On page 8 of Volume 2 of BOSA Newsletter under the heading: JAMAICAN PROVERBS THAT OUR ANCESTORS TAUGHT US, we defined a proverb (which comes from the Latin word proverbium) in any language – including Jamaican Patois – as a simple and concrete saying that is popularly known and repeated and expresses a truth based on common sense or the practical experiences of humanity.
In addition to seventy-nine (79) Jamaican Proverbs that were published in Volumes 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 of the Association’s Newsletters, Beersheba Old Students Association (BOSA) is pleased to list the following twenty-seven (27) additional Jamaican Proverbs for the information and consideration of all Beersheba Elementary/All Age/Primary School Alumni, Honorary BOSA Members, Friends, and Well-wishers and other readers of its newsletter:
- When you see a man house on fire, mek sure you wet fe you own
- Te deh fe me, tomorrow fe you
- Ebrey dog hab dem day and ebrey puss dem four o’clock
- Beg wata can’t boil cow skin
- A no ebrey laugh a good laugh
- Carry go bring come no bring nothing but misery
- Me no nyam rice when it hot
- Play wid puppy, puppy lick you tongue; play wid big dog, big dog bite you
- If you neba go under fowl roost, fowl wouldn’t shit pon you
- If crab no walk, im wont get fat
- Fowl say, if one foot no find it, the other one will
- Tan an see no spoil no dance
- Dog weh hab too many owners will sleep hungry
- Horse neba too good to carry im own grass
- If cow rope can’t tie you, plantain thrash will tie you
- Less turkey, less shit
- Grass a grow but horse a starve
- Sorry fe maga dog, maga do tun roun bit you
- Drop out a frying pan an drop in na fire
- Curse way you a go but not curse wey you coming from
- Me throw me corn, me no call no fowl
- Me nah waste powder pon black bud
- You neba see lane without turning
- Teda fe me, tomorrow fe you
- De higher monkey climb a de more im expose
- Any where no tail-bearer no deh, the fire will go out.
- It is not a good ting fe mek foxes guard hen house
- Me a John Crow, but a no ebrey dead carin me nyam
- You ha fe tek kin teeth and kibba horse mouth
Recent Comments