Entry · catalog no. 1029
drawlin
/ /
verb · Philadelphia, Northeast ·
✓ Verified
1.
Acting out of character, cutting up, doing too much — being unreasonable or embarrassing in a way that makes you hard to be around.
“You flaked again? You drawlin.”
Origin & Attribution
Philadelphia Black speech, thought to come from "drawing attention." Documented in the city's slang since the early 2000s and common enough to land in a 2018 Philadelphia School District handbook introducing new teachers to how students actually talk.
Region of origin
West
Midwest
N.East
South
Nationwide / diaspora
Philadelphia, Northeast ·
Spoken by
$DRAWLIThe Record · cultural traction
▲ 26 yrs
ahead of the mainstream
60/100
peak cultural energy
Introduced to English by the culture — logged here before the mainstream caught on.
Cultural usage — the recordMainstream search interest
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
■
Mental Floss, "Philadelphia Slang Terms" — article · reference
submitted
■
+ Cite a sourcePhillyVoice, Philadelphia student slang handbook — article · 2018
submitted
See also