My 2 Second Shelf Life

(Part One) My Favourite West Indian/Guyanese phrases:

I really love language.
I love the way other cultures use language.
West Indians have a rich way of expressing themselves.
Here are some favourites I can remember:

"Mouth open, story drop out"
(Can’t keep a secret)

"Apple tree don’t get oranges"
(Like father, like son)

"Bush get ears"
(Watch what you’re saying, someone might be listening)

"Every rope gat two ends"
(Every story has two sides.)

"It dee same six an four"
(it will have the same outcome)

"She had me in a gear"
(She had me upset)

"It nah good to shove yuh foot in every stocking"
(You don’t have to be involved in everything)

"I nah say he stewpid, I say he simple"
(self-expanitory)

"Nah all who guh a church guh fuh pray"
(Some people just do things to put up a front)

“Dey gon leave he widout a pot to piss in”
(self-explanitory)

I love this culture.
I love the humour, the easy and light spirit West Indians have, the way that sentences are structured in patois, the visuals the words bring.

Next:(Part Two) My Favourite Serbian phrases.