My grandfather's English

Growing up, I always thought some of the things my grandfather said were just island slang, funny phrases that didn’t quite match the English I was learning in school. As someone who’s half islander and half foreigner, my English leaned more American, so hearing things like “ova yanda” instead of “over there” always stood out to me. I’d smile, repeat it in my head, and wonder, “Where did that even come from?”

It wasn’t until I was in 4th grade at ESBIR (Roatan Bilingual School) that something clicked. We were reading a McGraw Hill literature book in class, and I remember coming across phrases that sounded just like the way my grandfather spoke. Not broken English—something older, deeper, rooted.

That’s when I started realizing that what we call “island English” isn’t random or wrong. It’s connected to old English—sometimes closer to 17th or 18th century speech than to modern-day American English.

The photo I’m sharing here is from The Incredible Death and Revival of William Morgan by William Jackson. It’s just one of many examples that show how our island English didn’t come out of nowhere, it came from somewhere. The way Jackson wrote reflects a kind of English that’s far more familiar to island ears than you’d expect from a formal book.

“Ova yanda” was never “over there”, it was always “over yonder”.

Our dialect has history. It has depth. And it deserves to be understood as part of a larger story, one of survival, adaptation, and culture passed down, even through the way we speak.