Meaning
A famous false friend for visitors: in Patois 'just now' does NOT mean 'immediately' — it means 'in a little while', 'soon', or 'shortly'. 'Mi soon come, just now' means give it a bit. The stretch of time is elastic and can be anything from a few minutes to much longer, which regularly confuses outsiders expecting 'right away'. (Said of the past, it does mean 'a moment ago'.)
Examples
-
Mi deh pon it, mi ready just now.
I'm on it; I'll be ready in a little while.
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Wait likkle, di bus come just now.
Wait a bit; the bus comes shortly.
-
Him did deh yah just now.
He was here just a moment ago.
Origin
From 'just now', semantically shifted in Patois to 'shortly/in a while' (future) — a classic Caribbean time-word. See [[soon-come]], [[likkle-more]].
How it’s used
Means 'in a while / soon', NOT 'immediately' — a notorious false friend. Past-tense = 'a moment ago'. See [[soon-come]].