Meaning
An assurance that the speaker will return or arrive shortly — 'I'll be right back' or 'coming soon'. Famously elastic, though: the 'soon' can stretch from a few minutes to a very long time indeed, reflecting the relaxed Jamaican relationship to punctuality and the clock. A shop sign reading 'soon come' may mean anything, and to be told 'mi soon come' is no firm promise of when. Half-joked about even by Jamaicans, 'soon come' has become a good-humoured emblem of island time and its easy way with hurry.
Examples
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Hol on deh, mi soon come.
Hold on there, I'll be right back.
Said before stepping away briefly; the timeframe is intentionally loose.
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Shi seh shi soon come but a two hour now.
She said she'd be right back but it's been two hours now.
Playfully highlights the well-known flexibility of 'soon come'.
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Di food soon come, jus siddung.
The food is coming soon, just sit down.
Used for things arriving, not only people; 'siddung' is 'sit down'.
Origin
A calque built from English 'soon' and 'come', but arranged in Patois word order and used as a fixed idiomatic expression rather than a literal statement.
How it’s used
Everyday phrase understood island-wide and one of the best-known Patois expressions abroad. Treated humorously because the promised 'soon' is notoriously unreliable; do not rely on it for precise timing.