Brooklyn Accent Word Puns

You’re listening to A Way with Words. I’m Martha Barnette.

And I’m Grant Barrett, and we are joined once again by the Master of Quiz, John Chaneski.

Master of Quiz, that’s me. Hi, guys.

Hi, what’s up, buddy?

Hi, John.

Now, you guys know I live in New York, of course. I specifically live in Brooklyn, right?

Specifically, yes.

Brooklyn. And Brooklyn is famous for a lot of things, and one of them is the Brooklyn accent.

Sometimes people will say D’s, D’s, D’s, and D’s. You’ve heard of that?

Sometimes when you hear a Brooklyner say a word, you might think it’s another word.

Okay.

For example, I’ll describe a word that might sound like a different word if said in Brooklynese.

For example, this word is facts and information used to make decisions or calculations, but it’s also the eighth letter of the Greek alphabet in Brooklyn.

Data.

Data, that’s right.

Alpha, beta, gamma.

I know, I’m sitting here counting on my fingers.

What?

And I came at it from the data side.

I know.

Very good.

FATA, you’re saying?

I had too much data.

FATA could be data, right?

All right.

Oh.

Let’s see how this goes.

Now, of course, I love Brooklyn. Love living there.

We’re not making fun. This is just—

We’ll give you your address at the end.

We’ll find out how much fun they’re having.

Some of my best friends used to live in Brooklyn.

Here we go.

This is a couple often married with two jobs who have no children or to ponder in Brooklyn.

Dink.

Dink.

Double income, no kids.

That’s correct.

Well, think about that.

This is to take a nap, or the plural of that, in Brooklyn.

Those.

Those.

Not that.

I’ll take some of those.

I don’t know.

I can’t even do the Brooklyn accent anymore.

It’s been too long.

I’ve got to come back.

I know.

Yeah, seriously.

For a visit, just to recharge your accent.

Now, not all of these begin with D.

Sometimes the th will just lose its H, for example.

This is to pull something along, like a boat on a rope, or a brutal ruffian or assassin in Brooklyn.

A tug.

Tug. Don’t be like the tug.

This is a piece of heavy artillery, or what you give on a Thursday in November in Brooklyn.

Tanks.

Tanks. You’re welcome.

This is absolutely verifiable or a preposition meaning in one side and out the other in Brooklyn.

It’s true.

True.

Go all the way true.

Now, not all of them begin with a changed sound either.

Some of them end.

Try this one.

This is Ernie’s pal on Sesame Street.

Also, the process by which a person comes into the world in Brooklyn.

Bert.

Bert.

Yeah, Bert.

Bert.

Wait, comes into the world?

Yeah, Bert.

What’s the day of your Bert?

From Bert to debt.

From Bert to debt.

I’m in debt right now.

Happy Bert Day.

Put your day of Bert on the form.

This is a place where you might find soldiers or one of the first few ordinal numbers in Brooklyn.

Fort.

Fort.

That’s right.

First, second, toy, fort.

They might be in a tree.

It could be in a tree fort.

All right, guys.

That’s all the Brooklynese I have for you today.

You did very well.

I forget about it.

It’s all right.

So I do need to get back to Brooklyn.

John, we’ll come see you sometime.

We’ll just sit around your house doing quizzes, right?

Let’s do it.

Let’s do it.

Thanks so much, buddy.

Bye, guys.

Bye-bye.

Talk to you more later.

Bye.

If you’d like to talk about wordplay, grammar, slang, give us a call, 877-929-9673, or send an email to words@waywordradio.org and find us on Facebook and Twitter.