| 释义 |
▪ I. nyam, n. and v.
Also nyam-nyam.
See yam v. and n.3
▪ II. nyam, n. Caribbean (esp. Jamaican). Now rare.
Brit. |njæm|, U.S. |njæm|, Caribbean |njæm|
Forms: 18 nyamn, 18– nyam
[Either ‹nyam v., or independently via Jamaican creole nyam food > v. Derivatives (also yam n.1, ultimately of the same origin). Compare also yum int., ninyam n., and etymological notes s.vv. nuse n. and nyam v.]
As a count noun: a (hearty) meal; an item of food. As a mass noun: food. Cf. yam n.3 at yam v. Derivatives.
1828Marly i. 13 Mosquitoes, hab grandy nyamn on dat new buckra! 1835R. R. Madden Twelvemonth's Resid. W. Indies I. 188 Him want no nyam, no clothes, no sleep. 1953Caribbean Q. 3 iii. 176 That was a wicked Jamaican lizard ‘mash up him common-law wife for mout'ful of nyam’. 2000D. Adebayo My Once upon a Time (2001) x. 234 ‘Here,’ I said, slipping her my flask. She had a good glug on the brandy and grinned. ‘C'mon, let's get some nyams.’
▪ III. nyam, v. Caribbean (chiefly Jamaican) and (in later use) in British Afro-Caribbean usage.
Brit. |njæm|, U.S. |njæm|, Caribbean |njæm|
Present participle nyaming; past participle and past tense nyam, nyamed
Forms: 17 knaum, 17– nyam
[‹ Jamaican creole nyam to eat, and similar forms in other Caribbean and African creoles (e.g. Krio nyam, Gullah nyam, Sranan nyan), probably > int. and etymological note s.v. nuse n.). Compare earlier yam v. Compare also ninyam n., nyam n.
The etymology is discussed at some length in M. Hubner Ghanaian Pidgin Eng. (1999) iv. 102, F. G. Cassidy & R. B. Le Page Dict. Jamaican Eng. (1967) s.v., and R. Allsop Dict. Caribbean Eng. Usage (1996) s.v.]
trans. To eat, esp. voraciously or with relish. Cf. yam v.
1790Short Journey in W. Indies I. 72 Massa will come dere for nyam dinna. 1848B. J. Vernon Early Recoll. Jamaica in F. T. Buckland Curiosities Nat. Hist. 171 If nyoung massa nyam ratta one time, no more, him nyam ratta ebery day, hearree! 1862W. G. Hamley Captain Clutterbuck's Champagne iv. 68 They purchased the congenial [sugar-cane] plant, and nyaming greedily its fibre, were entranced. 1942L. Bennett Jamaica Dial. Verses 42 Ef Sue noh min nyam har fry fish, [etc.]. 1985O. Senior Summer Lightning & Other Stories i. 102 If is that class of people yu want to mix up wid dog nyam yu supper. 2002C. Newland Snakeskin iii. 32 Whoever nyam dem left de empty box, nuttin' else! |