Meaning
A thorn, prickle, or spine on a plant. 'Makka jook mi' means a thorn pricked me, and to step on a makka barefoot is a sharp, familiar country hurt. The word also runs through the names of thorny plants and places — 'makka' bush, 'coco-macca' — and figures in proverbs and warnings about the pricks and troubles hidden in life. It is the everyday Jamaican word (also spelt 'macca') for anything sharp and pointed that grows on a plant.
Examples
-
A makka jook mi inna mi foot.
A thorn pricked me in my foot.
-
Mind di makka pon di rose.
Mind the thorns on the rose.
-
Di makka bush full a prickle.
The thorn bush is full of prickles.
Origin
From a West African word for a thorn or prickle, retained in Jamaican for the spines on plants.
How it’s used
The everyday word for a plant thorn, often paired with 'jook' (to prick or pierce).