labrish
English edit
Etymology edit
From Jamaican Creole labrish.
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
labrish (comparative more labrish, superlative most labrish)
Noun edit
labrish (uncountable)
- (Jamaica, dialect) Gossip, rumor, chatty speaking.
- 2008 January 27, Beth Feinstein-Bartl, “A Tribute to 'Miss Lou' at Library”, in Miami Herald, retrieved 24 July 2011:
- Jeanne Powell will tell stories using labrish a traditional Jamaican form of chitchat.
Verb edit
labrish (third-person singular simple present labrishes, present participle labrishing, simple past and past participle labrished)
- (Jamaica, dialect) To gossip or talk excessively.
- 2011 July 8, Errol W.A. Townshend, “Letters: Callous sacking of 'Aunty Dor'”, in Jamaica Gleaner, retrieved 24 July 2011:
- Out there are legions of women who don't own computers or want one. . . . What they do is labrish endlessly on their cellphones and vote.
References edit
- Oxford English Dictionary, additions series 1997, online ed. (June, 2011)
Jamaican Creole edit
Etymology edit
Probably from English blabber + -ish.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
labrish
- gossip, gossiping, idle talk
- Synonym: suss
- But yuh dun kno sey di real peeple dem wahn know di laytis mix-up, 'cause a suh Jamdung run fram lang time, likkle labrish naw kill nuh baddy.
- But you already know that real folks want to know the latest gossip. Because that's how Jamaica's always been. A little gossip never killed anybody.
Verb edit
labrish
- gossip
- Den shi guh pon har phone an a labrish an a buss big laugh wid har fren dem.
- Then she went on her phone and started gossiping with her friends, laughing out loud (from time to time) as she did.
Further reading edit
- Richard Allsopp, editor (1996), Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage, Kingston, Jamaica: University of the West Indies Press, published 2003, →ISBN, page 336