Lesson 47 of 48 · Farin
Run a full phone call home — greetings, asking bout everybody, barrel talk, remittance talk, soon-come promises, and a proper goodbye.
Yu done know di call shape from Portmore — identification, health check, news pon seh, di long goodbye. Dis lesson a di BUSINESS side a di diaspora line: di barrel, di remittance, an di wharf. Di barrel: di barrel a love inna plywood an plastic. Aks: Wa yu want mi put inna di barrel? (What do you want me to put in the barrel?). Di answer dem come quick: Put two big tin a powda milk deh (put two big tins of powdered milk in there). Some good sneakers fi Marlon, size ten. Soap, oil, rice — anyting weh dear a yaad (anything that is expensive in Jamaica). When i lan: Di barrel reach! Wi haffi go a wharf go clear i Friday (the barrel has arrived! We have to go to the wharf and clear it through customs on Friday). Money talk stay soft an modest: Mi a go send a likkle someting fi yu (I am going to send you a little money). Check di money transfa place Monday maanin. No call no big number — 'a likkle someting' a di manners. Di soon-come promise: Mi a come a yaad fi Christmas, si God spare life (I am coming home for Christmas, God willing). If di plan shaky, seh: Mi soon come — everybody know seh soon come elastic! Closing: yu cyaan jus hang up. Seh: Aright, mi haffi go — di call a nyam off mi credit (the call is eating up my phone credit). Tell everybody howdy fi mi. Likkle more! Walk good! Common learner error dem: opening wid business before greetings — recast i, greet fus; 'I will send money for you' — seh Mi a go send a likkle someting; cold English 'goodbye' — seh likkle more or walk good; an no figet di warm tag dem — yaa, noh — a dem keep di call sweet.
| Patois | Cassidy-JLU | English |
|---|---|---|
| barrel | baril | shipping barrel of goods sent home |
| wharf | waaf | the docks, where barrels land and clear customs |
| clear (i) | klier (i) | get it through customs |
| duty | juuti | customs charge |
| powda milk | pouda milk | powdered milk — classic barrel item |
| a likkle someting | a likl somting | a little money (remittance, said modestly) |
| money transfa | moni chransfa | money transfer, remittance service |
| credit | kredit | phone credit |
| soon come | suun kom | coming eventually — an elastic promise |
| tell everybody howdy | tel evribadi oudi | greet everyone for me |
| big up yuself | big op yuself | respect, take care of yourself |
| si God spare life | si Gad spier laif | God willing |
| mi mind run pon yu | mi main ron pan yu | I was thinking of you |
Barrel and remittance talk are twentieth-century diaspora material outside Chapter Four; the seh-reports and future markers it uses are checked under Lessons 18 and 17.
The description of the grammar is checked against the published work above. The lesson, the examples and the wording are mine.
Practise this lesson in the app →← Weh yuh come from — telling yuh story · Patois a farin — holding di language →