If You’re Not from Philly, Here is the Slang You Need to Know

Coming to a new city can be intimidating on it’s own. Picture this, you come to a city without knowing anyone and then all of a sudden, you hear people arguing over whether it’s jimmies or sprinkles. You may or may not be super confused.

Well let me help you out. Here are the basics of Philly slang you should learn before stepping foot into the city.

First, cheesesteak. You may think you know what a cheesesteak is, but that shows you haven’t been to Geno’s. Cheesesteaks are acceptable for all meals at any time of the day. Along with that is whiz and wit/witout. according to CBS Philly, whiz is the melted cheese on your cheesesteak, and "wit/witout" means are you going to get fried onions on your cheesesteak or not.

"Yous" is "y’all", but with some Philly flare."Down the shore" refers to the Jersey shore. The jimmies and sprinkles debate will go on forever, but in Philly, it’s jimmies.

MAC machine is an ATM machine. "Jawn" is a universal noun, it can mean anything. Water ice is a summer only thing that is a dessert. It's basically Italian ice.  "Wack" means weird or stupid. "Ocky" means fake and refers to your clothes. "Naw" or "nah" means no. "Say less" means "I gotchu" and "don’t worry about it." A personal favorite, "bet" means "all right, all right, all right." And finally, "outta pocket" means that you are out of line or you do something unnecessary.

Do you feel more prepared for your next Philly trip? After this vocabulary lesson, we hope you do.