What is bui?

Bui

Bui is a Bahamian bastardization of the English word boy.
Bui is generally used to refer to males but in recent times has become unisex.

Bui can be used interchangeably with boy, girl, guy, man, woman, friend, enemy acquaintance, stranger and many more.

To understand Bui more you’ll need exposure to Bahamian culture

Bui is not a true-to-word spelling but is a commonly accepted one. There is generally no accepted spelling for the word bui.

Younger generations (those born approx. 90’s onwards) have taken the word “Bui” and evolved it “Bey” which is pronounced exactly how it is spelt.

Bui phonetically sounds like: bah’yee or buh’yee
While
Bey is simply pronounced as “Bay” not to Ben confused with the American “Bae”.

1. Bahamian: Ha’ad go bui .
Proper English Translation: How is it going.

2. Bahamian: see! that’s the bui right there.
Proper English Translation: look! there’s the guy right over there.

3. Bahamian: One bui just been in the store and robbed the registers

Proper English Translation: A man came into the store and robbed the registers

4. Bahamian: Bui I’ne know
Proper English Translation: Boy I do not know.