Entry · catalog no. 9238
talmbout
/ — /pending
verb · South / national · 2026
✓ Verified
1.
Talking about, compressed into a single word — most often a quotative verb, introducing what somebody said in order to question it, mock it, or set it up for correction.
“She walked in talmbout somebody ate her plate — nobody touched that plate.”
Origin & Attribution
A contraction of "talking about" shaped by Black Southern phonology, documented in Black American speech since at least the 1920s. Linguists treat it as its own verb of quotation — a way of reporting speech while signaling doubt or scorn — not a sloppy pronunciation. Janelle Monáe's 2015 protest song "Hell You Talmbout" carried the spelling to a national stage.
Region of origin
West
Midwest
N.East
South
The South
South / national · 2026
Spoken by
South / national
$TALMBOThe Record · cultural traction
▲ Rising0 yrs
ahead of the mainstream
12/100
peak cultural energy
Introduced to English by the culture — logged here before the mainstream caught on.
Cultural usage — the recordMainstream search interest
First used
2026
in the culture
Recorded here
2026
point of first record
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
@nolakid
New Orleans, LA
@htxdri
Houston, TX
Contribute your pronunciation
Citations & Sources
■
AAE Talmbout: An Overlooked Verb of Quotation — linguistics paper · 2016
submitted
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Hell You Talmbout, Janelle Monáe — protest song · 2015
submitted
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+ Cite a sourceDictionary.com, "talmbout" (notes attestations to the 1920s) — reference · 2023
submitted
See also