dead lef
Jamaican Creole
Alternative forms
- deadlef, dead-lef
Etymology
Compound of dead + lef. Literally, "what the dead have left behind."
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈdɛdˌlɛf/
- Hyphenation: dead‧lef
Noun
dead lef
- estate, inheritance, legacy
- 2003, Easton Lee, Encounters: Voices and Echoes : Poems from a ..., →ISBN, page 78:
- “Di noise dem a meck
would a meck anybody def
an through wha
why you tink dem a gwan so
no true di grampa riches
as di ole man close im eye
dem start fi war over di dead lef
[…] ”- The noise they were making
would make anybody deaf
And for what reason?
Why do you think they're behaving like that?
It's because of grandpa's riches
As soon as the old man closed his eyes
They started to fight over the legacy […]
- The noise they were making
- Di pickney dem a malice dem one anedda an' a fight over dead lef.
- The children aren't speaking to each other and they're fighting over the legacy.
See also
- dead yard, nine night (“Caribbean funerary tradition consisting of a wake lasting several days”)