Meaning
A small, pale, ribbed sour fruit that grows in dense clusters on the tree — the Otaheite gooseberry, also called 'damsel'. Crisp and very tart, jimbelin are eaten with salt or pepper, pickled, or stewed with sugar into a preserve. A nostalgic country and schoolyard fruit for those who love something sour.
Examples
-
Wi eat jimbelin wid salt till wi teeth set.
We ate gooseberries with salt until our teeth were on edge.
-
Di jimbelin tree full a fruit.
The gooseberry tree is full of fruit.
-
She stew di jimbelin wid sugar.
She stewed the gooseberries with sugar.
Origin
A Jamaican name for the Otaheite gooseberry (Phyllanthus acidus), also 'damsel'. See [[coolie-plum]], [[guinep]].
How it’s used
The sour Otaheite gooseberry ('damsel'); eaten with salt or stewed. See [[coolie-plum]], [[june-plum]].