Original Dancehall Dictionary

by Joan Williams, Shawn Grant (Illustrations)

START TALKING LIKE A JAMAICAN TODAY......Yea mon, yu nuh seet!.


Enjoy Jamaican reggae/dancehall music and our expressive Jamaican language? Love a great laugh too? This is the right book for you.


The late Bob Marley introduced the world to Jamaican music and despite his death he continues to be one of the most listened to musicians in the world. Marley's fame has also opened doors for dozens of other Jamaican outstanding entertainers to keep the world rocking to our vibrant music. Among the most popular are Shaggy, Sean Paul, Jimmy Cliff, Morgan Heritage, Movado, Sean Kingston and.


However, because many of our entertainers use our indigenous language, patois, many music lovers have often not fully understood the lyrics. It was this reality which led to the birth of the Original (Jamaican ) Dancehall, dictionary in 1993. However because our language is not static and the entertainers continuously coin new words and phrases which grab the attention of the young people who follow popular music, thus becoming part of our lexicon, there is a a need to update the world on a regular basis.


We the writers of the Original Dancehall Dictionary recognize this, hence this is the 6th edition.


Apart from being a popular music capital, Jamaica is also the leading tourism destination in the Caribbean so even if you are not a follower of popular music, to be able to better enjoy our exotic foods, white sands beaches, gushing waterfalls and lush mountains it is best that you are able to communicate with the local fol and not just tour operators.


Our Dictionary therefore will satisfy all your needs in a most humorous way and to make sure you get mit right, we use cartoons to make the explanations simpler. And pronunciation? No problem mon, just pronounce the words phonetically. Irie.
Now start your lesson in patois today.


Lesson 1.
If an artist at a stage show is giving a great performance, what do you shout most exuberantly" Hat it up yes" and when the performance is lousy make sure you shout "Pack Up and park".


Thirsty? You need to "beat sum juice" and if your partner eats everything in sight? That makes him " Nyami nyami". When you cannot understand what is being said if you do not indicate that you have a problem "overstanding:" you will continue to be left in the dark!


Need to feel irie?


A Bob Marley is a large marijuana/ganja cigarette/ spliff. So named as the great reggae artist's most famous poster has him holding the huge sample. And to make it easy for you to follow the logic of the language, the little cigarette/spliff is called a Ziggy after Bob's eldest son...little Bob!


Oh the joys of the Jamaican language. Right Mi Pree? Wi flex good.


So much to learn, so little time.


So kick back and enjoy learning one of the most useful, beautiful and expressive languages in the world.

114 pages, Paperback

First published May 23, 2013

About the author

Joan Williams BSc, is a Jamaican who was educated in Canada, USA and Jamaica (Hampton Girl’s School and UTECH). Her initial training was in computer programming but she decided very early that she preferred to work with humans not machines. She then got involved in Public Relations and politics in Jamaica before moving on to become a workshop/seminar planner throughout the English Speaking Caribbean and eventually a top rated talk show host.
It was her passion for writing however that drove her to establish Yard Publications in 1991, launching the "Back A Yard" series which was an annual satirical review of Jamaican politics. Six annuals were published before she decided to move on.
In 1993, because of her late son's interest in Dancehall music and being intrigued by the new language she heard emerging, she started research into the youthful lingo and shortly after, published the 1st Original Dancehall Dictionary, with cartoons and all, thus making it both educational and very comical. That publication became extremely popular and the 6th edition of that Dictionary was published in 2012 and is also available as an ebook.
In 1995 because of her love of the great outdoors and overwhelmed by Jamaica's unique beauty, she wrote the first "Tour Jamaica." The 4th edition is now also available as an ebook.
In 2015, she started to write her political autobiography “Looking Back……..the struggle to preserve our freedoms” which gives an overview of her activities in Jamaica during the 70’s in the midst of the cold war, when the US CIA, Russian KGB and Cuban DGI got directly involved in Jamaica’s politics. The book also covers the tragic murder of her only son, her entry and ascension in the journalism profession, her Cuban connections and interaction etc.
On a lighter vein, she also recently published “Talk Jamaican” and “Hidden Gems of Jamaica.”
All her books are distributed through Amazon.com in ebook and paperback formats. (https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001KJ40KG)
For the kids too she also published; The Original Jamaican Colouring Book; Count and Color; Draw and Color: Color and Learn, all highlighting Jamaican scenes and lifestyles.
In the interim, she operated several businesses from a very successful Public Relations company to a chain of Children's nurseries and finally a Real Estate brokerage, but she never neglected her my first love, writing and at one time or the other, has been a columnist in Jamaica for the Gleaner, Star, Jamaica Observer, Money Index, Daily News as well as the Miami-based Caribbean Today and the human rights magazine Amnesty International which is published in London with a circulation of over seven million readers.
Moving to the electronic media; because of her biting written commentaries, some years ago she was invited to do radio, first by the now defunct Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation (JBC) where she delivered political commentary in the afternoons. Next, for over a decade she was the alternative voice on the number 1 talk show, "Perkins on Line." She was also a leading member of the dynamic team which revolutionized morning radio in Jamaica. Ms. Williams has also always been in demand by the local television stations to be a panelist on their current affairs programs or as an election analyst, as soon as a campaign was announced.
Up to her retirement in Jamaica in June 2016, she hosted "Joan Williams on Line" on Power 106 radio which was broadcast worldwide. She also wrote a monthly column entitled "Enjoying the Jamaican Outdoors" for the Gleaner. This column highlighted places off the beaten track which she visited on her regular hikes and bicycle rides into the Jamaican countryside.
Joan is now resident in Florida where she continues to be an active grandmother, a dedicated writer, a committed hiker, cyclist and outdoor lover and an accomplished artist.
She can be followed at; http://joan-myviews.blogspot.com/ com and contacted at gratestj@gm