Meaning
To stand — but far more often to stay, remain, or wait, and to describe how something is or looks. 'Tan deh' means 'stay there / hold on', and 'it tan bad' means 'it looks bad'.
Senses
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verb To stand, stay, remain, or wait.
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Tan deh, mi soon come.
Stay there, I'll be right back.
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Him tan a him yard all day.
He stayed at his house all day.
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verb To be a certain way, or to look/seem — describing a state or appearance.
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How it tan?
How does it look? / How is it?
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It tan like rain a go fall.
It looks like it's going to rain.
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Origin
From English 'stand', with the initial 's' dropped, then widened to cover staying, remaining, and how something appears.
How it’s used
'Tan good' can mean both 'stay well / behave' and 'look good', decided by context. Very common in everyday speech.
Gloss adapted from A Learner's Glossary of Jamaican, Open Grammar Project, licensed under CC BY 4.0. View the source work · CC BY 4.0