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I can't believe it took me almost 28 years, but Today I Learned thanks to reddit that Bob Marley's song "No Woman, No Cry" is not telling males that there are no tears if you have no woman.... it's telling a woman not to cry.

"That's because Jamaican Creole (Patwa) is on a continuum with Patwa at one end and Standard English at the other. This song however was closer to Standard English, but not completely. It was written as "No Woman, No Cry", but that's because Jamaicans didn't use any standardized spelling for the creole. What it should really be is "No Woman, Nuh Cry". He's actually saying 'Nuh' and not 'No'. Nuh is Patwa for "do not"."

He's totally saying "nuh", and now everything about the song makes more sense. Just thought I'd share.

I know nothing of creole, but I always assumed the meaning of that lyric was 'do not cry' because that's the only way it makes sense.

I just thought Bob was one of those "songs don't really make that much sense" kinda writers. But maybe that's cause I can barely understand the dude when he sings, much as I love him. I think his accent makes me want to hear it latin-y but it's anything but so it just makes my brain need to really focus to grab his lyrics.

I can understand thick scottish just fine, but thick jamaican accents are almost like not english to me. It's weird isn't, it?

Thick accents can be difficult to get through, and I imagine being a non-native speaker only makes it more difficult.

I don't really count as a non-native speaker, even though I don't count as a native speaker either. I learned to read in English before I did in Spanish, even though I was talking in Spanish before I spoke in English. Talking like 3 years old talk, at least.

I think in both languages, it's weird. I'm a weird speaker. I don't even blink at thick british accents even native american speakers seem to have a problem with, but bust out a jamaican accent or a thick ebonics speaker and it's like it's Quenya or something. That's what I think is weird, why does my bilingual brain have no problem with one but so much with the other?

Just thinking out loud.

I nuh know.

Calleja said:

I don't really count as a non-native speaker, even though I don't count as a native speaker either. I learned to read in English before I did in Spanish, even though I was talking in Spanish before I spoke in English. Talking like 3 years old talk, at least.

I think in both languages, it's weird. I'm a weird speaker. I don't even blink at thick british accents even native american speakers seem to have a problem with, but bust out a jamaican accent or a thick ebonics speaker and it's like it's Quenya or something. That's what I think is weird, why does my bilingual brain have no problem with one but so much with the other?

Just thinking out loud.

I nuh know.

Click to expand...

That's easy, you're exposed to one more than you are the other. The more you hear an accent, the easier it is to understand.

Yeah, that's probably it. I watch more brit shows than american ones these days.