Bout

Meaning

'About' — concerning something, or approximately, as in 'talk bout it' or 'bout ten o'clock'. Beyond these plain uses, 'bout' turns up in the confrontational challenge 'wah yuh a seh bout...?' — 'what are you saying about...?' — used to face down and question what someone is claiming or insinuating. A very common everyday word, it does the ordinary work of English 'about' while also carrying that sharper, challenging edge in a quarrel.

Examples

• Wah yuh a talk bout?

  What are you talking about?

• It cost bout tree tousan.

  It costs about three thousand.

  The 'approximately' sense.

• Him a chat bout him rich.

  He's going on about being rich.

Origin

The Jamaican pronunciation of English 'about', with the opening syllable dropped.

How it’s used

Used both for 'concerning' and for 'roughly/approximately'. In an argument, 'a bout' can carry a challenging, dismissive tone.