dutty

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.

Caribbean and Jamaican English term for someone who is completely worthless, useless, or good-for-nothing. The word carries strong contempt and is used freely as both a direct insult and a general descriptor. It is a phonetic respelling of 'worthless' reflecting Caribbean English pronunciation patterns, and is common in Jamaican English and across the English-speaking Caribbean regardless of class or context.

Patois contraction of "go on", used in several distinct everyday senses: as a greeting equivalent to "what's going on?" (often in the phrase "wha gwan?" or its shortened form "wagwan"), as encouragement meaning "carry on, you're doing well" ("gwan, mi yute!"), as an acknowledgement of someone's style or hustle ("him a gwan good"), and occasionally as a dismissive "go away, get out of here". Pronounced roughly "GWAHN". Massively common across Jamaica, the wider Caribbean and the UK Caribbean diaspora, and a staple of reggae, dancehall and grime lyrics. Multifunctional enough that meaning depends almost entirely on tone, surrounding words and facial expression.