Oxford English Dictionary Adds Caribbean and Bermudian Words

More than a dozen words long used in Bermuda and across the Caribbean have been officially added to the Oxford English Dictionary, the dictionary announced on Wednesday.

Among the new entries is "bimpert", a Bermudian term of unknown origin used to describe a stupid or foolish person. On the north Atlantic island, it often appears in the traditional phrase: "A bimpert is justah wuffless bye," which roughly translates to "an idiot is just a worthless boy".

Another addition is "hornerman", used in Trinidad and Tobago since 1975 to describe an unfaithful man or a man involved with someone else's partner. Those who discover such infidelity might be said "to get on" — to have an emotional outburst or make a scene — or "to cut someone's tail", meaning to beat someone.

A woman in such a situation might rely on "vex money", described as money carried or kept in a safe place for use in an emergency or unexpected event.

Several supernatural terms also made the list. "Jablesse" is defined as a malevolent, shape-shifting female spirit with one cloven hoof, said to assume the form of a beautiful woman at night to lure men to their deaths. It derives from "diablesse", the French word for female demon. "Douen" refers to a short figure with backward-pointing feet and a large hat, said to be the spirit of a child who died before baptism and believed to lure children into the forest by calling their names. It is a variation of the Spanish "duende", meaning elf.

Food-related entries include "shadeesh", the Bermudian word for chorizo; "sugar cake", made from grated coconut boiled with sugar, water and spices; and "peanut punch", a popular frothy drink made with peanuts or peanut butter, milk, sugar and spices.

A peanut punch might be shared with one's "nana" or "nani", terms used to address maternal grandparents, or with a "hamma", the Bermudian word for friend.

The final additions are "Trinbagonian", referring to people from both islands of Trinidad and Tobago, and "canboulay", which describes Carnival festivities in Trinidad in the 1800s that celebrated the emancipation of slaves. The tradition stems from a 1700s harvest festival that the British tried to suppress, leading to riots reenacted to this day to mark the start of Carnival. Canboulay is derived from "burning cane", a phrase the dictionary associates with acts of defiance and rebellion.

The Oxford English Dictionary contains some 500,000 words and phrases, detailing the history of terms dating back to the 11th century.