Meaning
A man — but far more flexible in Patois. It is an emphatic tag and address ('come, man!', 'no, man'), it can stand for a person generally, and it forms pronoun-like phrases: 'di man' can mean 'him', and 'dis man' or 'di man yah' can even mean 'I/me'. 'Mi man' is one's partner or a close friend. See also its rounded form 'mon'.
Examples
-
Come, man, mek wi go.
Come on, let's go.
-
Di man nuh business wid dat.
He doesn't care about that.
-
A mi man dat, mi bredda.
That's my guy, my brother.
Origin
From 'man', hugely extended in Patois into an emphatic tag, address, and even a stand-in for 'him' or 'me'. See 'mon' for the stereotyped tag.
How it’s used
Very flexible: address/emphasis ('come man'), 'him' ('di man'), even 'I/me' ('dis man'), and 'partner' ('mi man'). See [[mon]], [[bwoy]].