Tag Archives: Jamaican Patois
FMM 6 2 2023 Oh Really?
“This is what I want in heaven… words to become notes and conversations to be symphonies.” ~ Tina Turner. I became a student of language when I moved to Jamaica from the UK as a child. Although English is the official tongue there, the first language of most Jamaicans is patois (‘patwah’); a wonderful blend […]
FMM 7 23 2021 Don’t Change a Thing!
“You’re only as young as the last time you changed your mind.” ~ Timothy Leary. My life changed drastically when I was less than eight years old. Not in a bad way, it wasn’t that I had to face tragic loss, or come to terms with a drastic reduction in circumstances. I recognize even as […]
FMM 12 13 19 Gobsmacked
“He who speaks without modesty will find it difficult to make his words good.” ~ Confucius. One of the things about growing up a Preacher’s Kid (PK as they say in the US) is that you are always having to watch what you say. Not just what you say, but how you say it. In […]
FMM 2 17 17 Sweet Mouth
“To handle a language skillfully is to practice a kind of evocative sorcery.”~Charles Baudelaire. Welsh, it is often said, is the language of heaven. To be honest, it is mostly Welsh people who say this! It was my father’s first language, the language of home and church. It is a challenging language, full of strange sounds […]