Belizean Expressions –
Understanding the Meaning Behind the Words
This link above will take you to a site where you to a site where you can learn some Kriol and Belizean Expressions, It’s always been interesting to me how identical words and phrases take on different meanings in different places. For instance, when we first arrived in Belize, nearly 35 years ago, and I first heard the expression, “Right Now“, we thought that meant immediately. It didn’t take us long though to figure out that, in Belize, it means sometime in the not-to-distant-future.
Even in different parts of our own countries we have differences in vocabulary, so when a Belizean uses a word you don’t understand, ask what it means and you will have learned something. Then share one of yours with him/her.
When your waiter asks your title to put on your bar tab, don’t tell him you’re a bank manager, tell him your last name.
It can be frustrating when you ask for something and are told
“Right Now” and you wait patiently and then when nothing happens and you ask again a half hour-later and the reply is an unapologetic “Right Now“.
And today, that expression is as popular as ever … maybe something to do with a Belizean no worries laid back life-style, which is, come to think of it, one of the reasons why we settled here in the first place.
There is a Beizean Expression saying for anyone choosing to live in Belize
It goes something like this – If you have patience – you loose some;
If you have no patience …. you gain some
Another common Belizean expression
is to use “usually” (to mean “always”).
For example: “Saturday is usually Market Day in San Ignacio and School usually starts at 8:30 am.
And I laughed when I first heard the expression that anyone leaving the US to live in Belize was either Wanted ….. or Unwanted.
People often ask us what I miss most about the US. At this point, 32 years later, there’s nothing I miss. I love being here breathing clean air and being friends with people from different backgrounds And it’s just a short hop to the US when I want to see my family or old friends or go to the theatre.
Ready fi go? – Ok – I gaan
