Twang

noun TWANG twaŋ

Also spelled twaang

A foreign or affected accent — especially an American or British one, real or put on, picked up from time spent abroad. To 'come back wid a twang' is to return from 'farrin' speaking with a changed, foreign-sounding accent, and the word often carries a mocking edge, poking fun at the returnee who has lost, or pretends to have lost, their natural Jamaican speech. It belongs to the whole knowing, teasing Jamaican talk about migration, affectation, and the airs of those who have been 'a foreign'.

  • Him come back from farrin wid a twang.

    He came back from abroad with a foreign accent.

  • She a chat wid a fake twang.

    She's talking with a put-on foreign accent.

  • Nuh badda wid di twang, chat normal.

    Drop the foreign accent, talk normally.

From English 'twang' (a distinctive accent or nasal tone), used in Jamaican specifically for a foreign or affected way of speaking.

Often teasing or mocking, especially when the twang is seen as put-on or pretentious after a short time abroad.