Jamaican patois is rhythm and poetry fused into everyday speech. Born from African, English, and Spanish roots, it's the language of reggae, dancehall, and a culture that changed the world's vocabulary forever.
Vexed
Vexed means properly annoyed, wound up, proper cheesed off. Not just a little sulk either. It's that sharp, carried-on-your-face irritation when someone's moved rude, wasted your time, or some small nonsense has mashed up your whole mood. In London speech, especially with Jamaican and wider Caribbean influence, vexed hits quick and clean.
Wagwan
A London street hello lifted from Jamaican Patois, basically a clipped-up way of saying what's going on. You drop wagwan when you spot someone you know and you're opening the chat, not asking for a full life report. It's casual, warm, and big in Multicultural London English, especially in places shaped by Caribbean roots.
Cotch
Cotch means to sit somewhere and properly relax, settle in, post up, get comfy. Not just a quick sit-down, more that full-body ease where you're planted and not trying to move unless someone's dragging you up. You can cotch at a mate's place, on the block, in the park, on the bus, wherever the day lets you breathe for a minute.
Ting
Straight out of Jamaican Patois, where it just means thing, then fully folded into Multicultural London English and spread way beyond London. Ting is mad flexible. It can mean a person you're linking, a whole situation, an event, or literally just an object. Proper all-purpose word that lets the sentence do a little shape-shifting.
Soon come
A Jamaican way of saying it’s coming or I’ll be back soon, with soon doing a lovely bit of elastic work. It might be five minutes, might be later when later feels right. You hear it when nobody’s panicking and the clock isn’t running the show.