Jamaican Patois Curse Words and Insults: What They Mean

This guide explains strong adult language, plainly, for readers who want to know what they’re hearing.

Jamaicans call them “bad words”, and older people still call them “forty-shilling words”, after the fine for using them under colonial rule. If you’ve heard someone shout “bumboclaat” in a dancehall song, seen “bomboclaat” as an internet meme, or been called an “eediat” by a friend, this is what those words mean, where they come from, how strong they are and why a visitor is better off understanding them than using them. For the everyday side of the language, from greetings to slang, see our main guide to Jamaican Patois words and phrases.

How Jamaican swearing works

Most of the strongest Jamaican curse words are built the same way: a taboo body word plus “claat”, the Patois pronunciation of “cloth”. The cloth in question was the one used for menstruation or for wiping, back before disposable pads and toilet paper, which is why the words feel so dirty to Jamaican ears. Lexicographers have recorded “bumboclaat” since the 1950s, and early uses already aimed it at people as well as things.

The words are flexible. One of them can be an exclamation (“Bloodclaat.”), an intensifier in the middle of a sentence (“Wha di raasclaat yuh a do?”, what the hell are you doing?), a noun for a person, or part of a threat. Like the f-word in English, the meaning comes from where it sits and how it’s said.

Spelling is all over the place, because Patois has no spelling most people agree on. “Claat” also turns up as “clot”, “clat”, “klaat” and “clart”, and “bumbo” as “bombo” or “bumba”. The words are the same.

How strong is each word?

This is how the main words rank to a Jamaican ear. Strength also depends on who says it, to whom and where: the same word lands very differently between two friends at a football match and from a stranger in a shop.

The “-claat” words

Bumboclaat, bomboclaat

“Bumbo” is a coarse word for the bottom or the female genitals; dictionaries link it to West African words such as the Fante “bumbo” and to the English “bum”. Put it with “claat” and you have the cloth for those parts. In Jamaica it is one of the strongest curse words there is, used in anger, shock and insult, and roughly as strong as the f-word. Outside Jamaica it went viral in 2019 as a one-word meme caption, used by people who often had no idea what it meant. To a Jamaican, seeing it on a T-shirt or in a cartoon caption is still jarring.

Raasclaat, rassclaat

“Raas” comes from the old English “arse”, so raasclaat is the backside cloth. It’s as strong as bumboclaat and probably the most heard of the group, both as an exclamation and as a filler in a furious sentence. On its own, “raas” is a little softer but still a curse: “Wha di raas?” is roughly “What the hell?”, and “Yuh raas” is a sneer at someone.

Bloodclaat

The blood cloth, meaning a menstrual cloth. Many Jamaicans consider it the harshest of the three classic “-claat” words, because of the blood. You’ll hear it in shock (“Bloodclaat, dem tief mi car.”), in fury, and in a lot of hardcore dancehall. Radio stations play edited versions of songs that use it.

Pussyclaat

The most vulgar of the “-claat” words, because it names the genitals directly. Aimed at a person, it’s meant to humiliate, and it’s the one most likely to turn a quarrel into a fight. It’s rarely heard in mixed company and almost never from older people.

Milder curses and exclamations

Plenty of Jamaicans, especially church people and grandparents, don’t curse but still need something to say when a pot boils over. These are the words they reach for, and the ones you’ll hear most in daily life.

• Rawtid (raatid, rhaatid). An exclamation of surprise or annoyance, like “damn” or “good grief”, as in “Rawtid, look how di place mash up.” It can also describe anger: “im get rawtid” means he got furious. The traditional explanation is that it comes from “wrath”, but linguists also see it as a softened “raas”, the way “gosh” softens “God”. Either way it’s mild, and you’ll hear it from people who would never say the stronger words, though not in church.
• Bloodfire (blood an fire). Frustration or amazement. It borrows the “blood” without the cloth, so it’s milder than bloodclaat, but some older people still frown at it.
• Blouse and skirt. A polite stand-in for bloodclaat: same first sound, nothing rude. It often gets a laugh.
• Kiss mi neck. An old-fashioned exclamation of surprise or disbelief, like “well, I never”. Harmless, and a bit dated.
• Cho, choh. “Oh, come on” or “forget it”, usually with a kiss of the teeth. Mild, but said to an older person it’s disrespectful.
• Backside. Somewhere between. “Backside.” on its own is an exclamation; “mi wi beat yuh backside” is a threat Jamaican children hear from their parents.

Then there’s the sound. Kissing your teeth, or sucking air through them, says “I’m annoyed” or “you’re beneath me” without a single word, and to an older Jamaican it can be as rude as a curse.

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Everyday insults and teasing words

Most of the insults you’ll actually hear aren’t curse words at all. Jamaicans tease constantly, and among friends a lot of these are affectionate. From a stranger, or in a raised voice, the same words are a challenge.

Mothers are sacred in Jamaica, so “yuh mumma” or “yuh madda” at the start of an insult raises the temperature fast. And a public quarrel, with an audience gathering, has its own name: a “tracing” match. Two people “a trace” each other when they trade insults loudly in the street.

How to say “shut up” in Patois

“Shut yuh mout” is the plain version. “Kibba yuh mout” (put a lid on your mouth) is a little sharper, and “hush yuh mout” is what a parent says to a child. Add “cho” in front and you’ve made it ruder.

Words we’ve left out

Some Jamaican words are slurs aimed at groups of people: at gay men and women, at people with disabilities, and at people of a particular skin color or class. Some of them are built on “batty”, the everyday word for the bottom, which on its own is just a childish body word. We don’t list the slurs here. If you hear a word used about a group of people and you don’t know it, assume it’s an insult, and don’t repeat it.

Why visitors shouldn’t use the strong words

• They’re genuinely offensive. The “-claat” words aren’t quaint island slang. Said out loud in a hotel lobby, a market or a taxi, they shock people the way the worst English words would.
• They sound like mockery from a visitor. A tourist saying “bumboclaat” in a put-on accent comes across as making fun of Jamaicans, however it’s meant.
• Context does the work. Jamaicans know when a word is a joke between friends and when it’s a threat. A visitor can’t yet tell, and the person hearing it can’t tell what you meant either.
• It’s against the law in public. The next section explains.

It’s different when you’re listening. Understanding what someone shouted on the street, or what a dancehall lyric means, is useful, and there’s nothing wrong with asking a Jamaican friend what you heard. Most will tell you, and laugh.

Is cursing illegal in Jamaica?

Yes, in public. Section 9C of the Towns and Communities Act, a colonial-era law, makes it an offense to use “profane, indecent or obscene language” in public, and it also covers rude songs and graffiti. The Jamaica Observer has reported the penalty as a fine or up to 30 days in prison. The law doesn’t list the words, so the police decide what counts, and they do still charge people. In March 2024 the Observer reported that a man was fined J$2,000 at the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court after using one of the “-claat” words to a police officer at the courthouse.

Jamaicans debate the law regularly, because the same words are on the radio, in the street and in popular songs, and charges tend to follow a run-in with the police. For a visitor, the practical point is simple: a curse aimed at a police officer, a security guard or anyone in authority can land you in court.

Where you’ll hear them

In arguments, mainly, and in dancehall. Hardcore dancehall lyrics use the strong words freely, and street dances play the raw versions, while radio plays clean edits. You’ll also hear rawtid and cho everywhere, from taxi drivers to grandmothers. If you want the bigger picture of how Jamaicans talk, joke and argue, our introduction to Jamaican people and culture is a good next read.