Hither and Jawn
February 18, 2015 10:43 AM Subscribe
New research examines the spread (or not) of local dialectical terms on Twitter. [PDF]
While words like hella have gone nationwide on Twitter, Cleveland's ctfu (cracking the fuck up), Chicago's lbvs (laughing but very serious) or Philadelphia's jawn (joint ...and a lot of things) see less spread. [via]
While words like hella have gone nationwide on Twitter, Cleveland's ctfu (cracking the fuck up), Chicago's lbvs (laughing but very serious) or Philadelphia's jawn (joint ...and a lot of things) see less spread. [via]
So glad to see y'all gaining dominance. American English needs a one-syllable second person plural.
posted by infinitewindow at 11:07 AM on February 18, 2015 [10 favorites]
posted by infinitewindow at 11:07 AM on February 18, 2015 [10 favorites]
from what I could tell from my sister's ex, "jawn" can mean pretty much any person, object, or event. But this was quite a few years ago, now.
posted by Hoopo at 11:15 AM on February 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Hoopo at 11:15 AM on February 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
Jawn and such previously on MeFi.
I don't think jawn is ever going nationwide considering it doesn't even really make it out to the Philly suburbs to any great degree. And as for the Pittsburghese "yinz", I think that one's awkward enough to be safely contained here, which I can't say for "jagoff", which seems to be totally blowing up all over TV and elsewhere.
posted by tonycpsu at 11:27 AM on February 18, 2015
I don't think jawn is ever going nationwide considering it doesn't even really make it out to the Philly suburbs to any great degree. And as for the Pittsburghese "yinz", I think that one's awkward enough to be safely contained here, which I can't say for "jagoff", which seems to be totally blowing up all over TV and elsewhere.
posted by tonycpsu at 11:27 AM on February 18, 2015
Glad to see Hegel is making a comeback with the kids.
posted by Sangermaine at 11:33 AM on February 18, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by Sangermaine at 11:33 AM on February 18, 2015 [5 favorites]
from what I could tell from my sister's ex, "jawn" can mean pretty much any person, object, or event. But this was quite a few years ago, now.
This is still current. Rule of thumb: If it is a noun, you can substitute "jawn" for it.
"Can you hand me that jawn?"
"I'm going to Mike's jawn tonight."
"etc.
posted by Tomorrowful at 11:34 AM on February 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
This is still current. Rule of thumb: If it is a noun, you can substitute "jawn" for it.
"Can you hand me that jawn?"
"I'm going to Mike's jawn tonight."
"etc.
posted by Tomorrowful at 11:34 AM on February 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
I love "jawn," but I don't use it because it's not really my idiom. I see it more written on twitter than I hear it spoken or used in conversation.
posted by gladly at 11:37 AM on February 18, 2015
posted by gladly at 11:37 AM on February 18, 2015
New research examines the spread (or not) of local dialectical terms on Twitter.
You mean like "thesis," "antithesis," and "synthesis"?
posted by Mental Wimp at 11:57 AM on February 18, 2015 [2 favorites]
You mean like "thesis," "antithesis," and "synthesis"?
posted by Mental Wimp at 11:57 AM on February 18, 2015 [2 favorites]
Ever since I left Philly, I take perverse pride in the looks of utter confusion I get from the people around me whenever I say "jawn".
I honestly had no clue it was supposed to mean joint, though.
posted by Itaxpica at 12:12 PM on February 18, 2015
I honestly had no clue it was supposed to mean joint, though.
posted by Itaxpica at 12:12 PM on February 18, 2015
This puts a whole new spin on how the Tumblr arm of Sherlock fandom has somehow decided that Watson's first name is actually Jawn.
posted by dorque at 12:17 PM on February 18, 2015
posted by dorque at 12:17 PM on February 18, 2015
I don't think jawn is ever going nationwide considering it doesn't even really make it out to the Philly suburbs to any great degree.
It spread out to South Jersey when I was a kid. I'm not sure it ever got used frequently, but we were definitely aware of it. Nowadays, I notice Bostonisms creeping into my everyday language occasionally which has been slightly terrifying. I worry about having a sort of Twilight Zone moment where I tear the sheets off one morning to discover I'm wearing a scally cap and Sox jersey and can no longer pronounce the letter R.
posted by backseatpilot at 12:29 PM on February 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
It spread out to South Jersey when I was a kid. I'm not sure it ever got used frequently, but we were definitely aware of it. Nowadays, I notice Bostonisms creeping into my everyday language occasionally which has been slightly terrifying. I worry about having a sort of Twilight Zone moment where I tear the sheets off one morning to discover I'm wearing a scally cap and Sox jersey and can no longer pronounce the letter R.
posted by backseatpilot at 12:29 PM on February 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
My ears have been burning all day. Was wondering why.
posted by Jawn at 1:34 PM on February 18, 2015 [9 favorites]
posted by Jawn at 1:34 PM on February 18, 2015 [9 favorites]
I'm interested in the spread (or not) of "finna", which I usually tweet as "fidna", a distillation of the common southern term "fixin' to", meaning "about to, preparing, on the cusp of", as in "I'm fidna go to the store, y'all need anything?".
I guess I should go RTFA to see if they cover that.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 3:44 PM on February 18, 2015
I guess I should go RTFA to see if they cover that.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 3:44 PM on February 18, 2015
Yinz
Yall
Hella
Jawn
That's my new mantra. No for real. Shit has hooks.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 3:46 PM on February 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
Yall
Hella
Jawn
That's my new mantra. No for real. Shit has hooks.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 3:46 PM on February 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
The article mentions 'af', which is a term I associate with the tumblrverse, but also a trackable analogue to the Britishism "... as" (eg, "fit as"). Doesn't mention finna.
Missing: Real-world geographical spread of mfs versus mfers.
posted by a halcyon day at 4:36 PM on February 18, 2015
Missing: Real-world geographical spread of mfs versus mfers.
posted by a halcyon day at 4:36 PM on February 18, 2015
I hail from the lands of Mulgore. "QQ Nub" is the favored term there.
posted by symbioid at 4:59 PM on February 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by symbioid at 4:59 PM on February 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
I thought South Park was responsible for "hella" going nationwide.
posted by Lexica at 7:26 PM on February 18, 2015
posted by Lexica at 7:26 PM on February 18, 2015
A point of clarification: It's "y'all" when addressing one to four persons, "all y'all" when addressing groups of five or more.
posted by sourwookie at 8:55 PM on February 18, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by sourwookie at 8:55 PM on February 18, 2015 [5 favorites]
Re. that City Paper article: FYI, skeeve is definitely a South Philly word, and it isn't from the 90's, we were saying it way before that, 70's at least. Also see the variation "SKEEVATZ!", to denote disgust, roughly analogous to the Valley Girl's "Gag me with a spoon", mostly said by South Philly Catholic girls.
posted by SPUTNIK at 6:41 AM on February 19, 2015
posted by SPUTNIK at 6:41 AM on February 19, 2015
>It's "y'all" when addressing one to four persons, "all y'all" when addressing groups of five or more.
As someone who has "y'all" in my native dialect, I disagree that it can be used to address one person (expect as a representative of a group, I guess). The whole point is that it's plural.
"All y'all" is indeed a useful phrase, though.
posted by oakroom at 9:17 AM on February 19, 2015 [1 favorite]
As someone who has "y'all" in my native dialect, I disagree that it can be used to address one person (expect as a representative of a group, I guess). The whole point is that it's plural.
"All y'all" is indeed a useful phrase, though.
posted by oakroom at 9:17 AM on February 19, 2015 [1 favorite]
"I think that one's awkward enough to be safely contained here, which I can't say for "jagoff", which seems to be totally blowing up all over TV and elsewhere."
I learned "jagoff" from Gahan Wilson's America, which is at least '85.
"Philadelphia's jawn"
I had no idea that was from Philly — I see it as music critic internet slang (and always assumed it was a corruption of "joint") used like, "Weezy drops new trap jawn." Usually from the same folks who use "ish" for "shit."
And I wonder if "ard" for "alright" comes from the pronunciation, "aw-right doe" (alright though), similar to the phrase "dat ass do(e)."
posted by klangklangston at 10:52 AM on February 19, 2015
I learned "jagoff" from Gahan Wilson's America, which is at least '85.
"Philadelphia's jawn"
I had no idea that was from Philly — I see it as music critic internet slang (and always assumed it was a corruption of "joint") used like, "Weezy drops new trap jawn." Usually from the same folks who use "ish" for "shit."
And I wonder if "ard" for "alright" comes from the pronunciation, "aw-right doe" (alright though), similar to the phrase "dat ass do(e)."
posted by klangklangston at 10:52 AM on February 19, 2015
klangklangston: I learned "jagoff" from Gahan Wilson's America, which is at least '85.
Fair enough, but I think my point still stands that it seems to be resurgent.
posted by tonycpsu at 11:12 AM on February 19, 2015
Fair enough, but I think my point still stands that it seems to be resurgent.
posted by tonycpsu at 11:12 AM on February 19, 2015
It's weird from the "jagoff" Wikipedia page that it's claimed to be some English idiom for poking or prodding ("jag"); I always assumed it was much easier to tie to a voicing shift in plosives from /k/ to /g/, i.e. jackoff to jagoff. That I've seen "jagging off" used for masturbation means that I'm not the only one to make the connection.
posted by klangklangston at 2:50 PM on February 19, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by klangklangston at 2:50 PM on February 19, 2015 [1 favorite]
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