dutty

English

Etymology 1

According to one source, from the Twi Akan word dutty (“ground”). Probably reinforced by the English terms dirt, dirty.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdʌti/
• Rhymes: -ʌti

Noun

dutty

1. (Jamaica) The ground.
   • 1966, Miss Lou, Dutty Tough:

     Rain a fall but dutty tough

Adjective

dutty (comparative duttier, superlative duttiest)

1. (Jamaica, colloquial; MLE and MTE, slang) dirty
   • 2014, Marlon James, A Brief History of Seven Killings, Oneworld Publications (2015), page 10:

     Let that be a lesson to never take you dutty, stinking, ghetto self uptown again.

   • 2020, Lil Slipz of Hoxton (lyrics and music), “EC1 Block Bully”‎^[1], 2:35:

     This nasty bitch is too dutty
     Why is the bitch so on me?

Etymology 2

Noun

dutty (plural dutties)

1. Alternative form of dhoti

Jamaican Creole

Etymology

From English dirty and, possibly, from Akan dɔte. Compare Sranan Tongo doti.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdʌtɪ/
• Hyphenation: du‧tty

Adjective

dutty

1. dirty, messy, soiled, unclean, nasty

   Mi have wah dutty mix-up fi gi yuh.

   I have a nasty piece of gossip to share with you.

   But of all de house pon de road, me notice dis one das hab a whole heap a dutty boot line off pon de mat pon de veranda.

   I noticed one house on the street which had several dirty shoes side-by-side on a mat on the porch.

Noun

dutty

1. ground, earth, land, dirt (soil)

   Rain a fall, but dutty tough.

   The rain's falling but the land is hard and dry.

Verb

dutty

1. dirty, make dirty, soil, spoil

   Nuh dutty up Jamaica!

   Don't spoil Jamaica's beauty!

Further reading

• Richard Allsopp, editor (1996), Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage, Kingston, Jamaica: University of the West Indies Press, published 2003, →ISBN, page 209
• dutty – jamaicans.com Jamaican Patois dictionary