Meaning
'Bad luck wus dan obeah' — bad luck is worse than obeah (witchcraft). Persistent misfortune can afflict a person more relentlessly than any curse or spell, the proverb holds: when bad luck fastens onto you, nothing seems to go right no matter what you do, and it dogs you more surely than any worked magic. It speaks to the weary feeling of a run of misfortune that will not lift, ranking dogged ill luck above even the feared power of obeah as a source of unshakeable trouble.
Examples
-
Everyting weh him touch spoil; bad luck wus dan obeah.
Everything he touches goes wrong; persistent bad luck is worse than any curse.
-
One trouble after di nex; bad luck wus dan obeah.
One trouble after another; misfortune clings worse than witchcraft.
-
Nuh matter wah she try, it fail — bad luck wus dan obeah.
No matter what she tries, it fails — bad luck is worse than obeah.
Origin
Sets everyday misfortune against 'obeah' (Afro-Jamaican folk sorcery) and rates plain bad luck the worse of the two — for at least obeah can be countered, but bad luck simply follows you.
How it’s used
An exclamation about a run of relentless misfortune. See [[obeah]] for the folk-magic reference.