Jamaican proverbs
Proverbs from all Jamaican speaking parts of the world.
W
[edit]- 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
[edit]- 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.