Brooklynese

For those who haven’t had the pleasure to live in or visit Brooklyn, NY, I have decided to translate a few common words, phrases and sentences.

The format will be as such:
Brooklynese
Translation

If you practice really hard, repeating the language over and over again for say, thirty years or so, you may actually be understood if you should ever find yourself in Sheepshead Bay, Red Hook, Bensonhurst or Canarsie, as long as you don’t pronounce most r’s . Read the top line phonetically.

Let’s goda huh house
Let’s go to her house

We wen out ta eat at June-yiz
We went out to eat at Juniors

Friday nightz we party an drink a few beahs, go dansin, ya know, ketchup on things.
Friday nights we party and drink a few beers, go dancing, you know, catch up on things.

Witcha
With you

Glassiz
Glasses

Sumpthin
Something

Are-inge-iz
Oranges

Wawta
Water

I di-int do it
I didn’t do it

Stah-in-eyelind
Staten Island

Mean you
Me and you

Wawkin my dawg
Walking my dog

Whadaya gunna do aboudit?
What are you going to do about it?

Cawl
Call

Tawk
Talk

Wawk
Walk
(see a paddin/pattern?)

mind yerown bizniss
mind your own business

dawta
daughter

for-d-five
forty-five

fiff-d
fifty
(another paddin/pattern)

Um goin on a dye-it
I’m going on a diet

Um dyin ova heah
I’m dying over here

Next yeah
Next year

Wheah ya bin?
Where have you been?

Taygit eeze
Take it easy

Fahgeddaboudit
Forget about it

Fahgeddaboutcha
Forget about you

I’m not tawkina you
I’m not talking to you

Suppa
Supper

Dinna
Dinner

Sig-ni-cha
Signature

Tye-iz
Tires

Gassgit
Gasket

And we cannot leave out the non-phonetic translations:

Tranny
Transmission

Jamoke
Idiot

chewtch
jerk

odjidda
indigestion

mofo
(never mind)

This just gives you the basic idea. Proper inflection is critical and that’s not something one can set to writing.
So if you’re evah in Brooklyn and can’t find your way around, jist pull da car ova, ask somebody for direkshins … tell’m you wanna get ta sevin-d-sevinth and seck-ind by six-a-clock an’ you don’t have a min-it ta speah (pronounced like “yeah”).
Um sure they’ll tell ya da best root ta take.
Tell’m I sentcha.