what does 'fiaca' mean and what language is it?
as in "forward and fiaca" at the beginning of the movie language?
sharehavent seen the movie, but "fiaca" means "lazyness" in spanish
share
MovieChat Forums > The Harder They Come (1976) Discussion > what does 'fiaca' mean and what language...
It's someone who sells trinkets on the street. It's just Jamaican slang, but a lot of Jamaican slang has roots in French or Spanish, so it's probably rooted in that Spanish word.
shareHahaha, I'm from Split, Croatia, and here we also say "fiaca" often when we feel lazy (often). It's spelled here "fjaka".
shareWell, but "fiaca" isn't known in Spain at all.
Any latin-American country, could be?
I know, Im Dalmatian as well and instantly thought of our word "fjaka" as well :D
shareIf you've seen the movie or, espcially, you have the album, you will hear "Forward & fiaca, monacal & den go saca." at the beginning of a song. Now, I don't know if the spelling is correct, but, if anyone Jamaican can interpret that, It would satisfy a curiosity that has been with me since I saw the movie in 1972-73.
shareIn a previous life I understood Patois and Rasta a bit. If I recall the phrase correctly, it's a poke or criticism of crusading religions.
Forward and Fiah (fire) Ca (here/there). (going forward preaching fire and brimstone)
Manacle (manacle-as in enslave by shackling) and then Go Satta (first you enslave us, then tells us about how spiritually enlightened you are.)
The "t"'s are pronounced as c's or hard k's in the Rasta and Jamaican tradition, to make it rhyme while still being understood.
The language is a work in progress, as all languages are, so I don't know if the phrase would make any sense to a Jamaican today. Then again it might not have changed at all.
That's what I've always taken it to mean, if anyone fluent in Patois and Rasta would like to chime in it would be great to know for sure.
As for the entire phrasing, I don't know, it's one of those things that people used to say back in the day that hasn't really trickled down, but your explanation makes the most sense. The Fiahca part is definitely to do with fire. The beauty of patois (and language in general) is that it gets transformed and invented anew all the time.
share[deleted]
“payaaka” in Jamaican Creole was “hawk” it still has this meaning in some rural areas. So a "hawk" refers to a guy who will swoop down and take your girl if you give him a chance.
It took half a dozen years after this thread was posted and 40 years after the film was released, here's the scoop from Peter L. Patrick, Professor of Sociolinguistics at the University of Essex in Colchester, England:
“Forward and payaaka, manhangle (manhandle) and den go saaka.”
In the “youth man slang” of the time, “payaaka” was a verb, meaning “to take away another man’s woman/girlfriend.” In this “slang,” “saaka” meant “to fock.” So the song’s intro meant, “go and take away a next man’s girl, grab her and then go have sex with her.”
Man without relatives is man without troubles. Charlie Chan