Meaning
A common wayside weed whose ripe seed pods burst and shoot out their seeds with a tiny snap when touched or wet — hence 'duppy gun', the ghost's gun that fires by itself. Children pop the pods for fun. The plant is also used in bush medicine, and its self-firing pods give it its spooky folk name.
Examples
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Touch di duppy-gun an it shoot out di seed.
Touch the duppy-gun and it shoots out its seeds.
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Di pod pop like a likkle gun.
The pod pops like a little gun.
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Pickney play wid duppy-gun inna di bush.
Children play with duppy-gun in the bush.
Origin
From [[duppy]] (ghost) + 'gun', for the seed pods that 'fire' on their own (Ruellia and similar). See [[duppy]], [[shame-mi-lady]].
How it’s used
A weed with self-bursting seed pods ('the ghost's gun'). See [[shame-mi-lady]], [[donkey-eye]].