Meaning
To screw up or contort the face in displeasure, disgust, or annoyance — a scowl that silently signals disapproval. To 'mek up mi face' is to pull a sour, twisted expression rather than to speak, and it can say more than words, showing plainly that you are vexed, unimpressed, or offended. It belongs to the rich Jamaican language of the face and its gestures — the cut-eye, the suck-teeth, the skin-up — through which feeling is broadcast without a word, and a made-up face is a clear, wordless rebuke.
Examples
-
When mi hear di price mi jus mek up mi face.
When I heard the price I just screwed up my face.
Reaction of disgust or disapproval without saying anything.
-
Nuh mek up yuh face pon mi, mi neva do yuh nutten.
Don't screw up your face at me, I didn't do anything to you.
'pon mi' = at me; 'neva' negates the past.
-
She mek up har face when him walk een.
She scrunched up her face when he walked in.
'har' replaces 'mi' for third person; shows dislike on sight.
Origin
A calque-style construction from English elements 'make up' plus 'face', but 'mek up' here means to contort/arrange the face rather than apply cosmetics; possibly reinforced by West African expressive gesture idioms.
How it’s used
Distinct from English 'make up my face' (applying makeup); in Patois it means pulling a sour expression. The pronoun changes with the subject (mi/yuh/har/him).