Haitian Creole

love life

Love life

Vi sosyal

Vi santimantal

How's your love life?

Kouman vi sosyal ou ye?

Kouman vi santimantal ou ye?

Ask me anything

what is the difference between, mwen sonje ou and mwen manke ou? Which would a native speaker say? I am trying to say "I miss you" to someone who has passed away.

A native would say: Mwen sonje w.

"Ou manke m" comes from the French "Tu me manques" meaning something like: "You are missing from my life".

Someone who uses "Ou manke m" is speaking the Frenched or Frenchised Creole.

Ask me anything

(Thanks Bloodline. I've added more info :-)

a cup of coffee.
yon tas kafe.
a haitian cup = tas
In Haiti, the word "cup" is translated differently when saying "a cup of coffee" and "a cup of water"

a cup of water.
yon gode dlo.
An american cup = gode

a glass of water
yon vè dlo.
Ask me anything

older lady

older lady or older man → granmoun, pèsonaj

A courteous name for an older person is "pèsonaj" rather than "granmoun".

Ask me anything

What is "lobo"?

lobo → heated argument, heated discussion, altercationn, disturbance of the peace.

Other Creole words used for the above descriptions are:
Briganday
lòbèy
zen
deblozay
eskandal

The best place to watch a "deblozay" in Haiti is at the flea market. But if a fight breaks, make yourself invisible as soon as you can:-)

Mete zorèy ou al lekout! (Translate )

Mete zòrèy a lekout!
Be vigilant!
Be watchful!

Do you know the Tourist in Haiti Joke?

In Haiti, not only do you we get to hear tales nightly from our grownups,
we used to listen to nightly "blag" (jokes) on the radio. It was a nice radio program, complete with applause, as I remember it. It is a great pastime when you have no electricity.

This one I've heard a long time ago, when I was still small, on the Haitian radio. I'm not sure of its origin.

A tourist came to visit Haiti for the first time.
He went sightseeing along with a tour guide.
The tourist wasn't impressed at all with Haiti. He found that everything was just too small.

The tourist saw a little house. He asked the tour guide, "What is that?"
The tour guide said, "That's a house."
"That's a house!" cried the tourist all in shock. "Oh no no no! Where I come from the houses are big big big!"

Both men were walking the busy streets of Haiti.
The tourist saw a little car. He asked the tour guide, "What is that?"
The tour guide said, "That's a car."
"That's a car!" cried the tourist unable to believe his eyes. "Oh no no no! Where I come from cars are big big big!"

Both men went into a bookstore.
The tourist saw the little bookstore. He asked the tour guide, "What is this?"
The tour guide said, "This is a bookstore."
"That's a bookstore!" cried the tourist very surprised. "Oh no no no! Where I come from the bookstores are big big big!"

Both men were walking pass Haiti's White House.
The tourist saw Haiti's little White House. He asked the tour guide, "What is that?"
The tour guide said, "That's Haiti's White House."
"That's the White House!" cried the tourist indignant. "Oh no no no! Where I come from the White House is big big big!"

The tour guide had it up to his neck with the tourist. He said to himself, "I'm going to get even with him."

When night came, both men went to sleep in a little hotel. The tour guide waited until the tourist was asleep, he fetched the biggest turtle there was in Haiti and placed it under the tourist belly.
The turtle bit the tourist and took out a big piece of his flesh.
The tourist woke up screaming and scared when he saw the big turtle.
"What the heck is that?!" said the tourist.
The tour guide smiled and said, "That's a bed bug."
"That's a bedbug!" cried the tourist all scared. "Where I come from bedbugs are small small small!"

Needless to say that the tourist took the very next flight out of Haiti.

"Lasisin" as in "Fè lasisin ak manje a"

Oh dear, I haven't heard that expression in a long time.

Fè lasisin → especially with food, is to eat very slowly. It is to take your time to relish the food that you're eating.

Fè lasisin ak manje a → to take time to savor the food.

It is a funny thing when you live in a country where food is scarce. When you finally get your hands on that only meal of the day, you take your time to savor every bite. But, beware, if you are not eating alone (especially among kids), people who are already done with their own food might want to steal yours. So, in Haiti, I was taught to never "fè lasisin". I was told, "Eat you food in one gulp. Once it's in your stomach, it's yours! No one else can get their hands on it :) I call that survival.