What Does Jawn Mean in Philly?

Jawn is Philadelphia slang for anything … literally anything. Jawn is used as an all encompassing substitute for any person, place, or thing. Like this definition, an informative jawn.

When did Philly start saying JAWN?

It's a relatively new word too, in that it arose within living memory. People can remember it coming into their vocabulary. They can remember a life before jawn. Many date it to the late 1980s or early 1990s, roughly the Wilson Goode administration, although he likely didn't have anything to do with it.

Is JAWN a bad word?

“Jawns” is fine, but you can also modify “jawn” elsewhere. “You can say 'jawns,' but more often it's going to be, like, 'Where'd you get them jawn,'” says Jones. It can be negative or positive or neutral depending on context. It is a magical word, and did not come about in a vacuum.