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* "Us mans" (we)
* "Us mans" (we)
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* "Cro" a friend


=== Nouns ===
=== Nouns ===

Revision as of 17:45, 14 April 2023

Toronto slang is the slang or informal vocabulary used within Canadian English of the Greater Toronto Area,[1][2] particularly by younger working-class people in inner-city Toronto: an area known for its multicultural diverse population and Caribbean influences.[3] It is spoken specifically within the Greater Toronto Area, Hamilton, Barrie, and Ottawa.[4] To a lesser extent, these variants have emerged in other diverse neighbourhoods and urban Canadian cities as well, which include parts of Montréal, Calgary, and Edmonton.[dubious – discuss][citation needed]

History

The origin of unique Toronto vocabulary goes all the way back to widespread migration from the Caribbean to Canada in the 1960s and 1970s, when the vast majority of people from places such as Jamaica, Trinidad, Barbados, and other Caribbean islands, as well as Guyana had largely migrated to Toronto and other parts of the region.[5][6] People have also migrated to Canada from West Africa, East Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia.[7][8]

Vocabulary

For a list of words relating to Toronto slang, see the Multicultural Toronto English category of words in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Here is a list of common words in Greater Toronto English:

Adjectives

  • "Bare" (very/a lot/many)[9][10]
  • "Bait" (sketchy/dangerous)[citation needed]
  • "Beat" (something that looks ugly, can be used to describe an object) [11]
  • "Cheesed" (pissed, mad, angry)[12]
  • "Dutty" (dirty, bad, ugly)[13]
  • "Dry" (uncool, lame, boring, uninterested)[14]
  • "Greezy" (something impressive or attractive in a fashionable use)[15][16]
  • "Likkle" (Jamaican patois word from the English word "little")[13]
  • "Marved" (starving)[9]
  • "Merked" (ugly, unattractive)[citation needed]
  • "Mod" (bad/crazy)[citation needed]
  • "Peng" (describes a person who is attractive)[citation needed]
  • "Soft" (a person who is weak, scared, or afraid)[17]
  • "Sweeterman/Sweeter-ting” (a person with sweet personalities and good looks)[17][9][citation needed]

Interjections

  • "Ahlie!" (expression to agree with something or "am I lying?"[18] The term also appears in Multicultural London English (MLE))[19]
  • "Are you dumb?" (to describe someone who behaves stupidly and completely idiotically)[18]
  • "Bless up!" (expression of greeting or farewell)[20]
  • "Dun Know" (another way of saying "you already know," "of course," or "I know")[21]
  • "Holy!" (often used when a person needs to chill out or to stop doing too much)[22]
  • "Jokes!" ("that's jokes!", compliments something funny or hilarious)[23]
  • "Wagwan" (an equivalent greeting to "what's up" or "what's going on?") [24][18]
  • "Wallahi" (an Arabic word meaning to swear to god)[25]
  • "What you sayin?" ("what you up to?" used as an expression of greeting)[23]

"Blud runnin up on crodies" (an opposition driving up onto our friends)

Pronouns

  • "Mans" or sometimes "man-dem" (I/me/you/people; first-person singular is the most notable usage)[26]
    • Mans in 21st-century Toronto English has gained special attention in being applied as a variety of personal pronouns, including (most notably) as a first-person singular pronoun (like I or me), a second-person singular pronoun (like you), or an indefinite pronoun (similar to people or folks). A plural-conjugated verb is required with the use of mans; for example: "Mans are ready" can mean "I am ready", "you are ready", or "people are ready". "What are mans saying?" can mean "What am I saying?", "What are you saying?", or "What are people saying?". The similar usage of man as a pronoun is common in Multicultural London English (MLE), but mans as a singular pronoun is exclusively Torontonian;[27] the two terms likely developed in parallel timeframes, but not with one dialect directly affecting the other.[28] It is likely that both usages ultimately come from man with a Jamaican Patois or other Caribbean Creole origin, though no Creole uses mans in this exact way. The process of this pronoun emerging from the original noun, man(s), has been happening in Toronto since roughly 2005 to the present.[29]
  • "You" (second-person singular)
  • "You mans" (you, plural)
  • "My mans" (third-person singular, masculine)
  • "My guy" (close friend or acquaintance)
  • "Them/dem-mans/man-dem" (them)
  • "Us mans" (we)
  • "Cro" a friend

Nouns

  • "6ix" (slang term for both the area code (416 and 647), also stands for the six pre-merger governments in Toronto)[30]
  • "Blem" (a cigarette, marijuana, or joint, also used to describe someone who is extremely high)[citation needed]
  • "Bucktee/bean" (someone who is a crackhead or acts stupidly)[31][16]
  • "Crib" (someone's place of residence)[citation needed]
  • "Cro/crodie" (crip version of 'bro/brodie' but usually refers to a friend)[citation needed]
  • "Cronem" (group of 'cros', crip version of 'bronem', and refers to a group of friends)[citation needed]
  • "Cyattie" (describes a female who is being loud and obnoxious)[32]
  • "Deafaz" (giving a hard physical slap or punch to someone)[16]
  • "Dukes" (slang term for parents)[26]
  • "Cuzzo" (cousin)[33]
  • "Ends" (area, or neighbourhood)[citation needed]
  • "Fam" (short for "family" but generally used to refer to a "friend")[34][9]
  • "Gyal" (girl)[35]
  • "Gyallis" (a guy who can pick up ladies easily"[36]
  • "Gyaldem" (group of girls)[15]
  • "Hoodman" (a young working-class person involved in crime and drugs, similar to the equivalent word "roadman" used in MLE)[26][37]
  • "Mandem" (a group of males or male friends)[9]
  • "Side ting" (sexual partner other than a girlfriend/wife)[citation needed]
  • "Snake" (an untrustworthy person)[15]
  • ”Stain” (getting robbed)[citation needed]
  • "Styll" (pronounced "still" and means agree to someone or the truth and is occasionally used at the last part of a statement)[38][39]
  • "T-Dot" (abbreviation word for "Toronto")[40][16]
  • "Telly" (slang for a hotel or a hotel room)[41]
  • "Ting" (a thing but usually refers to an attractive female)[18]
  • "Two-Four" (refers to a case of 24 pack beers)[32] This noun is not unique to Toronto but is used across Canada.
  • "Wasteman/wasteyute)" (a worthless, garbage, insensible idiotic person who makes bad decisions with their life, both words being used interchangeably)[12]
  • "Two-Twos" (unexpectedly or quickly)[42]
  • "Wifey" (girlfriend, or wife)[43]
  • "Yute" (Patois word from English "youth")[13]

Verbs

  • "Allow/Lowe it/that" (to ignore, forget or not bother with)[10]
  • "Ball up" (smoking marijuana)[citation needed]
  • "Beef" (argument, fight)[citation needed]
  • "Buss" (to give/to send, to bust, or to ejaculate)[citation needed]
  • ”Fawad” (Jamaican patois word meaning to come or to go somewhere)[citation needed]
  • "Flex" (to show off such as money and clothes)[20]
  • "Link (up)" (to meet up, give someone something, pre-relationship status)[44][citation needed]
  • "Nize it/that" (to tell someone to shut up or stop talking)[21]
  • "Pree" (to pay and look close attention to)[26]
  • "Reach/come thru" (synonyms for "come by" or "attend")[9]
  • "Scoop me" (to get a ride somewhere, get picked up)[22]
  • "Scrap" (to fight)[17]
  • "Y-pree" (patois word, meaning "what's up?" or to mind your own: "why are you in my business?")[45]

Controversy

The article on VICE, dated October 21, 2019, by Sharine Taylor, featured a CityNews article, "New Toronto slang growing in popularity," and has sparked controversy within the community, which stated that it failed to represent Toronto slang.[46] Following up, she stated the problem is the slangs are not "new," as the title had implied, and belong not to Toronto but to Black communities within Toronto, which were notably absent, as mentioned previously, from the coverage.[47]

On May 17, 2016, Max Weinstein wrote an XXL article explaining the Twitter controversy surrounding Drake's usage of Jamaican Patois because of his failure to acknowledge Toronto slang and its origin.[48] Another writer, Sajae Elder, wrote a similar article on BuzzFeed News.[49]

  • In 2017, Drake was featured in a Toronto-based comedy show called (T-Dot Goon Scrap DVD 2), where he spoke using many Toronto slang terms.[50]
  • In a Vanity Fair YouTube video, Shawn Mendes, a popular Canadian singer and songwriter, was featured, teaching about Canadian slang (primarily Toronto slang vocabulary).[51]

See also

Look up Multicultural Toronto English or Greater Toronto English in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

References

  1. ^ Denis, Derek (2016-10-05). "A note on mans in Toronto". Toronto Working Papers in Linguistics. 37. doi:10.33137/twpl.v37i0.26973. ISSN 1718-3510.
  2. ^ Elango, Vidhya; Denis, Derek. "Variable BAN-laxing in Multicultural Toronto English" (PDF). (CLA) Canadian Linguistic Association.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. ^ Dhopade, Prajakta (October 15, 2019). "Jagmeet Singh's secret weapon: The way he talks". Macleans.
  4. ^ "21 Ottawa Slang Words You've Definitely Heard At Least Once". Narcity. 2017-09-22. Retrieved 2022-03-10.
  5. ^ "The past, present, and future of Canadian English: What our accent tells us about being Canadian". The Pigeon. 2020-07-17. Retrieved 2022-06-08.
  6. ^ "Caribbean Canadians | The Canadian Encyclopedia". www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca. Retrieved 2022-06-08.
  7. ^ Ruprecht, Tony (2010-11-08). Toronto's Many Faces. Dundurn. ISBN 978-1-55488-885-6.
  8. ^ "African Canadians | The Canadian Encyclopedia". www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca. Retrieved 2022-06-08.
  9. ^ a b c d e f "A brief guide to Turrono slang". The Varsity. 2016-10-24. Retrieved 2022-06-08.
  10. ^ a b "The Ultimate Guide To Toronto Slang For Everyday Situations". Narcity. 2017-06-09. Retrieved 2022-04-29.
  11. ^ "25 Toronto Slang Words You've Definitely Heard At Least Once". Narcity. 2017-09-21. Retrieved 2022-04-29.
  12. ^ a b "A brief guide to Turrono slang". The Varsity. 2016-10-24. Retrieved 2022-03-10.
  13. ^ a b c "Caribbean Expressions Used by Torontonians". VIBE 105. Retrieved 2022-04-29.
  14. ^ Ramcharran, Kristina (2017-09-21). "25 Toronto Slang Words You've Definitely Heard At Least Once". Narcity Toronto. Retrieved 2022-06-09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  15. ^ a b c "The Ultimate Guide To Toronto Slang For Everyday Situations". Narcity. 2017-06-09. Retrieved 2022-06-03.
  16. ^ a b c d Singh, Vivek (2021-08-07). "30 Best Toronto Slangs You Need To Talk Like A Torontonian | RoverAtlas". roveratlas.com. Retrieved 2022-06-09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  17. ^ a b c "40 Things You'll Hear A Scarborough Person Say". Narcity. 2015-12-14. Retrieved 2022-06-03.
  18. ^ a b c d "The Toronto Slang You Didn't Think You Needed". 6ixBuzz. 2020-12-13. Retrieved 2022-03-10.
  19. ^ Farooqui, Salmaan (2019-10-13). "Toronto slang on the rise thanks to city's growing pop culture relevance". CP24. Retrieved 2022-04-22.
  20. ^ a b "'Dip,' 'Merked,'Swag' — Is This What Teens Are Saying These Days?". HuffPost. 2012-12-19. Retrieved 2022-06-08.
  21. ^ a b "6 Torontonian Slang Words From The Jamaican Vocabulary And What They Really Mean". Narcity. 2015-08-12. Retrieved 2022-03-10.
  22. ^ a b "14 Toronto Slang Phrases You'll Only Understand If You're Fluent In Torontonian". Narcity. 2019-08-22. Retrieved 2022-03-10.
  23. ^ a b Trip, Culture (2016-03-05). "Canadian Slang Words You Need to Know". Culture Trip. Retrieved 2022-06-03.
  24. ^ "40 Things You'll Hear A Scarborough Person Say". Narcity. 2015-12-14. Retrieved 2022-03-10.
  25. ^ "Do You Know Toronto Slang? | University of Toronto Magazine". University of Toronto Magazine. Retrieved 2022-06-03.
  26. ^ a b c d Wilkinson, Raven-Paige (2019). Cultural Exchange and the Transformation of Jamaican Patois in the Greater Toronto Area (PDF) (MA thesis). Carleton University. doi:10.22215/etd/2019-13863.{{cite thesis}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  27. ^ Derek, Denis (2016). "A note on mans in Toronto" (PDF). (TWPL) Toronto Working Papers in Linguistics.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  28. ^ Derek, 2016, p. 8.
  29. ^ Derek, 2016, p. 4.
  30. ^ Torontoist (2016-04-12). "Wait, How Are You Supposed to Spell the 6ix, the Six, or the 6?". Torontoist. Retrieved 2022-06-08.
  31. ^ Denis, Derek (2021-07-03). "Raptors Vs. Bucktees: the Somali influence on Toronto Slang*". Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development. 42 (6): 565–578. doi:10.1080/01434632.2021.1895181. ISSN 0143-4632. S2CID 233809155.
  32. ^ a b leahsoboroff (2017-08-14). "20 Toronto Slang Words You Need To Know". Society19. Retrieved 2022-03-10.
  33. ^ "14 Toronto Slang Phrases You'll Only Understand If You're Fluent In Torontonian". Narcity. 2019-08-22. Retrieved 2022-06-08.
  34. ^ Salazar, Antoinette (2021-12-13). "How do you speak Toronto slang?". About Canada. Retrieved 2022-03-10.
  35. ^ "Caribbean Expressions Used by Torontonians". VIBE 105. Retrieved 2022-06-03.
  36. ^ "15 Slang Words Spoken In Toronto That Are Used In Dating And Relationships". Narcity. 2016-09-28. Retrieved 2022-06-03.
  37. ^ "Last Call for Racism takes aim at Lavelle and Toronto's nightlife industry". www.blogto.com. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  38. ^ "'Dip,' 'Merked,'Swag' — Is This What Teens Are Saying These Days?". HuffPost. 2012-12-19. Retrieved 2022-03-10.
  39. ^ "The Ultimate Guide To Toronto Slang For Everyday Situations". Narcity. 2017-06-09. Retrieved 2022-03-10.
  40. ^ "T-DOT - Toronto (slang for Toronto, ON, Canada) | AcronymFinder". www.acronymfinder.com. Retrieved 2022-06-08.
  41. ^ "What does "Telly" mean? | DailyRapFacts". dailyrapfacts.com. 2020-08-10. Retrieved 2022-04-29.
  42. ^ leahsoboroff (2017-08-14). "20 Toronto Slang Words You Need To Know". Society19. Retrieved 2022-06-03.
  43. ^ "This new Toronto slang generator is the ideal quarantine time waster". www.blogto.com. Retrieved 2022-06-03.
  44. ^ "The Ultimate Guide To Toronto Slang For Everyday Situations". Narcity. 2017-06-09. Retrieved 2022-06-09.
  45. ^ "[OFFICIAL] Toronto Slang Catalog". Kanye to The. Retrieved 2022-04-29.
  46. ^ "CityNews". toronto.citynews.ca. Retrieved 2022-06-16.
  47. ^ "Toronto's Slang Isn't 'New.' It's Black". www.vice.com. Retrieved 2022-06-16.
  48. ^ Weinstein, Max. "Drake's Patois Gets Ridiculed on Twitter - XXL". XXL Mag. Retrieved 2022-06-17.
  49. ^ Elder, Sajae. "Where Did Drake's "Jamaican" Accent Come From?". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved 2022-06-17.
  50. ^ Penrose, Nerisha (2017-05-15). "Drake Flexes His Acting Chops in Hilarious YouTube Sketch". Billboard. Retrieved 2022-05-31.
  51. ^ "Shawn Mendes Teaches Us Canadian Slang & Proves He Really Is The 'Pickering Gawd'". Narcity. 2020-12-10. Retrieved 2022-05-31.
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