Meaning
A small-to-medium reef fish named for the grunting noise it makes with its throat when caught and handled. Common, cheap, and tasty, grunt is a staple of the fry-fish plate and the fish soup, sold by the bagful at the beach and cooked whole and crisp with bammy or festival. One of the everyday eating fish of the Jamaican coast, less prized than snapper but reliable and good, it belongs to the ordinary haul of the fisherman and the fry-fish stall, honest food from the reef for those who cannot afford the finer fish.
Examples
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Fry a dozen grunt fi di beach.
Fry a dozen grunts for the beach.
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Di grunt fish make a noise when yuh ketch it.
The grunt fish makes a noise when you catch it.
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Grunt cheap an sweet.
Grunt is cheap and tasty.
Origin
Named for the grunting sound it makes; a common reef food fish. See [[jack-fish]], [[sprat]].
How it’s used
A cheap, tasty reef fish that grunts when caught. See [[jack-fish]], [[doctor-fish]].