10 Easy Things to Learn in Rastafarian

Tell anyone you’re off to Jamaica and they’re likely to exclaim one of two things: “you lucky duck!” tops the list, followed quickly by “hey, mon! Every ting irie!”

Blame TV, blame the movies, blame any number of stereotypes, but one of the most recognizable things about Jamaica is what comes out of the mouths of its residents. The Rastafarian dialect--called Iyaric--is credited to the followers of Rastafari teachings, who created their own (modified) vocabulary in response to their belief that their original African languages were stolen from them in the slave trade.

While you’ll obviously be able to get around Jamaica just fine with plain old English, here are ten phrases you might want to learn to help you fit in.

1. “All fruits ripe”: “everything is just great, all is good”

2. Bash, bashy: cool, awesome, nice

3. "Everyting cook and curry”: “everything is just fine”

4. Gates: home (Since many houses in Jamaica have a gate, your “gates” is your home.)

5. Irie: an expression meaning everything is alright, everything is just cool

6. Salt: bad luck, to be unlucky. (“Mi get salt” means “I was unlucky”)

7. "Ten toe turbo”: A funny expression meaning to walk or to use your feet

8. Upful: to have positive feelings or be extremely cheerful

9. “Wa’ppun?”: “What’s happening? What’s up?” (a very popular greeting)

10. Pickney: child, children, kids