24Jan/0619
People From Philly Talk Funny
I've learned some new local lingo:
- Slippy - It's a synonym for "slippery."
"I had to drive slow on the way to work this morning because the roads were super slippy." - Done that - It's short for "done with that."
"You ready to go out, or are you still busy doing laundry?"
"I'll be ready soon. I'm almost done that." - Jawn - "Thing." This word can be used for just about anything.
*A guy needs a lighter* "Dude, pass that jawn."
*Guy owes guy ten bucks* "Gimme that jawn. I'm broke."
*Guy has a new guitar* "Nice! That jawn is badass!" - Down the shore - Jersey shore, or Atlantic City.
"Where you headed this weekend?" "Oh, down the shore."
I think the lesson here is that Philly people are naturally lazy - or efficient. Either way, they love grammatical shortcuts.
I'm surprised more people here don't say "LOL" or "WTF." What you might actually hear: "When I'm done that jawn I'm headed down the shore, even though the roads are slippy."
Support our advertisers
Recent Posts
- What not to do during a job interview
- Search Strings – Porn that will make you sick
- Twitter Phishing and the Pharma Hack
- Vegetarians are weird and unhealthy and stupid
- Text Message Misunderstanding
Subscribe via Email
Feedback
Recent Comments
- ILoveAlbinas on Albino Porn Doesn’t Exist
- Wouldn't you like to know ;) on Normal Age for a First Kiss
- Wouldn't you like to know ;) on How Often does a Normal Person Masturbate?
- Suger buns on How Often does a Normal Person Masturbate?
- Brenda on Albino Porn Doesn’t Exist
Blogs
- Adventures in Blah Blah Land
- Avitable-isms
- Bacon After Dark
- Captain & Coke with a Lime
- citynoise.org : Philadelphia
- Idle-Ranting Revisited
- MacBros’ Place
- My Life as Rocky’s Dad
- Randi’s Random Rantings
- String and Timekeeping
- The Airing of Grievances
- The Finest Kind of Pork
- The Omnipotent Poobah Speaks!
- The Pop Eye
Friends
- An Artist’s Journal
- Martha Brooks Marshall
- Martha Brooks Marshall – absolutearts.com
- Molumbus
- Premium Horticultural Oil
January 24th, 2006 - 09:25
jawn? i’ve never heard that.
January 24th, 2006 - 09:33
The people I know from Philly are just efficient. I might know the wrong people though?
That’s pretty understandable. Try Miami Spanglish, when every third word is replaced with a Spanish word: “Hola, what can I get for you papi.”
January 24th, 2006 - 09:51
Yeah, slippy bothered me when I went to school there. I also hated “sweeper” for vacuum.
January 24th, 2006 - 10:07
Sarah:
I learned that one recently from friends in South Philly. I took a guess on the spelling. One guy I know uses it constantly. He swears it’s common.
RockyJay:
Sounds similar to my experience growing up in Tampa.
Eddie:
Sweeper? Yeah, that’s pretty ridiculous.
January 24th, 2006 - 11:19
The majority of my family lives in Philly but I have never heard any of them use the term jawn. Down the Shore all the time, but never jawn. I will have to call my sister and ask her about this.
I like the way people in Philly say water and asshole. And yooz guys.
Are you starting to pick up the accent at all?
January 24th, 2006 - 11:30
JJ, are you becoming an Eagles/Flyers fan..
please tell me no.
January 24th, 2006 - 12:31
“Sweeper” as a word for vacuum cleaner was also common in Columbus, Ohio.
January 24th, 2006 - 13:04
April:
I wonder if my buddy’s just fucking with me. Maybe he’s trying to get me to say a word that doesn’t really exist. And no, I don’t have any sort of Philly accent. I still talk like a Florida redneck. Heheheh.
LC:
Well, I’m still a huge Bucs fan, but I do feel obligated to support the Eagles. I even bought an Eagles hoodie! I don’t really care about hockey, so that’s not an issue.
C.Ro:
Sounds like Ohio lingo is just as ridiculous as Philly.
January 24th, 2006 - 13:46
Oh man, is it ever. Here’s the phrase which made me move:
“The house needs painted.”
Is it effecient to leave out “to be”? Perhaps. Is it annoying to listen to regardless? Definitely.
PS Hockey rules. Watching a game live is SO much better than on TV. You get to see all the fighting all the time. Do it.
January 24th, 2006 - 14:31
I jawn every morning when I’m fixin to get some coffee.
January 24th, 2006 - 16:31
My buddy and I invented a word similar to jawn growing up. We called it “Jick.” Jick could be used for anything, just like jawn. Tell your friend about jick and swear that it’s normal down south.
January 24th, 2006 - 17:27
Sometimes my Dad gets lazy to while he’s sitting on the couch drinking beer while watching his game because he says ” Heh, go geh meh ahnava beers, um tirsty!”, so Mom go gets him a can, then smashes it on his head, which works because he gets up and runs!
January 24th, 2006 - 17:28
Dad hasn’t been lazy since that day, but he still talks funny for some reason.
January 24th, 2006 - 18:35
youse want some coffee?
January 25th, 2006 - 01:13
i made up a word.
i swear i did.
at least four people here(the page) know it and i actually have it tattooed on my arm.
January 25th, 2006 - 10:49
how do we say asshole?
January 25th, 2006 - 19:14
makmak balook
January 26th, 2006 - 16:35
As a Columbus, OH native I have to respectfully disagree – very few people call a vacuum a sweeper and the only people I have herard use this term are elderly. Perhaps it was once a popular turn of phrase in Columbus, but not anymore.
January 27th, 2006 - 00:32
I was in Boston once, and somebody asked me where the “Bubbler” was, I had no idea what they were talking about.
Sorry, I’m from Utah.