Good day to you, language loving listeners! A hearty welcome to today’s installment of An Assemblage of Grandiose and Bombastic Grandiloquents. Today we are journeying to the glorious and tropical Caribbean to explore the word: mamaguy.

Mamaguy is a West Indian word for trying to deceive someone by flattering them or telling them lies. The verb describes someone deceiving or teasing, either in jest or by deceitful flattery, and the noun refers to an instance of such deception or flattery. So you might say, ‘That guy at the bar just totally mamaguyed me - he told me I was the most beautiful person he’d ever seen just so I would buy him a drink.’ Oh dear. Well, we’ve all been there.

The word mamaguy peaked in use in the late 1980s, with a rather fast decline at the beginning of the millenium. Regardless, I would wager it’s still rather relevant today, wouldn’t you? It originates from the Spanish ‘mamar gallo’ which means ‘to make a monkey of’, or more literally ‘to feed the cockerel’. One would use it to describe someone who is being a real joker, or pulling your leg. For example, ‘Stop being such a mamar gallo, Simon!’ Caribbean Spanish, or ‘español caribeño’ is the language spoken by 64% of West Indians, followed by French or French-based Creole and English. 

Other snazzy Caribbean words include ‘lickrish’, which means gluttonous or greedy, ‘cunumunu’, a fool or idiot, and ‘pompasetting’, a word for showing off. A personal favourite of mine is the expression ‘cheese on bread!’ which means ‘wow!’ or ‘oh my God!’ And I promise, I’m not mamaguying you. I would never.

Isn’t language wonderful?

Written by Taylor Davidson, Read by Zane C Weber

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