Small up yuhself

phrase smaal up YUH-self smaːl ʌp ˈjʊsɛlf

Also spelled Small up yourself, Smallup yuhself, Small up yaself

A request to make room by shrinking your space, literally 'make yourself small', used when squeezing onto a crowded seat, bus, or dancefloor. It's said good-naturedly and is as much a friendly ice-breaker as a practical appeal, so it sits comfortably among greeting-type openers in tight spaces.

  • Small up yuhself nuh, mek mi siddung.

    Shift over a little so I can sit down.

    'Nuh' softens the request into a friendly plea; 'siddung' is 'sit down'.

  • Di bus pack, so everybody haffi small up demself.

    The bus is packed, so everyone has to make room for each other.

    'Haffi' is 'have to'; 'demself' is the plural reflexive.

  • Small up yuhself pon di bench, one more a come.

    Squeeze up on the bench, one more person is coming.

    'Pon' is 'on'; 'a come' uses the continuous marker for imminent arrival.

From English 'small' verbed as 'small up' (a common Patois pattern of 'verb + up'), plus the reflexive 'yuhself' from 'yourself'.

Informal and friendly; the tone is never aggressive. Widely recognised abroad through the song lyric, but overseas users sometimes wrongly read it as 'calm down', which it does not mean.