Entry · catalog no. 1017

bul

/ /bʊl/ /bull

noun · Philadelphia · 2000s

✓ Verified

A guy, a dude — usually younger than the speaker or addressed familiarly. A "young bul" is a young man coming up.

“That bul from down the block nice with the ball, for real.”

Origin & Attribution

Philadelphia Black speech, most likely from "boy," in everyday use for generations. Famously unsettled in spelling — bul, boul, bol — a pure Philly shibboleth: how you spell it tells where you learned it.

1990s

In everyday Philadelphia Black speech

2000s

Carried into Philly hip-hop

Region of origin

West

Midwest

N.East

South

Nationwide

Philadelphia · 2000s

Spoken by

Philadelphia Black speakers

$BULThe Record · cultural traction

▲ Steady

36 yrs

ahead of the mainstream

55/100

peak cultural energy

Introduced to English by the culture — logged here before the mainstream caught on.

Cultural usage — the recordMainstream search interest

First used

1990

in the culture

Cultural energy indexed from documented usage, search interest, and citation frequency. The recorded date is the archive’s permanent point of record.

Hear it spoken

By region — how it actually sounds

@auntiereg

Atlanta, GA

@deltasoul

Memphis, TN

Contribute your pronunciation

Citations & Sources

■

Bol? Bull! Why we can't agree how Philly spells slang, Philadelphia Inquirer — article · 2018

submitted

+ Cite a source

Also spelled

boul