Ebonics Terms You Didn't Know You Knew
Comments (0)
Did you know that Ebonics comes from a mixture of Creole, Western Guyanese dialects and even Irish vernacular?
Contrary to popular belief, Ebonics does span across racial borders in contemporary American culture. Much of the White-American population in the rural, southern United States, speaks in specific dialects that are extremely similar to Ebonics.
1. Be: In Ebonics, linking verbs are replaced with "be." This tendency formed when slaves began to learn English, and still folllowed grammatical rules of Niger-Congo languages.
2. Boo Boo: Means "a stupid way of acting" in Bantu.
3. Cool: "Calm or controlled," stems from Mandingo suma word 'slow.'
4. Hip: Derived from the Wolofi word "hipi," meaning to be aware. ex: adj. hip, or n. hippy, hippies, hip-hop music.
5. Swagger: Comes from the Mende word "suwangc," meaning to be proud of.
6. Jitterbug: In Mandinko, a "jito-bag" is someone who enjoys dancing often.
7. Tote: Means "Carry," and stems from the Kongo and Swahili roots "tota" and "tuta."
Maya Richard-Craven Staff Writer here
