YARDIE

noun and adjective (Drugs) (People and Society) In British slang: noun: A member of any of a number of Jamaican or West Indian gangs (see posse) which engage in organized crime throughout the world, especially in connection with illicit drug-trafficking. In the plural, Yardies: these gangs as a whole or the criminal subculture that they represent. adjective: Of or belonging to the Yardies. Etymology: The name is derived from the Jamaican English word yard (or yaad) which originally meant 'a house or home' and came to be used by Jamaicans living outside Jamaica for the home country. The suffix -ie is common in nicknames for people from a particular place: compare Aussie or Ozzie for an Australian. History and Usage: Although probably active in the UK for some time, the Yardies only began to feature in the news towards the end of the eighties, when they were associated with the spread of drug-related crime in the UK in much the same way as the drug posses were in the US. The Yard was responding to claims that a Caribbean gang--ironically called The Yardies--has moved into London's Brixton area and is now setting up its own network of pushers to sell the so-called champagne-drug. Today 9 July 1986, p. 9 The Yardies is a loose association of violent criminals, most of whom originated in Kingston, Jamaica and whose principal interest is the trafficking and sale of cocaine. In Britain they are perceived as a new phenomenon. In America, however, their counterparts, the 'posses', are said to have been responsible for up to 800 drug-related murders since 1984. Daily Telegraph 13 Oct. 1988, p. 13 Many of the Shower who escaped the raid have fled abroad, some of them perhaps heading for Britain to join their 'yardie' colleagues. But more young Jamaican recruits will soon leave the tranquillity of the Caribbean for the mean streets of Washington DC. Sunday Telegraph 27 Nov. 1988, p. 10