Man

noun MAN man

Also spelled maan, mon

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'.

  • 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.

  • No problem, mon.

    No problem, man.

  • Ya mon, everyting criss.

    Yeah man, everything's good.

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.

Very flexible: address/emphasis ('come man'), 'him' ('di man'), even 'I/me' ('dis man'), and 'partner' ('mi man'). See Bwoy. It is often written 'mon' to show the rounded vowel ('no problem, mon'), the form outsiders think of as the Jamaican word, although real Patois uses 'man' with far more range.