Planning to crash the Caribana parade today or other events through the weekend? Get your "rapso" right with our party lingo primer.
Calypso A type of music that originated in the West Indies. It relies on improvisation and often comments on life, love, society and humour.
Canboulay The forerunner of Trinidad's Carnival and later Caribana, Canboulay (from the French canne-brûlée) celebrated emancipation. Freed slaves marched in torchlight processions, with costumes and drumming. The torchlight commemorated the fires in sugar-cane fields.
Soca A modern form of calypso frequently featured at celebrations such as Caribana. Its fusion of calypso and Indian rhythms produces a faster tempo.
Rapso A spoken-word poetry that formed out of unrest in Trinidad and Tobago in the 1970s.
Jab Molassie A popular Carnival costume in Trinidad. The name means painted devil. (Jab is from the French diable.) The Jab Jab, another devil costume, resembles a jester and carries a whip.
Mas' (Masquerade) Band Masquerade is often shortened to Mas'. A band is a group in the Caribana parade that costumes itself in a similar theme.
Steel Pan The music most often reminiscent of the Caribbean is created with this soft, melodic percussion instrument. It was invented when an oil drum was turned over and its bottom made into a concave surface.