Tag Archives: #folkslang

“Bless your heart”

Interviewer: “Can you think of any folk speech or phrases that are passed through oral tradition in your family?”

AB: “Bless your heart sounds like a very nice thing to say to someone, however in the South it is considered an insult. It is a weaponized phrase that we use on dim witted people under the guise of wishing them well.”

Context: AB lives in the South, and her family has used this insult for a long time, it reflects both a cultural and geographical shared folklore, but also familial. What initiated the conversation was her explaining difficulties of moving to California to attend USC. She has heard female figures in her family use this phrase, particularly in church or faith based settings. She now uses this phrase in California against people who don’t know the origins or meanings of this folk speech, enabling her to slyly insult people.

Analysis: This piece of folk speech is an important example of how context is important, as the words do not have visual meaning, but require the performance and subtext of the speaker. This is regarded as a Shibboleth, as it differentiates southern people as their own group with shared customer. It is reflective of the gernous and kind culture of the south and how people have to employ folklore in order to navigate the strict confines of Southern society.

That’s my Jawn

Text

“Jawn” – slang term used to mean friend as in “That’s my Jawn.”

Context

Informant grew up in Philadelphia, and used this folk slang to refer to friends. They suggested that this slang word might be specific to Philadelphia.

Analysis

The term ‘Jawn’ appears to be the version of the name John filtered through the accent associated with the region of Philadelphia. This is reminiscent of the name ‘John Doe’ that is often used in place of an unknown name in the US. In this way, Jawn could be a version of John, which is being used in place of an unnamed person.

“What the Freak?”

Nationality: American
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Language: English

Context

The informant claims that they were the original source for this saying, and truth-be-told I haven’t heard it anywhere else. Around the time of origination, the word “freak” was making its rounds on the internet. In particular, the song “Nasty” by Tinashe had gone viral, and the lyric “is somebody gonna match my freak?” had become a popular TikTok audio. This led to the word’s more frequent usage, and since it’s aurally similar to the words “frick” or “fuck”  in the phrase “what the frick” or “what the fuck,” that’s probably how it snuck itself into the informant’s vocabulary. 

“What the freak?” is most often used immediately after a person says something tabooistic or off-color. It is mostly synonymous with “who said that?”, the implication being that someone other than the speaker had said something weird, and the speaker is reacting to them. “What the freak” is almost certainly euphemistic in nature, and could be an example of a minced oath, a phrase watered down from a more vulgar starting point (in this case, “what the fuck”).

While the phrase has been recorded online, this particular use of “what the freak” that highlights the absurdity of a statement seems to originate from my friend group.

Analysis

This is definitely not a widespread phrase. Only the informant, our housemates, and even myself are the only ones I’ve heard use it, or at least this specific use-case. But I don’t think it diminishes its value as a piece of spoken folklore circled amongst a close, tight-knit group. It speaks to a level of comfort we all share as friends and roommates, and highlights the safe, weird space we’ve created together. When someone says “what the freak,” it immediately sparks laughter and joy in our living room. I think that speaks to the power of folk speech as a means of creating a community identity.

FOGO

Nationality: American

Occupation: Student

Residence: Los Angeles, CA

Text: FOGO

Context: The informant’s family has played lacrosse for generations, and eventually heard the position of face off specialists being referred to as the FOGO (pronounced foe go). FOGO stands for face off get off, referring to how the faceoff specialist does the faceoff and then immediately subs themselves out of the game. Coaches and referees never would refer to the position as a FOGO, only other players would use the term.

Analysis: The name FOGO is used by lacrosse players to tease their face off specialist teammates. Face off specialists are generally the worst on a team at the fundamental skills required for lacrosse, such as passing, shooting, and defending. During a practice, face off specialists are usually off to the side doing their own drills away from the team, furthering the idea that they lack the skills of “real” lacrosse players. With lacrosse being a very physically demanding sport, the limited role of the face off is seen as making the position easy, which leads to other players teasing the position by calling it the FOGO.