Things Jamaican Parents Say

Like most Caribbean parents, growing up with Jamaican parents is a very unique experience. Jamaican parents by nature are very strict and normally won’t hesitate to resort to a good old fashioned flogging if you have the overwhelming urge to act rebellious or ill-mannered. From early childhood, Jamaican Parents urge their children to excel academically and athletically, and also encourage them to be discerning in regards to the company they keep.

I always knew there was something different about my parents (you either picked up on it from the start or later, when you meet people who were not raised by Jamaican parents). We may roll our eyes at some of the things our parents did, but you have to admit, growing up Jamaican parents is an amazing experience. Check out our list of things Jamaican parents say.

1. “Wah yuh a bawl fah? Yuh wah mi gi yuh singting fi bawl fah „

   English Translation: What are you crying for? Do you want me to give you something to cry about?
   
   (This statement implies that an immediate ass whopping is in the making if you continue to shed those crocodile tears.)

2. “Tick bruck inna yuh haize? „

   English Translation: Why are you so hard of hearing?
   
   (Literal Translation: Did a stick break in your ear?)

3. “Bwoy! Guh fi di belt „

   English Translation: Boy! Go for the belt
   
   (As if the act of getting a beating isn’t already psychologically scaring enough for a child, Jamaican parents normally take things a bit further by sending you to retrieve their weapon of choice.)

4. “Any time yuh si man yuh kin ketch a fiyah „

   English Translation: Every time you see a man you start to act promiscuous





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5. “Yuh think mi an yuh a size „

   English Translation: Do you think you and I are the same age?

6. “Cum yah pickney, yuh baide fram mawnin „

   English Translation: Come here child! Did you bathe this morning?

7. “Wen mi sen yuh guh a skool, a learn mi sen yuh fi learn, nuh fi ketch man „

   English Translation: When I send you to school, I send you to learn, not to find a man

8. “Who cyaah hear muss feel „

   English Translation: Who Can't Hear, Must Feel
   
   (As a child, the negative consequences of one’s action is often overlook no matter how much warning is given beforehand, especially if there is a great deal of fun to be had. Often times, it is only after you have ran across the wet floor, slipped and hurt your knee, looking up and seeing your mother’s hand in the air gripping a thick belt while simultaneously uttering the phrase “Who cyaah hear muss feel”, that you begin to wish you had think things through.)

9. “Wash up di two likkle plate dem inna di sink „

   English Translation: Wash the two plates in the sink
   
   (While this request seems innocent at first, an inspection of the kitchen normally reveals over 50 dishes, a far cry from the implied “two’ dishes.)

10. “All yuh duh is nyam an nuh wah duh nuh wuk inna di house „

    English Translation: All you do is eat yet you do not want to do any work in the house