Jamaican proverbs

Proverbs from all Jamaican speaking parts of the world.

W

• Wa de goat du, de kid falla.
  • Translation: What the goat does, the kid follows.
  • English equivalent: As the old cock crows, so crows the young.
  • Meaning: Children absorb behavioural cues from their parents and other significant adults in their lives. We should set good examples for our children.
  • Source for meaning and proverb: Jamaican Proverbs | The National Library of Jamaica. Nlj.gov.jm. Retrieved on 2013-06-09.

Y

• You come to drink milk an' no fe count cow.
  • I came here to drink milk, I didn’t come to count cows.
  • ""Style"'s Mentor: "The whole idea of not having your cake and eating it - the expression is wrong. The saying should be: you can't have your cake and eat it.
    "Style": I'm not sure I get the meaning.
    "Style"'s Mentor: "It means you should be glad you were experiencing the luxury of a cake in the first place. So stop staring at it and woŕrying what you will lose by commiting to it - and start enjoying it. Cakes were meant to be eaten, not collected."
    I hated him sometimes. For being right."
  • Neil Strauss, The Style Diaries (2007)
  • Anand Prahlad (2001). Reggae Wisdom: Proverbs in Jamaican Music. pp. 260–. ISBN 978-1-60473-659-5. 

See also

• English proverbs
• Irish proverbs
• Maori proverbs
• Scots proverbs
• Welsh proverbs