The first thing anybody wants is the greeting, and “wah gwaan” is only one of them. These are the openings and the sign-offs, in the spelling you will meet them in and the spelling that shows you the sounds.
| Patois | Cassidy-JLU | English |
|---|---|---|
| big up | big op | respect!, shout-out |
| big up yuself | big op yuself | respect, take care of yourself |
| bless / bless up | bles / bles op | goodbye, blessings |
| evenin | iivnin | late afternoon into evening |
| evri maanin | evri maanin | every morning |
| fram maanin | fram maanin | all day, since morning |
| God bless yuh | Gad bles yu | God bless you |
| hou yu du? | ou yu du? | how are you? |
| howdy | houdi | hello (older, rural, respectful) |
| lata | lieta | later |
| likkle more | likl muor | see you later |
| maanin | maanin | good morning |
| seh fi tell yu howdy | se fi tel yu oudi | said to tell you hello |
| sidung a evening time | sidong a iivnin taim | sit down in the evening |
| soon-a-maanin | suun-a-maanin | early in the morning |
| tell everybody howdy | tel evribadi oudi | greet everyone for me |
| Tell evrybody howdy fi mi | Tel evribadi houdi fi mi | greet everyone at home for me |
| wagwan | wa gwaan | what's going on; hi (also wah gwaan, waguan) |
| wah gwaan | wa gwaan | what's up, what's going on |
| walk good | waak gud | travel safely, goodbye |
| Walk good, yaa | Waak gud, yaa | goodbye, travel safely (warm) |
The second column is Cassidy-JLU, the systematic spelling. It is worth reading across the two columns rather than down one — the difference between them is the sound.
Every word here is taught somewhere in the course, in the lesson it belongs to, with audio and a pronunciation check. The full vocabulary is here, grouped by parish.