Spotted

Print Mixing is very fashionable these days, but back when I was growing up it was frowned upon. The minute my Mom saw me in this outfit she laughed and said. . ."yu look like jonkonnu".  (Jonkonnu was a masquerade/street parade that was prevalent in Jamaica in the 40's and 50's and revelers wore costumes). Clearly, she has no idea about fashion. This is my first attempt at print mixing and it came together after I was inspired by a blogger in a polka dot jumpsuit.  I have had these polka dot pants for two years and never worn them, they just never seem to play well with others in my closet. Once I found this top on the clearance rack, they got along well.  The handbag was a great buy from Charming Charlie's clearance rack last year. My Cuzin tried to discourage me from purchasing it so she could get it and that just did not happen. 

Inspiration is everywhere, if we pay attention and blogs are loaded with looks we can duplicate. My blogger pals are all mixologists and you can find several of them mixing & matching on their blogs.  It has been said that "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" and it truly is. So many of us are visual, and need a template or two to create some of our best work, be it around the house, at work and even in fashion.

Every culture has its own collection of wise sayings that offer counsel on how to live, succeed, get along with others, etc.  Many of the idiomatic expressions I am about to share were heard constantly growing up in my Jamaican household.  These days when my relatives get together the Jamaican dialect just roll off our tongues. The roots of Jamaican Dialect/Patois go back to the days of slavery starting with the Spanish Occupation of the island and continued through British colonialism. Now even though our first language is English, our Patwa, is what we are most recognized for. People love to hear Jamaicans speak, to hear our accent and the words we use, even if they don’t understand a lick of what we are saying.

With so many languages influencing our tongue, it is quite interesting to listen to, even if not learned.

Some of my family's favorites are:

• “Every hoe have dem stik a bush” means there’s someone out there for every person.
• "Same bird weh carry news, a de same bird tek eh back". The one who brings gossip is the same one taking it back.
• "What a fi yu, cyaan be un fi yu".  What is yours will always be yours.
• "Chicken merry, hawk deh near".  Danger lurks nearby when there is too much merriment and excitement.
• "Wanti wanti can't get i, getti getti no want i". The Have-nots covet what the Haves take for granted.
• "Gi dem basket fi carry wata".  Set up to Fail. Give them a basket to carry water.
• "Tidday fi mi tomorrow fi yu".  Everyone has a season.
• "Puss no bizness in a dawg fight"  Stay out of what does not concern you.
• "Cock mouth kill cock".  Be careful, words can come back to haunt us.
• "Mi come ya fi drink milk mi noh come ya fi count cow". Here to collect not to find out where it comes from.
• "Come mek mi gi yu someting fi cry fah".  Give you something to cry about (only to children who cry for no reason).

The Jamaican dialect, Patois (pronounced pat-wa or pat-wah) is a creole/mash up comprised mostly of broken English, with bits of Spanish and Western African languages mixed in. A unique language that originated in Jamaica. It is a continuously evolving language and new words are added on a regular basis. All Jamaicans speak and write English, however most prefer to speak "Pat-wa". Jamaican Patois exists mostly as a spoken language and heavily used in the lyrics of reggae, dancehall as well as other genres. In other words, we speak English in two forms and write in one. Now that you got a sample of my spoken language, test some of your Jamaican friends using some of these phrases.

Walk Good!