This is a forwarding.
Josney 'n all yo,
This is an attempt to give you a better understanding of Ebonics, the
language spoken by most teenagers (and many "adults") these days. I mean,
i's da nu millen'um, yo! (It's the new millennium.)
Listed are many of the words or phrases that I can think of (and understand)
that are a part of this glorious (and creative) language. Then, below each
definition, I'll put a "You try it" example, so you can try out your new
vocabulary. Then, go show your friends, so that they know that you are
"down wif dat" (meaning that you are cool with them).
OK, here we go.
1. Yo: This is the most common word used. Mostly, it is used to address a
fellow "homie" (we'll get to that later) or to end a sentence. It can also
be used in the place of the word "your."
You try it! "Yo, I like this page!"
"I'll come over to yo house."
"I got a new car, yo!"
*Note: As I get into more words of the language, I will add them into
the sentences. For now, I will just continue to use English for words that
haven't been defined yet.
2. Dat: This is actually the word "that." I never realized how cool it was
to say "dat" until I tried it around my friends. They loved it.
You try it! "Dat's a cool car, yo!"
"Yo, I have to pay for dat??"
3. Dis: Can be used a couple of ways. First, it replaces the English word
"insult." Whenever you insult someone, you're "dissin'" them. Also, it's a
replacement for the word "this."
You try it! "Dis is the way to the police station."
"Yo, is dat boy dissin' me?"
4. Da: Replacement for the word "the." It's easier than saying "the,"
because you don't have to stick your tongue between your teeth to make the
"th" sound.
You try it! "Da money is hidden in da back of da car, yo."
"Da cops never caught me, yo."
5. Dese, dose, dares, dems: These, Those, Theirs, Thems. Even though
"Thems" isn't a word in English, when you translate the Ebonics "dems" it
comes out to "Thems."
You try it! "Dese cops are still on our tails, yo!"
"Dose people told da police dat we stole dare
money!"
"Dems are da people dat turnd us in."
6. Are and Be: In Ebonics, the word "are" is seldom used. Mostly, it is
replaced by the word "Be." Let's look at the third example from the You try
it! in number 5.
"Dems are da people dat turned us in."
In this case, the word "are" in that sentence, would be changed to "be."
Therefore you'd actually say this:
"Dems be da people dat turned us in."
Also, the word "am" is also rarely used. Just like "are," "am" is replaced
by "be" too. Sometimes, the letter S is added to the end, as if the words be
and is are combined to get bes. Here's another example.
"I am getting out of here."
The translation for this would be:
"I be (or bes) getting out of here."
You try it! "I bes getting ready to go out, yo."
"I be just as ugly as you bes, yo!"
7. Ain't: Also used in English sometimes, "ain't" is used full time in
Ebonics. It's basically a combination of "am" and "not."
You try it! "Yo, I ain't got any money left."
"Ain't you going to help me here?"
9. Phat: I'm sure you've heard this one. It means cool. The ebonics
wizards devised a way that "phat" wouldn't be confused with "fat" by
changing the "f" in "fat" to "ph". Now it still makes the same sound, but
you can't confuse it with the English "fat." Amazing.
You try it! "Yo, dis page is phat!"
"Dat's a phat" shirt, yo!"
10. Double negatives: Most of us know what a double negative is in the
English language. It's a phrase such as "haven't never" or "can't nobody."
" I ain't got none." Ebonics makes double negatives cool. Using the first
example from the You try it! in number 8, we can see how using the double
negatives change the sentence.
"Yo, I ain't got any money left."
Here, we will simply replace the word "any" with "no" to make it a double
negative of "ain't got no." Let's see how the sentence looks now.
"Yo, I ain't got no money left."
There's a popular rap song out, I'm not sure of the "artist." But it uses
an example of how cool double negatives sound in one of the lyrics.
"Can't nobody hold me down."
In this sentence, we see that "Can't nobody" is a double negative, and a
perfect example of Ebonics in rap songs.
You try it! "Yo, I haven't never scored with a girl."
"Yo, my friend ain't got no job."
11. Homie: This is the term that replaces the English word "friend." If
the show "Friends" was full of ebonic-fluent people, it would have been
re-named "Homies." A group of your "homies" can also be referred to as your
"boys."
You try it! "Yo, me and my homie be going to da store."
"My boys be taking me to da bank!"
12. With: Can be changed to "wif" or "wit." It doesn't really matter
which one you use when, because they both mean the same thing.
You try it! "I'm hanging out wif my homies."
"I won the game wit my team!"
13. Common changes to small words: There are several small words in the
English language that have been altered and inducted into the Ebonics
language. Here's a quick list of them.
my = mah
got = gaht
alright = aight
fool = foo
out = ou
to = tah
because = cuz
going = goin'
what's = Wus
was = wuz
You all = Ya'll
ask, asked = aks, aksed
Note that all of these words are still used the same way in sentences. They
are just spelled and
pronounced differently.
You try it! "I'm goin' ou wit mah boys."
"Dis foo be dissin' mah mom!"
14. Speech Slurring: Many ebonics words are created by slurring your
words. I know that sounds confusing, so let's go over an example.
The word "let's" would be turned into "le's" simply because it's easier to
say. You don't have to move your tongue to make the T sound, so the word
just rolls out of your mouth.
I'm going to re-write the above paragraph in ebonics so that you can see
what I mean.
Da word "let's" would be turn tah "le's" cuz i's easy tah say. Ya don't
gotta move yo tongue to make da T soun, so da word jus rolls out yo mouf.
Notice how the word "it's" was turned into "i's" and "just" into "jus."
Because they are easier to say. In future examples, I'll use this
technique, so you can get more of an idea of how it is used.
You try it! "I's jus a matta of time befo you get dis right, yo!"
15. F for TH: As I'm sure you noticed in my above example, the TH in the
word "mouth" was changed to F. This is also another example of what's
easier to say. "Mouf" is easier to say than "Mouth," therefore the TH is
dropped and the F replaces it. This doesn't happen in all instances that TH
is used, but it can be. Use your own judgement on when to use F and when to
use TH. Personnally, I avoid using TH every time I can, because it's just
SO HARD!
You try it! "Wus up wif dat, yo?"
"I speak ebonics wif mah mouf."
16. All English Rules are WRONG: In Ebonics, the rules of the English
language are all thrown out the window. Anything possible, and anything
happens, comparable to an exciting game of golf. Let's take the second You
try it! example from number 15.
"I speak ebonics wif mah mouf."
In the English version of this sentence (I speak ebonics with my mouth) it
would be improper to replace "speak" with the word "talk". However, in
ebonics, you can do this. Also, if the word was past tense (spoke) then in
ebonics, you can just add "ed" at the end of "talk." Confused? Here is the
revised statement.
"I talked ebonics wif mah mouf."
That's now completely translated into ebonics.
You try it! "I go'd tah da stor, yo." ("Go'd" replaces "went")
"I taked the money from the bank."
17. Are you down?: If I were to ask you that question, you'd probably
think I was asking you if you were depressed. But in ebonics, that's not
the case. If you are "down", then that means that you are OK with
something. For example: A homie says to you "Are you down wif dat?" He's
asking if you are ok with the situation. If you understand something, or
are ok with something, you'd tell your fellow homie that you are "down wif
dat."
You try it! "Are you down wif dat?"
"I'm down wif dat, yo!"
18. Bootleg: This is bad. If you think something is poorly made, such as
a cheap TV, or a bad song on the radio, then it's bootleg.
You try it! "Dat song is bootleg, yo!
19. Mad, not angry: "Mad" means "A lot." It doesn't mean angry, the way
it does in English. Apparently when something is mad, it's in excess.
You try it! "I gat's mad skills, yo!"
You try it! "I'm mad tired, yo."
20. Stank: Bad, disgusting.
You try it! "Yo, dad girl is stank."
"Dis food is stank, yo!"
21. Played? Not a game: When someone insults you, you have been "played."
If someone makes fun of you, he is "playing" you.
You try it! Homie #1: "Yo breaf is stank, yo!"
Homie #2: "He played you, yo!"
22. Chillin' when it's not cold, Illin' when you're not sick: The phrase
"hanging out" has been replaced by "chillin' and illin'".
You try it! "I wuz illin' wit mah homies, yo."
"Me an' mah boys is gonna be chillin' at the
mall, yo."
23. Da Bomb: This is another phrase that replaces the word "cool." I am
so jealous that I didn't think this one up.
You try it! "Yo, dis party be da bomb!"
"Dat stereo system is da bomb!"
Well, that's about it. If I hear any more, or think of any more, I'll add
them. But for now, this is pretty much all you need to know about the
ebonic-plague.
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