dread

(Internet slang, neologism) A person with dreadlocks.

A Rastafarian: an adherent of the Rastafari movement, a Jamaican-born religious and cultural tradition that emerged in the 1930s among the descendants of enslaved Africans. The name comes from Ras Tafari Makonnen, the pre-coronation name of Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie I, whom Rastas regard as the messianic returned Christ and the living embodiment of Jah (God). Core practices and themes include the wearing of dreadlocks, an Ital (natural, often vegetarian) diet, the sacramental use of ganja for meditation, and a strong identification with Africa, repatriation and liberation from "Babylon" — the oppressive Western/colonial system. The word is also used loosely (and sometimes loosely enough to annoy actual adherents) to describe anyone with locs, reggae taste or a vaguely Afrocentric aesthetic.

Friend, brother, or member of one's inner circle. From Jamaican Patois, where "bredren" (and the variant "bredrin") generalises the English word "brethren" into everyday speech, carrying a strong Rastafarian inflection: among Rastas it specifically signals a fellow believer or member of the community, equivalent to "brother in faith". In wider Caribbean and UK diaspora use it has loosened into a warm term for any close male friend — roughly equivalent to "bro", "mate" or "fam" in other Englishes. The female counterpart is "sistren". Common in dancehall lyrics, UK road rap and everyday speech across Jamaica, Trinidad, the wider Caribbean and second-generation Caribbean communities in London, Birmingham and Toronto.

Patois spelling of "fire", used both literally and as a powerful figurative word for excellence, intensity or righteous condemnation. In Rastafarian usage fyah carries a heavy spiritual charge: it represents purity, divine judgement, the life-force and the cleansing destruction of corruption ("fyah bun Babylon" — fire burn the oppressive system). In secular dancehall and Caribbean pop culture it works much like "fire" in African American English, marking something as exceptionally hot, skilled or hype — a track, a verse, a dance, an outfit. Often paired with the flame emoji online and shouted as a one-word approval in dancehall sessions. The spelling deliberately reflects Patois pronunciation rather than English orthography.

The distinctive Rastafarian first-person pronoun, used in place of both "I" and "we". Rather than separating the speaker from others or from God, "I and I" (also written "InI" or "I-n-I") asserts the unity of the individual self with Jah and with all other Rastas: the second "I" represents the divine presence in the speaker, so every statement is at once personal and communal. The construction also extends to other pronouns ("I-man" for "me", "Iyaric" for the broader vocabulary), part of a deliberate reworking of English Rastas call Iyaric or "I-talk" to strip out colonial connotations. Common throughout roots reggae lyrics (Bob Marley, Burning Spear, Peter Tosh) and serious Rasta conversation; rarely used outside the movement except as an explicit nod to it.