Meaning
A calamity, disaster, or great commotion — a sudden catastrophe that throws everything into uproar. When 'a whole hataclaps gwaan', serious trouble has broken loose: chaos, upheaval, a crisis blown wide open. The word names not a small bother but a full-blown disaster or scandal, and it is spoken with the weight of real alarm at trouble on a large and sudden scale, the kind that upends a whole household or community.
Examples
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A whole hataclaps gwaan a di office.
A whole catastrophe is unfolding at the office.
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When di news drop, hataclaps.
When the news broke, it was pandemonium.
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Dat mistake cause a big hataclaps.
That mistake caused a big disaster.
Origin
An expressive Jamaican word, likely from 'hard a clap' (struck hard, as by a thunderclap), naming a sudden calamity.
How it’s used
Bigger than an everyday problem — a real disaster or uproar. Vivid and slightly dramatic in tone.