Brooklynese
noun · first attested 20th century
The accent got a borough's name because that is where the movies said their tough guys came from.
The working-class New York City accent and dialect associated with Brooklyn.
40.6508°N -73.9497°W · Q18419
Record
- Relationship
- Named from the place
- Confidence
- Well attestedThe place link is the standard scholarly account.
- Attested
- 20th century
- Part of speech
- noun
Explanations here are written for this atlas. Dictionary text is not copied; the sources are linked so the claim can be checked.
- Step 1
Brooklyn
- In English
Brooklynese
The features people label Brooklynese are heard across New York City rather than in Brooklyn alone: r-dropping, the raised vowel of coffee, and the older oi for er that vaudeville and radio comics exaggerated into toity-toid. Brooklyn attracted the name because it supplied so many stock characters in films and comic strips. Linguists call the wider variety New York City English.