Rolling Calf

See also: rolling calf

Jamaican Creole

Alternative forms

• Roaring Calf

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈrʷoːlɪn ˈkʲɑːf/
• Hyphenation: Ro‧lling‧Calf

Proper noun

Rolling Calf

1. a calf demon with fiery eyes which makes its presence known by rattling chains

   As a yute, mi cousin dem use fi tell me nuh fi guh a bush a night-time, for Rolling Calf deh a bush.

   When I was little, my cousins used to tell me not to enter the forest at night, because the calf demon was there.

   • 2020, Simone Morgan-Lindo, “Woman believes demons killed her granddaughter”, in The Jamaica Star‎^[1] (in English):

     “And hear this - fi months nuhbaddy nuh walk back desso, because as far as they were concern - a rolling calf was on the loose […] ”

     Now hear this - nobody went there again for months, because as far as they were concerned, a calf demon was on the loose […]

Holonyms

• duppy

See also

• Blackheart Man

Further reading

• Richard Allsopp, editor (1996), Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage, Kingston, Jamaica: University of the West Indies Press, published 2003, →ISBN, page 476