Nine Days Cabbage Water

Jamaican folk term used to show disgust for the taste or smell of a particular food, object or person.

The term comes from the experience that some people may have had when leaving vegetables or other kinds of food out, sometimes in water, for way too long. There is a repulsive odor that comes about when decaying food is left to sit in stagnant water for prolonged periods of time. This odor is generally found distasteful, and thus we Jamaicans use this term in certain incidents to show our disgust for an objectionable odor or taste coming from a food item, an object or a person.

-"Go tek a showah. You smell like nine days cabbage water."

-"A wha dis you gimme fi eat? It taste like nine days cabbage water."

-"Throw dis out for me, it smells like nine days cabbage water."