Meaning
Dusk and the dark hours of night — the time when duppies (ghosts) are believed to walk abroad. Children are warned to be home before duppy time, and to hush and behave once darkness falls, lest their noise or their wandering draw the attention of the spirits. Bound up with the deep folk belief in duppies and the dangers of the dark, the phrase names the eerie, watchful hours after nightfall, and it carries the whole caution and unease with which country tradition regards the coming of the dark.
Examples
-
Come inside, a duppy time now.
Come inside, it's the ghostly hour now.
-
Nuh play out a road come duppy time.
Don't play outside once it gets to duppy time.
-
Dem tell scary story come duppy time.
They tell scary stories at nightfall.
Origin
From 'duppy' (ghost) plus 'time' — the twilight/night hours when spirits are said to roam. See [[duppy]].
How it’s used
The eerie dusk-and-night hours of Jamaican folk belief; a caution to children to come home. See [[rolling-calf]].