I can’t help it! Ever since I was a tiny tot sitting in a car seat and spelling out the signs I could see, I’ve been fascinated with new words and phrases. To this day my mom calls me a walking thesaurus. There have been SO MANY fun new ones since I came to the Caribbean.
Some are brand new (to me) words, like
yampy, yampies: n. the crusty stuff at the corners of your eyes first thing in the morning. Example: You forgot to get the yampies out.
Some have come up in official settings. I’ve now heard
pyah-pyah: adj. hastily thrown together or insignificant. Ex: That’s not a house, it’s a pyah-pyah shack.
twice in the legislature here, which makes sense when you consider government folks wanting to emphasize how well thought out and important their various projects are.
Others are just plain funny, like
pie-assin: v. to be screwing around or wasting time. Ex: Quit pie-assin and finish cleaning your room.
It reminds me of grab-assin’, which is one of my all-time favorite phrases.
Some of my new words are familiar, but used in a way I’d never heard, like
jokey: adj. silly, not making any sense. Ex: You want to go all the way across the island in the rain just to get some chicken?! You’re jokey.
or,
study: v. to pay attention to. Ex: After I ignored three of his texts, he realized I wasn’t studying him and gave up.
Growing up in California, we called a pillbug a roly-poly, but this usage was new to me:
roly poly: n. a heavy woman. Ex: I want a fat girl/I want a roly poly
Now that I think about it, lyrics have been teaching me new words since I was kid.
Anyway, how about you guys: Learn any fun slang words lately?
Dateline: Paradise 