Meaning
The tall grass whose sweet juice is crushed to make sugar and rum — the crop at the very centre of Jamaica's plantation history, the reason for slavery and the shape of the whole colonial economy. As an everyday treat, lengths of 'cane' are peeled and chewed to suck out the sweet juice, spitting out the fibrous 'trash', a familiar roadside and childhood pleasure. So sugar cane carries both the deep, bitter weight of the island's history and the simple sweetness of a chewed length of cane in the sun.
Examples
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Peel di sugar cane an suck out di juice.
Peel the sugar cane and suck out the juice.
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Di whole estate did plant inna cane.
The whole estate was planted in cane.
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Chew di cane an spit out di trash.
Chew the cane and spit out the fibre.
Origin
The sugarcane grass, brought by colonisers and worked by the enslaved; the foundation of Jamaica's plantation economy and its rum.
How it’s used
Both the crop and the chewing treat ('cane'). Deeply tied to the island's history of slavery and sugar. See [[cane-cutta]].