I'm a lil confused. When people ask me where my roots are from and I tell them 'Jamaica' ...some of them assume i'm a 'Yardie'. I don't like this term, and I don't like being called one. I asked another Jamaican whata yardie is supposed to be. She told me that they're the ones that do drugs and don't make no lives for themselves and just hang around on tha street doin nuthing. Is this what people think of me cause I'm from Jamaica?!? I was also told yardies (female ones) are the ones with the orange or green weaves or any other bright colours with clothes two sizes too small....this had to be one of the most ignorant things I've ever heard. To me, I think all Jamaicans should be called jamaicans. Not all of us are the same, so to generalise us by calling sum of us 'yardies' and I've even heard the term 'normal jamaican'? lol wot's that about?! Is 'yardie' a word made in Jamaica and is a term used over there also? Or is it a word made by people in other parts of society to useto describethe less 'successful', (as they say) jamaican people? Have u had any experiences to do with this issue?

We ARE yardies!! Plain and simple.

Over the past 10 years we've allowed the racist media to ruin this word that has been usedfrom generations....what with their ignorant associations of it with crime and drugs.

We shouldn't shy away from using the term to refer to our Jamaican or other Caribbeanfamily members and friends in it's original context just because these racist idiots deem it to represent criminal behaviour.

Let's not let the media or white folks in generalcontrol what we use in our vocabulary with one another. If they wanted to associate the common term 'blood' or 'bredrin' with crime also then they'd do that. It ain't up to them to define us.

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Well said, efenjee clp)

Growing up, it was always, " Mek me gwan a mi yard" meaning, home.It is comparable to AA's saying "homey"... without all the negative connotations that other cultures have assgned it.

It was only recently that we've let others define it as criminals=yardie=Jamaican.Stamp out the ignorance and reclaim the word!

oh ok. Thanx, I understand it all much better now. But what still upsets me is when people who aren't of jamaican origin, call me a yardie. Like someone posted, when people know what a yardie is , and understand it, then it's ok. But when people who don't know anything about Jamaica except the representation they get over here, and they call me that. They mean somethin else by it. They give it another meaning. Now i know what the true definition of a yardie is, I can't honestly say that I am one. Cause...i'm black british...but of jamaican origin. I've never been there, nor has my mum. Only my dad has and my grandparents and mums aunties etc etc lol. So i'm not sure if i could use that word to describe myself.

Well, like all other negative rubbish, dancehall popularized the well-hard "yardie" thing to give themselves street cred. So in a way, you are right. Of course, media abroad picked it up and ran with it to the point where nobody knows the origins.

We're talking waaaay back in the day... your "yard"washome, Jamaica is home and Jamaicans are yardies. That's pretty much how anyone over 30 understands it.

i think its a shame how the word yardie has been changed. when i was younger i would innocently describe my family as yardies. now, out of respect for my family i would only call them jamaicans when talking to non- west indian people because i wouldnt want to portray my family negatively. with other west indians i would still probably say yardie as most people i know appreciate the original meaning of the word.

Here in the US it simply means Jamaican, no other connotatins to it.

I'm one proud Yardie/Jamaican....

I dont get offended if ppl use the term in a non-offensive way. But if they do use the word to stereotype or in a n offensive manner then I'd show them the reason why we are stereotyped...