Some Words from the Dialect of Trinidad and Tobago

Some Words From the Dialect of Trinidad and Tobago

WORD	DEFINITION
Bacchanal	rowdy, scandalous behaviour; good party
Badjohn	a bully
Bobolee	a person who is habitually taken advantage of
Commesse	confusion, controversy
Cunumunu	a stupid, foolish person
Dingolay	to dance with joyful abandon
Fresh-water Yankee	a person who spends a short time in the U.S. and returns with a heavy American accent; originally, one who acquired the "yankee" accent by simply visiting the U.S. military base or the U.S. Embassy
Horn	to cheat on a significant other
Jamet	a prostitute
Lagniappe	a little extra, a bonus
Lime	hanging out, having fun, e.g., "Let's go down to the corner and lime."
Maco	someone who minds other people's business
Mamaguy	trying to fool someone, or being fooled by someone, e.g., Your friend is wearing an ugly dress, but you tell her that it's beautiful.
Mamapoule	hen-pecked husband; a derogatory term for a husband who seems to be controlled by his wife
Mas	masquerade, Carnival
Obzokee	awkward, out of place, misshapen
Ol' talk	empty chatter, nonsense, e.g., "What you're saying is a bunch of ol' talk."
Parang	originates from the spanish influence when the Venezuelans settled as estate workers on the plantations; they introduced the Christmas celebration of serenading from one household to another; parang is derived from "parandero" or "serenader"
Peong	someone who seems to be addicted to or obsessed with something, e.g., "You're a TV peong," meaning someone who watches too much television
Saga Boy	a male who is boastful of his physical attributes
Sampat	an unfair attack, ambush
Screw Pan	an angry or determined look on a person's face; usually makes them look humorously ugly
Soucouyant	usually an old woman who turns herself into a ball of fire and passes through a keyhole to suck one's blood; a vampire
Tabanca	the feeling of hurt when a romantic relationship ends
Toutoulbay	a gullible person
Yampee	mucus found in the corner of the eyes after a long night's sleep

Words Associated with Food

WORD

DEFINITION

Buljol

shredded saltfish with onions and tomatoes, avocado, pepper and olive oil

Buss-up-shut

flaky bread served with curries; derives from "burst-up-shirt," a reference to the torn-cloth appearance of the bread

Callaloo

soup or stew of African origin made from dasheen leaves with ochroes, boiled with pumpkin, coconut, salt meat or crab

Channa

chick-peas

Coo-coo

a cornmeal pudding with ochro; a slave dish which was cooked in a simple pot over coals

Doubles

curried channa served between two pieces of fried bread

Hops

crisp bread roll, often filled with ham

Makaforshet

left-overs; from the French phrase "ma ca fourchette," meaning "food stuck between the fork" or, by implication, food that lives on

Mauby

bark of the carob tree Colubrina reclinata used to make a drink of the same name

Melongene

eggplant

Ochro

okra

Pastelles

seasoned mincemeat mixed with olives, capers and raisins in a cornmeal casing and wrapped in banana leaves; a culinary legacy of the Spanish settlement, traditionally served at Christmas

Pelau

peas and rice, cooked with meat and flavoured with coconut and pepper

Pholouri

fritters made with split peas

Pommerac

a bright red fruit with velvety white interior; could have come from the patois for "Maracas apple"

Roti

a thinly cooked dough which is filled with a curry mixture which can contain beef, chicken, goat, shrimp, or any other meat

Shadow Beni

a herb known an cilantro which is used as a distinctive seasoning in cooking

Souse

pork boiled and served cold in a salty sauce with lime, cucumber, pepper, and onion slices

Toolum

one of the earliest T&T candies from the slave days, made with molasses and grated coconut

Zaboca

avocado

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WORD	DEFINITION
Buljol	shredded saltfish with onions and tomatoes, avocado, pepper and olive oil
Buss-up-shut	flaky bread served with curries; derives from "burst-up-shirt," a reference to the torn-cloth appearance of the bread
Callaloo	soup or stew of African origin made from dasheen leaves with ochroes, boiled with pumpkin, coconut, salt meat or crab
Channa	chick-peas
Coo-coo	a cornmeal pudding with ochro; a slave dish which was cooked in a simple pot over coals
Doubles	curried channa served between two pieces of fried bread
Hops	crisp bread roll, often filled with ham
Makaforshet	left-overs; from the French phrase "ma ca fourchette," meaning "food stuck between the fork" or, by implication, food that lives on
Mauby	bark of the carob tree Colubrina reclinata used to make a drink of the same name
Melongene	eggplant
Ochro	okra
Pastelles	seasoned mincemeat mixed with olives, capers and raisins in a cornmeal casing and wrapped in banana leaves; a culinary legacy of the Spanish settlement, traditionally served at Christmas
Pelau	peas and rice, cooked with meat and flavoured with coconut and pepper
Pholouri	fritters made with split peas
Pommerac	a bright red fruit with velvety white interior; could have come from the patois for "Maracas apple"
Roti	a thinly cooked dough which is filled with a curry mixture which can contain beef, chicken, goat, shrimp, or any other meat
Shadow Beni	a herb known an cilantro which is used as a distinctive seasoning in cooking
Souse	pork boiled and served cold in a salty sauce with lime, cucumber, pepper, and onion slices
Toolum	one of the earliest T&T candies from the slave days, made with molasses and grated coconut
Zaboca	avocado

Some Words From the Dialect of Trinidad and Tobago

WORD

DEFINITION

Bacchanal

rowdy, scandalous behaviour; good party

Badjohn

a bully

Bobolee

a person who is habitually taken advantage of

Commesse

confusion, controversy

Cunumunu

a stupid, foolish person

Dingolay

to dance with joyful abandon

Fresh-water Yankee

a person who spends a short time in the U.S. and returns with a heavy American accent; originally, one who acquired the "yankee" accent by simply visiting the U.S. military base or the U.S. Embassy

Horn

to cheat on a significant other

Jamet

a prostitute

Lagniappe

a little extra, a bonus

Lime

hanging out, having fun, e.g., "Let's go down to the corner and lime."

Maco

someone who minds other people's business

Mamaguy

trying to fool someone, or being fooled by someone, e.g., Your friend is wearing an ugly dress, but you tell her that it's beautiful.

Mamapoule

hen-pecked husband; a derogatory term for a husband who seems to be controlled by his wife

Mas

masquerade, Carnival

Obzokee

awkward, out of place, misshapen

Ol' talk

empty chatter, nonsense, e.g., "What you're saying is a bunch of ol' talk."

Parang

originates from the spanish influence when the Venezuelans settled as estate workers on the plantations; they introduced the Christmas celebration of serenading from one household to another; parang is derived from "parandero" or "serenader"

Peong

someone who seems to be addicted to or obsessed with something, e.g., "You're a TV peong," meaning someone who watches too much television

Saga Boy

a male who is boastful of his physical attributes

Sampat

an unfair attack, ambush

Screw Pan

an angry or determined look on a person's face; usually makes them look humorously ugly

Soucouyant

usually an old woman who turns herself into a ball of fire and passes through a keyhole to suck one's blood; a vampire

Tabanca

the feeling of hurt when a romantic relationship ends

Toutoulbay

a gullible person

Yampee

mucus found in the corner of the eyes after a long night's sleep

Words Associated with Food

WORD

DEFINITION

Buljol

shredded saltfish with onions and tomatoes, avocado, pepper and olive oil

Buss-up-shut

flaky bread served with curries; derives from "burst-up-shirt," a reference to the torn-cloth appearance of the bread

Callaloo

soup or stew of African origin made from dasheen leaves with ochroes, boiled with pumpkin, coconut, salt meat or crab

Channa

chick-peas

Coo-coo

a cornmeal pudding with ochro; a slave dish which was cooked in a simple pot over coals

Doubles

curried channa served between two pieces of fried bread

Hops

crisp bread roll, often filled with ham

Makaforshet

left-overs; from the French phrase "ma ca fourchette," meaning "food stuck between the fork" or, by implication, food that lives on

Mauby

bark of the carob tree Colubrina reclinata used to make a drink of the same name

Melongene

eggplant

Ochro

okra