forty leg

Jamaican Creole

FWOTD – 17 February 2021

forty leg

Alternative forms

• forty-leg

Etymology

Some centipedes literally appear to have forty legs. Compare Hindi चालीसपद (cālīspad), Turkish kırkayak.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɑːtɪ ˌlɛɡ/
• Hyphenation: for‧ty‧leg

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

forty leg (plural forty leg dem, quantified forty leg)

1. A centipede. A segmented arthropod of class Chilopoda.

   If forty leg bite yuh, yuh fenneh.

   If a centipede bites you, you'll be in a lot of pain.

   • 2018, Michael Abrahams, “Stop spread propaganda pon di dread”, in The Jamaica Gleaner‎^[1] (in English):

     “Me seh fi stop spread propaganda pon di dread
     Cause di dread nuh have nuh forty-leg inna him head […] ”

     I'm asking you to stop spreading propaganda about the Rastaman
     Because the Rastaman doesn't have centipedes in his hair […]