add up. See the wisdom inside the saying.
Explore proverbs →Phrasebook
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Explore 8 phrases → Test yourself
How much Patois do you really know?
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12 questions
Can You Chat Basic Patois?
Greetings, everyday replies and the small words that hold a sentence together.
Take the quiz → 12 questionsDo You Know Jamaican Food?
Ackee, bammy, bulla, janga — the kitchen vocabulary of the island.
Take the quiz → 12 questionsCan You Read a Jamaican Proverb?
Old sayings that mean something other than what they say.
Take the quiz → 12 questionsHow Well Do You Know Dancehall Slang?
The vocabulary of the sound system, the session and the selector.
Take the quiz →Browse by category
Language lives in culture.
Move through the dictionary by the situations, traditions, and communities that give each word its meaning.
Everyday talk wagwan · seen · soon come 113 words →
Food & drink nyam · ackee · bammy 221 words →
Music & dancehall riddim · selecta · dubplate 91 words →
Proverbs & sayings one one coco full basket · walk good 161 sayings →
Rastafari & Iyaric i and i · livity · zion 94 words →
Browse all categories → From the language to the look
Carry di culture.
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