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jawn

nounRegionalNortheast

A American English slang term. Browse all American slang.

What it means

  1. A universal noun substitute: any person, place, object or event. Philadelphia's most famous word, and genuinely remarkable — few languages have a noun this unrestricted.

In use

  • Hand me that jawn.

  • That jawn was packed last night.

Where it comes from

Traced to 'joint' in New York usage, which reached Philadelphia in the 1970s and there lost all semantic restriction. Linguists study it precisely because it can substitute for almost any noun.

First attested: 1970s