Traditional Jamaican proverb · taught in Portland and Westmoreland
Wa swiit nani guot a go ron im beli.
What tastes sweet to the goat will give it diarrhea.
What pleases you now can hurt you later — mind the second helping of jerk!
two-part indicative, clause as subject
The whole first half is one long subject built on wha, and sweet acts as a verb there rather than an adjective; a go then swings the rest into the future.
This one is taught in Portland and Westmoreland.
The grammatical categories this description uses — clause type, mood, and the sound patterning noted where it carries the proverb — follow Unseth's framework for describing a proverb rather than only translating it.
The proverb is folk material. The description of how it is put together follows the framework in the work above; the translation and the commentary are mine.
Hear it, and collect the rest →