Entry · catalog no. 3312
joning
/ ˈdʒoʊnɪŋ /JOH-ning
verb · Washington, D.C. / DMV · 20th c.
✓ Verified
1.
Cracking jokes on someone, trading insults for sport. The Washington, D.C.-area word for what's called elsewhere playing the dozens or signifying — funny until it isn't.
“They were joning on his shoes all through lunch.”
Origin & Attribution
The D.C./DMV name for the long African American tradition of the dozens — ritual insult traded for wit and status. The tradition itself is old and national, documented in print by 1939; "joning" is the local Washington word for it. Sometimes claimed as a D.C. invention, but the practice under it belongs to Black communities everywhere.
1939
The dozens documented in print
20th c.
'Joning' the DMV word for the practice
now
Still current in D.C. speech
Region of origin
West
Midwest
N.East
South
Nationwide
Washington, D.C. / DMV · 20th c.
Spoken by
Black Washingtonians
$JONINGThe Record · cultural traction
▲ Steady87 yrs
ahead of the mainstream
54/100
peak cultural energy
Introduced to English by the culture — logged here before the mainstream caught on.
Cultural usage — the recordMainstream search interest
First used
1939
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
■
+ Cite a sourceJohn Dollard, "The Dozens: Dialectic of Insult," American Imago — journal
1939
See also