Meaning
Greedy or gluttonous — grabbing more than one's share of food, or eating without restraint. It can describe the behaviour ('too nyami-nyami') or the greedy person themselves. Built on 'nyam' (to eat), the doubling paints the eager, non-stop eating of someone whose appetite knows no manners, and it sits with 'craven', 'licki-licki', and 'wanga-gut' in the rich Jamaican vocabulary of greed, aimed with mild scorn at the shameless eater who thinks only of their own belly.
Examples
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Yuh too nyami-nyami, lef some fi di rest.
You're too greedy, leave some for the others.
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Di nyami-nyami pickney eat off everyting.
The greedy child ate up everything.
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Nuh badda gwaan nyami-nyami a di party.
Don't go acting greedy at the party.
Origin
A reduplication of 'nyam' (to eat), itself from a West African word; doubling it stresses the greedy, non-stop eating.
How it’s used
Always disapproving, though often said lightly or teasingly. Close in meaning to 'craven' (greedy).
Gloss adapted from A Learner's Glossary of Jamaican, Open Grammar Project, licensed under CC BY 4.0. View the source work · CC BY 4.0