There are some bajan sayings
That we use each and every day
We have come to associate them
With the bajan way.
Some are peculiar to Barbadians
Some to the wider Caribbean
Some, unless I miss my guess,
May be from the world scene.
“Bones mekking whistle”
Meaning he long time dead
And you still breaking your heart
Rather than moving on instead.
“If yuh ain’t got horse
Ride cow.”
It’s better to use what’s available
And manage somehow.
“Follow pattern kill Cadogan”
And it could also kill you,
“Everything my monkey do
You do too.”
You time gine come
Yuh better hear wha I suh
Cause “wha ain’t pass yuh
Ain’t miss yuh.”
You got out of a hard spot
And went right back to it?
Why, “only a dog
Does return to ‘e vomit.”
“As yuh land
Yuh come ashore.”
You put on your new shirt
As soon as it come outta de store.
“Ya cud tek me outta Bim
But ya can’t tek Bim outta me.”
Don’t care where I go
Bajan is what you will see.
“White mout fowl does eat
And then wipe ‘e mout in the grass.”
What the ungrateful gets
Never seems to last.
“Don’t tek a six for a nine”,
“Gih you an inch, you wan’ tek an ‘L’”
Better be careful how far you go
I en got to buy wha you sell.
“Yuh got a plaster for every sore”
Yuh playin’ yuh bright,
Keep doin’ whuh yuh doing
And I gine show yuh de light.
“Little children shouldn’t play
Wid sharp-edged tools”,
If you think this mean a knife
You would have to be a fool.
“Lime juice nevah spoil vinegar”
In fact, you worse than me,
Compared with what you does do
I am rather saintly.
“Self-pity ain’t no pity”,
Let someone else pity you,
Such pitying would be far better
If it is another’s view.
Be careful with children!
“Small pigeon got wide earhole”,
And especially children of today
They can be quite bold.
“Water does run
But blood does clot”,
You may come between two friends
But family? You better not!
“Wha’ in de ol’ goat in de kiddy”,
“De berry don’t fall far from de tree”,
He fahduh before he was just like dat
So, he definitely like he daddy.
“Yuh socks want pulling up”
“Straighten up and fly right”
Or else yuh gine fine yuhself in a hole
Whey yuh gine ketch real fright.
Yuk look like yuh force ripe
And you is only ten,
Yuh better be very careful
Wid dem signals yuh does send.
Yuh got more tricks than a monkey
But dem tricks gine turn to bricks
And wha yuh tink is sugar
Gine really be grit.
Well these are far fewer
Than the first volume I wrote
But I trust that by now you know
That “fun en always sport”.
I tried not to repeat
Any from the volume 1 set
But yuh know I en perfect
So I won’t tek that bet.
If you find some more
You could send them to me,
Who knows? They might be enough
To compile volume three.
Stewart Russell © August 10, 2023
