gwan

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.