By now,
you’ve probably heard the word. It’s turning up in all sorts of unexpected
places, so imagine my surprise when the newscaster used it twice during the
weather report. I’ve heard it before, but my mouth dropped open anyway because
no one expects to hear that lingo during a weather forecast. Now, a Merriam-Webster
tweet is circulating about potentially putting the word in the dictionary.
“Jawn,”
I’m learning, is a unique-to-Philly word. It’s an all-purpose noun. People
still use it, and if you need to learn more about its origins, check Google. This
word, like many, should only be used by those who know how.
That’s a
funny concept, but it’ll encourage people to mangle the dialect. Remember how you
laughed at your parents when they used teen lingo? Right on? Jawn, right on, shade,
cooyan—when you don’t quite know how to use the word, leave it to the
experienced. What word do you wish people knew how to use?
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