Dictionary.com announced on Wednesday, September 6 that “jawn,” a popular Philly-centric slang term, that it’s adding a definition of the word to its online lookup tool.  

A quick entry into the website’s search bar, and a definition pops right up:

noun Informal, Chiefly Philadelphia.

1. something or someone for which the speaker does not know or does not need a specific name:Put some onions on those jawns or they’ll be bland.It’s gonna be crazy at that jawn tonight.

According to Billy Penn, the term is “born of Black Philadelphian discourse, the word’s meaning is here, there, and everywhere.”

An excerpt from their article:

Jawn’s been endlessly debated, theorized, and utilized to various, occasionally aggravating, ends. Some may scoff at Dictionary.com, which is adding 566 new words to its internet-only repository, saying, “Wake me up when Merriam-Webster comes calling” — but they already did, in a 2017 essay on the term. 

Narratives will vary, but here’s a (very) abridged origin timeline, per Merriam-Webster and other sources: Black New Yorkers’ colloquial use of the word “joint” entered the dense stream of Mid-Atlantic cultural exchange, unsurprisingly hitting Philly.

The article goes on to include various Philadelphians’ thoughts on the term, its definition, and its recent inclusion. For the full story, you can click here.

For all the latest news, follow us on Facebook or sign up for Glenside Local’s “Daily Buzz” newsletter here.

Photo: Billy Penn