Wednesday, July 25, 2012

What is KOUT in front of a Creole word? I see it a lot. It's confusing to me 'cause I always thought that KOUT meant SHORT in English. I made a list of the ones I've stumbled on so far: kout zekle, kout fil, kout chapo, & kout pye... And none of these make any sense as SHORT .... Mèsi!

First of all the main word in Creole is kou (from French Coup) which means a blow, a punch, a strike of, a gesture
And when you place it in front of these words, it becomes kout (from French Coup de ...)

There are many Haitian Creole expressions made with the word kout:

1. Kout chapo → tribute, ovation
Ex:
Kout chapo pou ou!
Congratulations!

2. Kout fil → phone call
Ex:
Ban'm yon kout fil pita.
Give me a phone call me later.

3. Kout pye → a kick
Ex:
Li te ban'm yon kout pye.
She kicked me.

4. Kout pye → a short visit, a visit
Ex:
Pandan n te Ayiti, nou te pwofite fè yon ti kout pye Sendomeng.
While we were in Haiti, we took the opportunity to make a short trip to Santo Domingo.

5. Kout pwen → punch
Li te bay pitit la yon kout pwen nan tèt.
He punched the child in the head.

6. Kout men → help, support
Ex:
Ban'm yon kout men ak valiz yo. Yo twò lou.
Give me a hand with the bags.  They're too heavy.

7. Kout lang → slander, lie
Ex:
Li te kite travay la paske yo te fè twòp kout lang sou li.
She left the job because they told too many lies on her.

8. Kout loray / kout loraj → a strike of thunder
    Kout zeklè → lightning strike
Ex: 
Chak kout loray e chak kout zeklè ki te fèt, syèl la te klere tankou yon abdenwèl.
Each thunder and lightning strike lit up the sky like a christmas tree.

9. Kout zam → shotgun
    Kout fizi → shotgun
Ex:
Nou tande kout zam chak swa nan katye sa a.
We hear gunshots every night in this neighborhood.

10. Kout kouto → a stab (of a knife)
    Kout ponya → a stab
Ex:
Li te resevwa yon kout kouto nan batay la.
He got stabbed in the fight.

11. Kout ba → deception
Ex:
Nou te fè misye konfyans.  Men li te ban nou kout ba.
We trusted the man.  But he deceived us.

12. Kout je → a haughty look
Ex:
Mwen pa konn sa'm fè Rachel.  Lè'm te wè li nan magazen an, li pa't pale avè'm, li te koupe'm kout je.
I don't know what I did to Rachel.  When I saw her at the store, she didn't talk to me, she gave me a dirty look.

13. Kout pitit → to try and pass one man's conceived child for another's
Ex:
Yo te divòse paske madanm li te ba'l yon kout pitit.
They got divorced because his wife conceived a child for another man and tried to pass the child as his.

14. Kout baton → a beating (with a club)
Ex:
Misye te pran yon bann kout baton.
The guy got beaten with a club.

15. Kout tèt → head nodding (when falling asleep)
Ex:
Ou dwe gen dòmi.  Mwen wè w'ap bay kout tèt.
You must be sleepy.  I see you're nodding your head.

16. Kout dan → a bite
Ex:
Li te bay mesye a yon kout dan nan bra li.
She bit the man in the arm.

17. Kout wòch → lapidation, stoning
Ex:
Yo te touye'l ak kout wòch.
They stoned him to death.

18. Kout zong → a pinch ( with the fingernails), scratches
Ex:
Lapolis te retire timoun nan nan kay la, lè yo te wè kout zong yo nan do li.
The police removed the child from the home when they saw the fingernail marks on his back.

Haitian Creole ↔ English Reference, Look up Haitian Creole and English Words

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