Jawn
Philadelphia slang term
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jawn is a slang term local to Philadelphia and, by extension, the Philadelphia metropolitan area. It is a placeholder word that may refer to a thing, place, person, or event, substituting for a specific word/name. Jawn is a context-dependent substitute noun; a noun that substitutes for other nouns.[1] Jawn can be singular or plural. Examples include: "These jawns are expensive!",[2] "Pass me that jawn.", "Slow it down, jawn.", "That new jawn.", "This jawn is packed."[3]
Jawn is believed to be derived from the word "joint" (as its proper pronunciation sounds more like "joiwn"). The term began in the past as joint, a place where bones meet; from this came a term to refer to a place where criminals meet; this came to any place (see Glossary of jive talk); in New York hip-hop this came to mean any thing; and in Philadelphia this was used broadly and pronounced as jawn.[4][5]
Popular culture
- In a scene in the 2015 Philadelphia-based feature film Creed, the character Bianca explains to Adonis Creed the meaning of jawn.[6]
- Skate Jawn is a skateboard magazine, founded in 2010 in Philadelphia, PA.[7] The original name of the magazine was Skate Jawn Mag Jawn.[7]
- Philadelphia-native Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson's documentary films Summer of Soul and Sly Lives! are each billed as "A Questlove Jawn."[8][9]
