"big up yourself"

[Gamma]

is that a jamaican coined phrase?

[Za]

I think it is. I didn't hear other cultures(US/England) using it until the Ali G show and urban radio stations

[Gamma]

"You should not get down when things are not going your way, or big yourself up when things go well" cesc fabregas.

[1of1]

memba him spen time a england (likkle jamaica)

[Za]

memba him spen time a england (likkle jamaica)

Yea, true. London street slang, spoken by kids of different background is heavily influenced by Jamaican "Patios" to the point of hilarity.

[Gamma]

what i need to have coherently explained to me, is how come a dot on the map can have this kind of influence on language internationally and yet ....??!!

[Westman]

What did you just say, Mr Mugabe? By the way, I once sang, "Africans a liberate Zimbabwe." Yes, we Jamaican males like to sing.

[Mosiah]

It most certainly is! I have heard a British economist struggle for the appropriate word during an analysis, and, failing to find one, had to insert, "big up" to explain what he was saying. And yes, the context was exactly how we would have used it too!