This week’s word is: GYAFF

Growing up, I loved quietly stationing myself in some corner of the room when my parents friends and family visited. Listening to their conversation was highly entertaining. But my favorite part was how it usually kicked off. With the loud and boisterous declaration:“Come leh we gyaff nuh!”

To gyaff is to talk, to engage in informal chit-chat and conversation. As far as I know it’s a Guyanese term not widely used across the Caribbean. And it refers to a fun, jovial, long-ranging discussion among friends.

When I hear the word I know the coming conversation will not be a dry discussion of boring facts. But one filled with laughter and exuberant hand gestures. It will require those participating to stand up occasionally to act out the point they are making. The decibel level will move from barely audible stage whispers to deafening exclamations of surprise or anger or agreement.

And though it may start off with everyone speaking the Queen’s English, it will soon become a tangle of Creolese, with me in the corner racing to use context clues to understand what they meant by ‘blackcakin’ the job’ , what exactly is wrong with the ‘pagalee‘ politician or what’s so funny about being outside in your ‘buckta‘.

And now the tradition continues. While my kids and their friends play videogames, they laugh as I sit gyaffin’ wit me fren dem, our conversation moving effortlessly between hip-hop slang, standard English and Caribbean creole/patois. Full of exclamations and gestures, the gyaff continues.