boro

Jamaican Patois word for the buttocks, derived from "bottom" via the same softening that produced "bumbo" and "bumbaclart". Used straightforwardly in many Caribbean contexts to mean the backside ("batty riders" = very short shorts; "batty wash" = washing one's rear). The word is heavily marked, however, by its appearance in the homophobic compound "batty boy" (or "batty bwoy"), a slur for a gay man that was a recurrent feature of certain hardcore dancehall lyrics in the 1980s, 90s and 2000s and has been widely condemned by LGBTQ groups and platforms. Because of that history, "batty" used about a person — especially in compounds — should be approached with caution: in some Caribbean contexts it remains an everyday body word, in others (especially diaspora and online) it lands as a slur trigger.

The Patois pronunciation and spelling of "little", with the English "t" palatalised into a "k"-like sound — a regular feature of Jamaican Creole phonology that also turns "bottle" into "bokkle" and "matter" into "macka". Used in all the standard English senses of "little": small in size, in quantity, in age, or as a softener ("a lickle help, please"). Extremely common in everyday Patois speech and writing, in dancehall and reggae lyrics, and in UK Multicultural London English (MLE), where it travelled with the Windrush generation and entered grime, drill and road rap vocabularies in the 2000s. The spelling is a deliberate marker of Caribbean voice.

Patois pronunciation of "thing", with the initial "th" softened to "t" as is standard in Jamaican English. Used in all the ordinary English senses — an object, a matter, a situation ("dat a different ting") — but also carries a distinctly Caribbean and Multicultural London English meaning: a romantic interest, a girl one is seeing or attracted to ("she my ting"). The word travelled from Patois into UK road rap and grime in the 2000s and 2010s and is now mainstream slang across the UK, often heard in lines like "peng ting" (an attractive person). Tone and context determine whether the speaker means an object, a situation or a person.

A strong Jamaican Patois expletive, also spelled bumboclaat, bombaclart or bumbaclart. Etymologically it combines "bumbo" (an old Patois word for the buttocks or vulva) with "claat" (cloth) — literally referring to a sanitary or menstrual cloth — making it one of the so-called "claat" curses (alongside bloodclaat and rasclaat) that form the strongest tier of Patois profanity. Used as an exclamation of anger, shock or disgust, as an intensifier ("bombaclat liar"), or as a personal insult. Considered seriously offensive in Jamaica and across the Caribbean diaspora and treated as comparable to the strongest English-language curses; many older speakers and religious communities find it deeply taboo. In recent years it has also been spread without that weight as a meme reaction on Twitter and TikTok, a usage that many Caribbean people view as disrespectful appropriation.