An Insider’s Guide to Bermuda: How to Speak Bermudian

Lindsey Sirju's picture

Although Bermuda is a proud British territory located in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 800 miles off the coast of South Carolina, USA, its unique accent might have visitors scratching their heads. Bermudian accents are a mix of British, Southern American, and Caribbean. The sound of it is something that is hard to forget. The cadence is so incomparable that even ex-pats who live here for years have trouble mimicking it. I’ve included some of the most popular examples of  “Bermewjan vurds’ below.    

This past year “Bermudian English” has even gotten its own Wikipedia page. Check it out here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bermudian_English

 

An Insider’s Guide to Bermuda: How to Speak Bermudian

 

A

ACE BOY: noun 1) generic for addressing someone of the male sex: "Hey, ACE BOY, pass de black" 2) a close male friend

ACT UP: noun 1) become agitated: "He got drunk and started ACTIN UP". "She got angry and ACTED UP". "The weather ACTED UP and they got wet". 2) Malfunction: "I'm gonna be late 'cause my bike's ACTIN UP".

AX: verb (used with object) 1) Interrogate; Question: "Don't AX me, I don't know".

 

B

BAKATAWN: noun 1.)The section of Hamilton, north of Victoria Street.

BERMY: noun 1) Bermuda

BIN: verb 1) past participle of be: "Where you BIN?"

BLACK: noun 1) Gosling’s Black Rum

BURR: noun  1) Beer

BYE: noun 1) A male child. 2) Plural BYES

 

D

DAHN: adverb 1) From higher to lower; in descending order. 2) Not up: "DAHN de road."

     

F

FUR: noun 1) a distressing emotion:  “I could see FUR in his eyes!”

 

H

HEEL: noun 1) a natural elevation of the earth’s surface:  "Gotta go up de HEEL."

 

I

I'M BIN: contraction of I am/verb past participle of be: "I'M BIN done that.”

 

N

NAHW: adverb 1) At the present moment

 

R

RON: adjective 1) Round, around: "RON de corner."

 

S

SHREE: noun 1) a cardinal number, 2 plus 1

 

Y

YOU LOT: pronoun 1) The group to whom you are speaking

YOUR BOY: pronoun/noun 1) Refers to the person being discussed, usually in unpleasant terms or if the person isn't familiar to the speaker.

 

 

Take a look...

 

)

 

 

 

 

Lindsey Lehman is the Bermuda Editor for Wandering Educators

 

Photo courtesy and copyright Lindsey Lehman