Meaning
'Shame a kill mi' — I'm dying of embarrassment. An expression of intense shame or humiliation, so strong it feels as if it could kill you, said when something mortifying has happened and you can hardly bear to face people. It draws on the very powerful Jamaican sense of 'shame' and loss of face, and the vivid image of being killed by embarrassment is typical of the bodily, dramatic way Patois expresses strong feeling. To be that ashamed is to want the ground to swallow you.
Examples
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Wen mi trip an fall inna di dance, shame a kill mi.
When I tripped and fell in the dance, I was dying of embarrassment.
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Mi couldn't face dem, shame a kill mi.
I couldn't face them, I was so ashamed.
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Him embarrass mi inna public till shame a kill mi.
He embarrassed me in public until I could have died of shame.
Origin
A hyperbole built on 'shame' plus 'a kill mi' (is killing me) — embarrassment felt as strong as a mortal blow. Compare the 'dead wid X' intensifier pattern.
How it’s used
A common hyperbolic expression of acute embarrassment.