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A Jawn About 'Jawn'
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Okay, so, to understand this one, you have to know that people in Philadelphia use a word I don't think I've ever heard anyone from anywhere else use: "Jawn." What does it mean? Thing. It's like some people use "joint" as a slang term for anything. "That's my jawn." "Nice jawn." "Hey, I got a little side jawn last night." "I gotta get me some of that jawn." It can mean anything. Anyway, the local CBS TV station just started the CBS O&O standard "Good Question" segment, and they've tackled the burning issue of what the hell "jawn" means and how it became a local term that almost everyone uses. (I, having moved from Philly about the time the word began to take hold, tend not to use it in my own conversation, but when someone says it, I understand it, since I still speak fluent Philly.) Does your town have a locally-popular term you don't hear elsewhere? Like Northern California was saying "hella" before anyone else? Or how L.A. generated dude-speak and Valley Girl-speak? (Philadelphia Magazine)
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