forty leg
Jamaican Creole
FWOTD – 17 February 2021
Alternative forms
Etymology
Some centipedes literally appear to have forty legs. Compare Hindi चालीसपद (cālīspad), Turkish kırkayak.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈfɑːtɪ ˌlɛɡ/
- Hyphenation: for‧ty‧leg
Audio (JAM) (file)
Noun
forty leg (plural forty leg dem, quantified forty leg)
- A centipede. A segmented arthropod of class Chilopoda.
- If forty leg bite yuh, yuh fenneh.
- If a centipede bites you, you'll be in a lot of pain.
- 2018, Michael Abrahams, “Stop spread propaganda pon di dread”, in The Jamaica Gleaner (in English):
- “Me seh fi stop spread propaganda pon di dread
Cause di dread nuh have nuh forty-leg inna him head […] ”- I'm asking you to stop spreading propaganda about the Rastaman
Because the Rastaman doesn't have centipedes in his hair […]
- I'm asking you to stop spreading propaganda about the Rastaman
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