Meaning
Shorts — trousers cut off above the knee. 'Short pants' is the plain Jamaican name for them, as against 'long pants' (full trousers), and for generations a boy 'inna short pants' meant a young boy not yet grown, since small boys wore shorts and 'graduated' to long pants as they got older. So the phrase carries a hint of youth and boyhood as well as naming the garment itself.
Examples
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Di likkle bwoy still inna short pants.
The little boy is still in shorts.
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Wear short pants, di sun hot.
Wear shorts, the sun is hot.
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Him graduate from short pants to long pants.
He moved up from shorts to long trousers.
Origin
From 'short' + 'pants'; shorts (vs. 'long pants'). See [[three-quarter]], [[khaki]].
How it’s used
Shorts (vs. long pants); 'inna short pants' also implies a young boy. See [[three-quarter]], [[khaki]].