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Insults, Conflict & Disrespect
75 entries in this part of the language, each with meanings, pronunciation and worked examples.
- Back-answer To answer back rudely, or to talk back to a parent, elder, or person in authority.
- Backfist A backhand blow struck with the back of the fist or hand — a sharp swat delivered on the…
- Bad breed Ill-mannered, disrespectful, and badly brought up — used especially of a child or young…
- Bad up To confront, threaten, or rough someone up aggressively — to act the bully toward them…
- Bad-mind Envious and ill-wishing — begrudging another person's success and secretly wanting them to…
- Badness Violent, aggressive, or criminal behaviour — thuggery, roughness, and trouble-making.
- Battyman A homophobic slur for a gay man — one of the most common anti-gay slurs in Jamaican speech…
- Beast Derogatory slang for the police.
- Buguyaga A scruffy, ragged, worthless person — a tramp, vagabond, or good-for-nothing, unkempt and…
- Bungo A derogatory word for someone regarded as crude, coarse, or 'backward' — unrefined in…
- Butu A crude, ill-mannered, uncultured person — a boor who behaves in a low, common, and vulgar…
- Carry go bring come Gossip carried back and forth between people to stir up trouble — and the tale-bearer who…
- Charlie A fool or a dupe — 'a proper Charlie' is someone made to look ridiculous or taken for a…
- Chi-chi man A derogatory Jamaican term for a gay man.
- Choppa A chopping blade used as a weapon — a machete or cutlass in the hands of someone ready to…
- Cruff A scruffy, low-class, or good-for-nothing person — someone rough, unkempt, and of no…
- Cuss To curse, swear at, or verbally lash someone.
- Cuss-cuss A quarrel or exchange of curses — a noisy row where both sides trade insults back and forth.
- Cut eye To cut one's eyes at someone — a contemptuous gesture of looking a person up and down and…
- Cutlass lick A blow or chop from a cutlass (machete) — a 'lick' being a hit.
- Dunce head A dunce — a stupid, slow, or ignorant person, especially one who does badly at school or…
- Duncebat A dunce;
- Duncehead A stupid or unintelligent person;
- Duppy-maker A killer, or a gun — literally a 'maker of ghosts'.
- Dutty gyal A derogatory insult for a woman, literally 'dirty girl' — implying she is unclean, of low…
- Eediat An idiot — a foolish, senseless person;
- Fass Fass (facety) — nosy, meddling, and forward;
- Fish Besides its ordinary meaning (the fish you eat), 'fish' is used in Jamaican dancehall slang…
- Foolishness Nonsense;
- Full a mout 'Full of mouth' — all talk: boastful, loud, forever running commentary or big promises with…
- Good fi nuttn Good for nothing;
- Grudgeful Full of grudge — resentful and envious, begrudging what someone else has.
- Gunman An armed criminal — a shooter, a man who carries and uses a gun for robbery, enforcement…
- Hag To pester, nag, or crowd someone persistently — 'stop hag mi' means stop bothering and…
- Idler A loafer — someone who hangs about doing nothing, especially the men who spend their days…
- Informer A police informer or snitch — someone who reports others to the authorities, or who tells…
- Jackass A donkey — and, as an insult, a fool or a stubborn, stupid person.
- Kas-kas A quarrel, dispute, or contention — the argument itself and the gossip, bad blood, and…
- Kiss teet To make the long sucking sound through the teeth that expresses contempt, annoyance…
- Kuff To hit with a fist or an open hand — to cuff or box someone.
- Labba-mout A blabbermouth — a person who talks too much, can't keep a secret, and runs their mouth…
- Lagga-head A stupid, thick-headed person — a dunce or blockhead.
- Lef mi 'Leave me (alone)' — a sharp brush-off telling someone to back off and stop troubling you.
- Liard A liar — someone who tells lies, and by extension lying itself.
- Lunatic A madman or crazy person — used both of someone genuinely mentally ill and, as an insult…
- Maama man A derogatory term for a man seen as weak, cowardly, or unmanly — 'mama's man'.
- Man-royal A derogatory Jamaican slur for a lesbian, especially a masculine-presenting one — a…
- Matic A semi-automatic or automatic firearm — clipped from 'automatic'.
- Mout a massi 'Mouth almighty' — a loudmouth;
- Mumu A fool — a stupid, dull, or clueless person.
- Nayga A Patois form of 'negro', with a long, complex, and painful history.
- No-count Worthless;
- Old fowl A mocking term for an older woman — especially one seen as still chasing romance, dressing…
- Out of order Rude, disrespectful, or badly out of line — behaving in a way that oversteps decent bounds.
- Outta order Behaving improperly — rude, disrespectful, out of line, or doing something wrong and unfair.
- Quarrel To quarrel — to argue, dispute, or fuss loudly with someone.
- Rammy A scuffle, brawl, or noisy fight — a sudden burst of pushing, shoving, and flying fists.
- Sapps A soft, weak, spineless person — a wimp or a pushover, easily bullied or taken advantage of.
- Shotta A gunman, gangster, or armed enforcer — a 'badman' who carries and uses a gun.
- Skeng Slang for a weapon — a gun or a knife.
- Sketel A derogatory dancehall term for a woman judged promiscuous or low-class — a slur used to…
- Sodomite In Jamaican usage, a derogatory slur for a lesbian — a woman who loves women — a hateful…
- Stupidness Stupidity, nonsense, or silly behaviour — 'stupidness' (often softened to 'chupidness').
- Tantalize To tease, provoke, or torment someone persistently — needling and aggravating them until…
- Tegareg A rowdy, unruly, ill-mannered ruffian — a boisterous hooligan with no manners and no…
- Tek set To fix on someone and harass or torment them persistently — to single a person out for…
- Tek set pon To fixate on and persistently harass, pester, or victimise someone — to 'take set on' a…
- Top shotta A top-ranking gunman or gang figure — the highest 'shotta' (shooter/badman), a feared…
- Trace To curse someone out loudly and abusively — to quarrel at them with a torrent of insults.
- Tracing A loud, cutting verbal quarrel — cursing someone out in stinging, insulting language, often…
- Wamp A fake, worthless, or disappointing thing — or a person who turns out to be all show and no…
- Waste man A worthless, good-for-nothing man — a layabout with no ambition, no job, and no use to…
- Wasteman A worthless, useless man — a good-for-nothing with no ambition, reliability, or purpose.
- Wutless Worthless, good-for-nothing, and irresponsible — the Patois form of 'worthless'.
- Yamhead A stupid, dull-witted person — a blockhead whose head seems as solid, heavy, and brainless…