Meaning
A dish of boiled starchy provisions — yam, green plantain or cassava — pounded into a smooth, stretchy dough and eaten with soup or stew. It is a direct food inheritance from West Africa. Separately, as an adjective, 'foo-foo' can mean foolish or soft.
Senses
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noun Pounded boiled provisions eaten as a soft dough with soup or stew.
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Granny pound di yam inna foo-foo.
Grandma pounded the yam into foo-foo.
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Eat di foo-foo wid di soup.
Eat the foo-foo with the soup.
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adjective Foolish, soft, or weak (an everyday, separate sense).
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Nuh act so foo-foo.
Don't act so foolish.
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Origin
From a West African word (Twi/Akan 'fufuo') for pounded provisions, carried to Jamaica and the wider Caribbean by enslaved Africans.
How it’s used
The food is the older, core meaning. The 'foolish' sense is a separate everyday use.