Do you know what the proverb “Kitchen claat tun table claat” means? Learn it’s meaning in our Jamaican Proverbs on “Appearances.”
Kitchen claat tun table claat.
TRANSLATION: A Kitchen cloth being used as a table cloth.
MEANINGS AND EXPLANATIONS: Someone received a promotion that they didn’t deserve and/or don’t have the skills to perform.
Wha a joke to yuh a death to mi.
TRANSLATION: What is a joke to you is death to me.
MEANINGS AND EXPLANATIONS: 1. What you consider funny hurts me and other people.
Yuh tink Seh mi sleep a fiyah side?
TRANSLATION: Do you think I sleep by the fireside?
MEANINGS AND EXPLANATIONS: 1. Why would you think I’m incapable of understanding that? 2. Do you think I’m dumb?
Finga nuh Seh look ya, it Seh look deh.
TRANSLATION: A finger does not say look here, it says look there.
MEANINGS AND EXPLANATIONS: Work on your own faults before finding fault with others.
A nuh ebry mango got magish
TRANSLATION: Not every mango has maggots
MEANINGS AND EXPLANATIONS: Don’t assume all people are the same.
A nuh ebry fish a sea a shark
TRANSLATION: It is not every fish in the sea is a shark
MEANINGS AND EXPLANATIONS: Every person is different.
Farm fowl hab size, common fowl ave taste.
TRANSLATION: A farm fowl has size, a common fowl has taste.
MEANINGS AND EXPLANATIONS: Just because something is bigger doesn’t mean it’s better or the highest quality.
Peacock hide im foot wen im ear bout im tail.
TRANSLATION: The peacock hides his foot when he hears about his tail.
MEANINGS AND EXPLANATIONS: 1. People don’t want their faults or weaknesses disclosed because it makes them feel vulnerable.
Dawg mawga but im head big.
TRANSLATION: The dog is meager but his head is big.
MEANINGS AND EXPLANATIONS: A person with big dreams and ambitions, but has limited financial resources.
A nuh wan a fat mek nightingale foot tan suh
TRANSLATION: It is not for the want of fat that the nightingale’s legs stand so.
MEANINGS AND EXPLANATIONS: Never judge someone by the way they look.
Yuh shake man han, but yuh nuh shake im hawth
TRANSLATION: You can shake a man’s hand, but you cannot shake his heart.
MEANINGS AND EXPLANATIONS: You can’t understand someone unless you take time to really know them.
