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Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Haitians say "to use someone as toothpick", which translation do you use, kidan or bwa dan?

Is this an American expression also?

Li pran m sèvi bwa dan.
He used me as a toothpick.
He embarrassed / humiliated me.
He treated me badly.

I have heard people use both kidan and bwa dan for this expression.
kidan (from French Cure-dent) if Creole for toothpick
bwa dan (which is lit. wood tooth) is native.  People use small pieces of wood, such as the middle vine of dried coconut leaves, as toothpick.  The vine closest to the base of the stem is usually best since it's sturdier.

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Es ce ke moun san antraill ce moune ce pitie?

 "Moun san zantray" se moun ki san pitye, moun ki san kè, moun ki pa gen konpasyon.... moun ki pa konn renmen petèt...
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Sunday, January 6, 2013

Is is Ok to use "denojou"(french, De nos jours) alongside the others, "sejousi", "sètansi"? How would one say "in the olden days" with one word instead of a phrase like its opposite above? More Synonyms for both(if possible)?

Yes,

these days 
denojou
sèjousi 
sètansi
sètanprezan
aprezan
alèkile
alòkile
kounye a 
kounye a la

In the olden days (not all the followings are one-word, but Haitians have a lot of  "expressions" for the olden days
lontan (long time ago)
otrefwa (a very long time ago)
tan dantan (good old days, olden days)
tan lontan (in the old days)
tan benmbo (a very very long time ago)
depi digdantan ( a very very long time ago)
tan prezidan bann machwè ( a very long time ago)
depi ti konkonm t'ap goumen ak berejèn ( a very distant past)

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감사합니다 vle di , Mèsi nan lang Koreyen an!


감사합니다. from all Korean in Haiti !

감사합니다 means "Mesi" in Korean
_________________________
I love this, anonymous.
Mèsi anpil!

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Inosan peye pou koupab

Wi. Inosan peye pou koupab.
Sa rive souvan.  Sa rive toupatou.
Nou plenyen anpil chak kou n wè yon pòv inosan pran chatiman yon koupab.
Men malerezman sa rive chak jou.
Sa rive nan lekòl, lè yon pwofesè pini tout klas la pou zak youn ou de nan elèv yo.
Sa rive nan peyi Etazini, lè klas mwayen an ap peye pou goumandiz mesye Wall Street yo.
Sa rive Ayiti, lè abitan peyi a ap soufri poutèt move gouvènman mesye antèt yo.
E yo di, sa te rive Jerizalèm lè yon nonm te peye dèt peche lemonn sou yon kwa.

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"Mwen fou pou ou"

Oh wow....
You know, I just realize that I've never said these words to anyone.  ...I don't remember anyone ever said this to me either.  ...But I'm not losing sleep over it :)

M fou pou ou.
Mwen fou pou ou.
I'm crazy for you.

note:  You cannot have a contraction at the end of that sentence.  It would be grammatically incorrect. Mwen fou pou w. or M fou pou w. is not correct.

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How would you say "where were you brought up?"

Where were you brought up?
Kibò ou te leve?
Ki kote w te leve?

Men kèk egzanp:
1. Mwen fèt Pòtoprens, men mwen te leve Jeremi.
2. Timoun sa yo pa konn kapital la paske yo te leve andeyò.
3. Malgre mwen te fèt Ayiti, mwen pa konn yon mo Kreyòl.  Mwen leve nan peyi etranje.
4. Leplisouvan yo panse timoun ki leve Ayiti toujou gen bon konpòtman.

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I have heard people use kina or kin a. I was told that people from Cap-Haïtien or Okap uses this variant. It is the possessive pronoun and adjective. Can you make a comparison between kina(Okap's version) and pa(standard version) in all persons?

People from the North also use "kin an mwen" or "kinan'm" to indicate that a person is close, dear or special to them. I would not call it an adjective or pronoun.  I would just say that it's possessive indicator or marker until the Haitian department of education says otherwise.

They don't just use this expressive form with the word "kin", they use it with other words too.
examples:
Sa se kay an mwen.→ This house is mine
Sa se pitit an mwen.→ This child is mine
Sa se pitit a ou?.→ Is this your child?
Ayiti, se peyi an nou. → Haiti is our own.
Sa se kin an mwen.→ This is mine. This is my buddy, This is my chum

kin an mwen (pa mwen or pa'm)mine
kin an ou (pa ou or pa'w)yours
kin a li (pa li or pa'l) his, hers
kin an nou (pa nou or pa'n)ours
kin a yo (pa yo)theirs

But, you should leave it to the kapwa to talk like that.  It's THEIR way, not ours. Sometimes, when we try to talk like them, it might appear as if we're making fun of them.

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"Si ou pa vle ede m, ma fout fè afè m poukò m" what is that second part, can't get it from google translate.

Google translate works best if you eliminate contractions... I think :)
Anyways, he or she sounds pissed.

Si ou pa vle ede m, ma fout fè afè m poukò m
If you don't want to help me, I'll frickin do it myself.

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kisa ki pi bon pou itilize "kom sa dwa" or "kom sa dwatet"

Ou kapab itilize toulede.  Mwen menm, mwen itilize kòmsadwa plis pase kòmsadwatèt.  M'espere ou va konprann tou de mo yo se varyasyon yo ye.
Kèk egzanp:
1. Depi nouvo prezidan Iran an monte sou pouvwa, li sanble tout bagay ap mache kòmsadwa.
2. Semèn k'ap vini an, m pral  wè yon doktè paske m pa santi m kòmsadwa.
3. Nan epòk Divalye, eleksyon peyi d Ayiti pa't janm fèt kòmsadwatèt.

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Saturday, January 5, 2013

Tell them to leave me alone (is it di yo lese mwen pou kont mwen)

leave me alone (as in not to bother me?)
Tell them to leave me alone.
Di yo pou yo lese m anrepo.
Di yo pou yo kite m anrepo.

leave me alone (as in to leave me by myself?)
They left me alone in the house.
Yo kite m pou kont mwen nan kay la.
Yo kite m sèl nan kay.

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51? Where is that exactly? "pèmanant nan 51 ou"?

You know I have not been able to exactly pinpoint its location, but I have an idea :)
It's the same story as the terms fyèl, biskèt, dengonn. ....Ask a Haitian to locate them on their body :) 

First of all, It's not 51, it's fiftiwann.
Secondly, most Haitians would agree that your fiftiwann is definitely your buttocks.

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