Shelly-Ann Thompson, Freelance Reporter
Giving bun right under each other's nose is especially hard to swallow.
This week, every Jamaican at home and abroad will be eating bun with cheese, bun with butter and believe it or not, bun with fish! But the word has taken on two significant connotations, the first sexual and the second, a substitute for the verb 'burn'. Lifestyle explores some of the ways that Jamaicans have played on 'bun' and used it to satisfy their own vocabulary (d)eficiencies.
PUNS ON BUN
THE TERM 'bun him' is a popular term used to refer to matters of sex and relationships. If a woman complains to her friend about her partner the advice she will likely receive is to: 'bun him', meaning to cheat on him.
'Bun him' or 'Man a get bun' have been for decades popular sayings in the Jamaican society. Used to mean that a man has been cuckolded or that his wife has been visited by another man.
Late last year, the song Bun Him by dancehall artiste Macka Diamond and Black-er saw a resurgence of the term.
However for years Jamaican entertainers have used 'bun' terms in their lyrics.
Lloyd Lovindeer sang: "Man a gi bun an' a get back bun a no nothin' dat, call it bun fi bun".
The 'bun fi bun' scenario explains the situation of both partners in a relationship having an affair.
It is hard to trace the genesis of the term, however, Joan Latty, family therapist, notes that the word is better understood in the Jamaican context. "It is easily and better understood in our grassroots to say 'man a get bun', 'bun fi bun' or 'bun him' than to be explained in a certain context to say he is having an affair," says Latty who is based at Northern Caribbean University community counselling centre.
"However the 'bun fi bun' in relationships is usually a case of doing as the other is doing. A woman finds out that her partner is cheating and she decides to retaliate by 'bunning him'.
"Then it might lead to 'bun fi bun' because I'm angry, I'm fighting back, I'm retaliating and as such the relationship can in fact end up being violent," says Ms. Latty.
BURN OR BUN
In the Jamaican context, bun also means burn (patois version with the letter r dropped).
'Bun' meaning fire burning is popular slang for the Rastafarians. Propelled by deejay Capleton, whose many lyrics speak of burning, fire bunning is thrown on any happenings or objects that is believed to be against the Rastafarian faith, such as fire bun for Babylon or Rome.
'Bun Head' is also a negative term used to describe women who straighten their hair with hot combs. This was frowned on by Rastas who saw the practice as opposed to their belief in all things natural.
'Bun' is also spoken of in the context of food. Many Jamaicans profess that the sweetest part of a rice and peas is the 'bun, bun' or the particles at the base of the pot that have been burnt. Many people love to east this.
"When you eat a 'bun bun' rice and peas, you have to lick your fingers," says Ian Daley. Mr. Daley says that as a child whenever his mother cooked pigtail stews he used to wait until dinner was served to sit with the the pot and scrape the 'bun bun' into his mouth. "The 'bun bun' of a rice an and peas is especially nice with the gravy of the chicken," added Mr. Daley.
Professor Rex Nettleford told Lifestyle that the act of giving bun should not be confused with that of burning. There is an etymological difference, neither of which is positive. But it's just a part of our Jamaican culture and yet another way that we are good at using the language creatively.
