In many Caribbean homes, a woman might keep a little “vex money.” It is cash she puts away somewhere safe, just in case there is an emergency. People in the region have used the phrase for years. Now it is also in the Oxford English Dictionary.
The dictionary, often called the OED, added more than 400 new words, phrases, and meanings in its September update. More than a dozen of them come from the Caribbean and from Bermuda, a small group of British islands in the Atlantic Ocean, off the east coast of the United States.
The OED is one of the largest dictionaries of the English language, with about 500,000 words and phrases. Some of them go back to the 11th century. Its editors add new words several times a year, but only after they find enough proof that people have been using them over time. Caribbean words are not new to the OED either. The dictionary added a group of them last year, too.
A lot of this year’s new words are about food. Peanut punch is a sweet drink made with peanuts or peanut butter, milk, sugar, and spices. Sugar cake is a treat made from grated coconut boiled with sugar, water, and spices. And in Bermuda, people have their own name for chorizo, the Spanish-style sausage. They call it shadeesh.
Bermuda also gave the dictionary hamma, which means friend, and bimpert, a not-so-kind word for a foolish person. From Trinidad and Tobago comes Trinbagonian, the name for someone from that country. Many people in Trinidad and Tobago have family roots in India, and the OED has also added nana and nani, Hindi words that people there use for their grandfather and grandmother on their mother’s side.
In Trinidad, many people were pleased with the news. “That’s our heritage, that’s what we grew up with,” grocery store owner Leonard Alexander told The Associated Press. Construction worker Sherwin Williams said, “People recognize us by our slang.”
So if you ever visit Trinidad or Bermuda, listen closely. You might hear a few of these words in a shop or at a family dinner, and if someone calls you their hamma, you have made a new friend.
Sources: The Associated Press, Oxford University Press
Plenty of women in the Caribbean have some “vex money” tucked away: cash kept somewhere safe, ready for the day an emergency comes along. The phrase has been part of everyday speech in the region for generations. As of late September, it also has an entry in the Oxford English Dictionary.
It arrived as part of the OED’s latest quarterly update, which brought in more than 400 new words, phrases, and senses. Over a dozen of them come from the Caribbean and from Bermuda, the British island territory in the North Atlantic, roughly 1,000 kilometres (650 miles) east of North Carolina.
Food accounts for a good share of the new arrivals. There is peanut punch, a thick, sweet drink made with peanuts or peanut butter, milk, sugar, and spices, and sugar cake, a sweet made by boiling grated coconut with sugar, water, and spices. Bermudians, meanwhile, have long had their own word for chorizo, the spicy Spanish-style sausage: shadeesh.
Other entries capture how people talk to, and about, one another. In Bermuda, a hamma is a friend, while a bimpert is someone you would rather not be compared to. The Associated Press offered a traditional example of the word in use: “A bimpert is justah wuffless bye,” or, roughly, “an idiot is just a worthless boy.” Across the region, to “get on” means to lose your temper and make a scene. Trinidad and Tobago, whose population includes many families of Indian descent, contributed nana and nani, the Hindi terms for a maternal grandfather and grandmother, along with Trinbagonian, the word its citizens use for themselves.
One addition carries more historical weight. Canboulay, from the French for “burning cane,” refers to the Carnival processions that marked the end of slavery in 19th-century Trinidad.
None of this happens on a whim. The OED, which holds around half a million words and phrases, some dating back to the 11th century, only adds an entry once its editors have solid evidence of sustained use. Caribbean English has been a recurring focus, too, with a similar batch of regional words added a year ago.
In Trinidad, the recognition went down well. “That’s our heritage, that’s what we grew up with,” Leonard Alexander, a grocery store owner, told the AP. Avionne George, a maintenance technician, said having the words formally recorded helps keep traditions alive. Construction worker Sherwin Williams summed up the mood: “People recognize us by our slang.”
Sources: The Associated Press, Oxford University Press
