Meaning
'Tek baskit carry wata' — to use a basket to carry water. To attempt something futile and doomed to fail, since the water runs straight through the woven basket and nothing is held. The proverb is said of pointless, wasted effort, of labouring at a thing that can come to nothing, or of trying to hold on to something — a person, a fortune, a secret — that simply cannot be kept. It is a vivid picture of futility, warning against pouring your strength into what will only drain away.
Examples
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Trying fi please everybody is like tek baskit carry wata.
Trying to please everybody is like carrying water in a basket — pointless.
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Yuh a save fi him but him spend it all — a tek baskit carry wata.
You're saving for him but he spends it all — it's carrying water in a basket.
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Nuh waste yuh energy pon dat; a tek baskit carry wata.
Don't waste your energy on that; it's futile, like water in a basket.
Origin
A plain image of futility: water poured into a woven basket drains straight out, so the labour comes to nothing — a figure for wasted or hopeless effort.
How it’s used
Used of pointless or hopeless effort. Often introduced by 'a' or 'like' ('it's like carrying water in a basket').