Sour

adjective SOUR saʊa

Also spelled sowa, sour face

Beyond the taste, 'sour' describes a sulky, bad-tempered, or spoiled mood — a 'sour face' is a scowl, and 'him a gwaan sour' means he's being surly and unpleasant. It can also mean that a plan or a situation has 'gone sour', turned bad and curdled. So the word runs from the sharp taste to the soured temper of a sulking person and on to the whole affair gone wrong, all sharing the sense of something turned off, spoiled, and no longer sweet, whether a fruit, a mood, or a matter.

  • Why yuh face suh sour today?

    Why is your face so sulky today?

  • Di deal turn sour pon dem.

    The deal went bad on them.

  • Him sour because him nuh get him way.

    He's in a bad mood because he didn't get his way.

A figurative extension of the taste 'sour' to a soured mood or a spoiled situation.

Means sulky/bad-tempered ('sour face') or gone bad ('turn sour'), beyond the literal taste.