- Maljo,
maljoe ,maljeu (n): Evil eye; the belief that a conscious or unconscious look of envy or ill will can harm someone. <French Creolemalzie , Spanish mal deojo ‘evil eye’; Yoruba fioju buruku si ‘putugly eye on, Igbo /oleanja ‘look ugly eye’, Kikongo /ntadidi je disu / ‘look withbad eye’- I heard them say how my donkey grows, It seems like they want to give it maljo… The whole this is through jealousy , Because they want to buy me donkey from me.
- A disease, attributed to
maljo , characterized by fever, changed colour, inability to urinate, loss of appetite and weight, greenish stool.
It is not unheard of in Trinidad that if you have something of value somebody somewhere will give you maljo. For example, if you buy a new car and all of a sudden you get in an accident it’s not unheard of that you blame the accident on maljo that somebody put on your new car because you didn’t take it up to Mount Saint Benedict to get blessed! To know whether a child has maljo, you put a twig of the escobilla plant in his or her hand…if the child is afflicted the plant wilts.
Click here now for other Trini expressions and leave us a comment below of phrases you have heard.
Source: Dictionary of the English/Creole of Trinidad & Tobago by Lise Winer
Featured Image by Gary Bendig on Unsplash
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