Meaning
The jigger flea — a tiny burrowing insect that digs into the skin, usually of the feet, where it swells and lays its eggs, causing itchy, painful sores. A 'chigga foot' is a foot infested or scarred by them, a familiar misery of going barefoot in the country. The pest must be carefully dug out with a pin before it festers, and, like the variant 'jigga', the word belongs to the everyday vocabulary of country ailments and the hazards of the bare foot.
Examples
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A chigga get inna him toe.
A jigger flea got into his toe.
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Dig out di chigga before it spread.
Dig out the jigger flea before it spreads.
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Wear yuh shoes so chigga nuh ketch yuh.
Wear your shoes so jigger fleas don't get you.
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A jigga dig inna him big toe.
A chigoe flea burrowed into his big toe.
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Dig out di jigga before it spread.
Dig out the jigger before it spreads.
Origin
From 'chigoe' (Tunga penetrans), a word of Caribbean origin that also gave English 'chigger'.
How it’s used
Associated with going barefoot in dirt. 'Chigga foot' is both the condition and a mild insult for scruffy, unkempt feet.