Entry · catalog no. 7312
trifling
/ /ˈtraɪ.flɪŋ/ /TRY-fling
adjective · US South · 1920s
✓ Verified
1.
Lazy, unreliable, no-account; sorry. Said of a person who will not do what they ought — will not work, will not provide, will not do right — and of the behavior itself.
“A grown man won't take care of his own kids? That's just triflin'.”
Origin & Attribution
Southern African American English. Though "trifling" is an old English word for trivial, Black Southern speech sharpened it into a moral verdict — no-account, sorry. The sense carries through the blues (Bessie Smith's 1923 "Aggravatin' Papa" names a "triflin'" man; Wynonie Harris later cut "Triflin' Woman") and everyday talk.
1920s
"Triflin'" as a verdict in blues and Black speech
2000s
Standard in AAVE, spread via TV and hip-hop
Region of origin
West
Midwest
N.East
South
The South
US South · 1920s
Spoken by
Black Southern speakers; nationwide
$TRIFLIThe Record · cultural traction
▲ Steady106 yrs
ahead of the mainstream
65/100
peak cultural energy
Introduced to English by the culture — logged here before the mainstream caught on.
Cultural usage — the recordMainstream search interest
First used
1920
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
@nolakid
New Orleans, LA
@htxdri
Houston, TX
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Citations & Sources
■
"Aggravatin' Papa" (rec. Bessie Smith) — song · 1923
song
■
+ Cite a sourceWynonie Harris, "Triflin' Woman" — song
song
See also