Was watching deadwood and I heard a new word I think y'all will like
FnordPrefect [comrade/them, he/him] - 1mon
I like that using this in the phrase "okay ofay" makes it sound like pig latin so you are sure to induce confusion based rage in a certain subset of people
15
Nopeace [he/him, comrade/them] - 1mon
Reminiscent of "okay boomer" as well
9
robot_dog_with_gun [they/them] - 1mon
richard feynman's art name
also appears in that SNL sketch that paul mooney wrote for richard pryor
10
Camden28 [any, comrade/them] - 1mon
CTRL+F pryor
Came here to say that. It was the first time I heard the word (1976) and it was old then. Here's the clip. "Ofay is near 1:06. Content warning! N-word (yes, they said the n-word on live TV).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuEBBwJdjhQ
3
HexReplyBot [none/use name] - 1mon
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
Can this replace y*kubian as a better slur for crackers that won't make poc feel weird?
9
HiImThomasPynchon [des/pair, it/its] - 1mon
Sounds too much like "au fait" might think it's a compliment
6
Nopeace [he/him, comrade/them] - 1mon
I'd like to think so. It's possible there's more history for this word I don't know about that could be problematic, given I only know it's meaning but if the scene it was said in means anything I think it safe. It was shouted by the black stableman in response to absolute vile ofay behavior.
5
ComradeKingfisher [he/him] - 1mon
Seems like it should be okay. I did a quick search and came across this paper. The author thinks it's of Yoruba origin.
::: spoiler spoiler
The word ofay, sometimes aphetized to fay, is used among themselves by
American blacks as a warning of a white man's approach. Apparently
because of this use it has been transferred to the white man himself and is now
generally said to have the meaning 'white man' in such dictionaries as list it.
Its source, however, has not been satisfactorily explained. The more cautious
dictionaries say "etymology unknown" (Merriam-Webster, Random House) . . .
The only full documentation of the word that I have found is in Wentworth-Flexner,
Dictionary of American Slang, with the first of four dated quotations
from 1931. The summary note says, "Common Negro use since 1925. It
has been suggested that this may be from 'foe' as said in Pig Latin. Archaic."
Other quotations show it as having connections with both city and plantation
life. It may safely be assumed to have had oral use, and perhaps currency,
before literary interest in the Negro brought it into print. Moved to northern
cities, it got a new lease on life when "black power" emphasized that the
white man is the enemy-and this is probably responsible for the Pig Latin
explanation. As a warning, the word certainly had good reason to be disguised,
though the uncommon and rather literary word *foe *would seem an
implausible candidate for this disguise. In short, this explanation has all the
appearance of an ex post facto attempt to fill a vacuum with an imaginative
guess-a situation familiar to etymologists. The far more plausible source
would seem to be some African word, if such could be found and reasonably
supported.
Through correspondence in 1967 with Richard A. Reyment, then at the
University of Stockholm, I was put in touch with his student, now Dr. Ebi
Omatsola, a Nigerian of the Itsekiri tribe who grew up in Lagos and is a
fluent speaker of Yoruba, of which Itsekiri is an offshoot. Mr. Omatsola
kindly wrote me a detailed letter of which I quote the greater part:
"ofe-This Yoruba word originally means to disappear (as for example at the instance when a more powerful enemy whom you can't beat is at sight). The witch doctors of many years ago are said to have a means by which they can
spiritually and as believed physically disappear at the moment of intense fear, or under adverse conditions. They are said to be able to instill [this] into people, who afterwards possess the same power of disappearance under various adverse conditions and/or situations."
. . . From my own fieldwork among the Maroon Negroes of Jamaica (Moore
Town, St. Thomas parish) I can report that this belief in the magic power
of transporting oneself physically and instantly from one place to another
is still well known. The "old Maroons" are said to have had this power;
and before the truce with the English (1783), while they hid in the mountains
and made guerrilla attacks on the plantations, they no doubt counted on it
as a means of escape. Of the word ofay, however, I found no trace in
Jamaica.
R. C. Abraham's Dictionary of Modern Yoruba (Univ. of London, 1958)
makes the entry: "ofe (I) a charm supposed to make P. [a person] so light
that he can jump very high." This is no doubt the same as Omatsola's word: the charm element is still present and the lightness which thwarts weight and permits the physical body to move-perhaps out of sight or to another place. The semantic connection would seem undeniable. I have further consulted Professor Ayo Bamgbose, of the University of Ibadan, a native
speaker of Yoruba, who confirms the word's meaning of instant disappearance.
That this word could have been brought to the United States by slaves
is altogether possible. Speakers of Yoruba and related languages were
numerous among Nigerians transported to the American colonies. The
Negroes' practice of putting on a mask of "know-nothing" at the approach
of bosses or other whites as the better part of caution is well known. Thus
ofay may be taken as a word said for self-protection in times of threat, which
was then transferred to the source of threat, and so came to mean 'white
man.'
:::
Fascinating! If it's a Yoruba word, then ofay should have a tonal component to its correct pronunciation, which just makes it more fun to say imo. Idk if we have any Yoruba-speakers here to instruct, though.
2
gayspacemarxist [comrade/them, she/her] - 1mon
White people are always looking for a new slur huh?
7
comrade_pibb [comrade/them] - 1mon
ofay boomer
6
largerfather [he/him] - 1mon
deadwood is where i learned “swedgin”
5
Nopeace [he/him, comrade/them] - 1mon
Honestly I like "swedgin" better than "swearengen".
"Swedgin, Wu, hang dai!"
6
ClathrateG [none/use name] - 1mon
'gleet'
3
TheDeed [he/him] - 1mon
My grandpa used to say this
Pls just leave our words alone. Before I know it this will end up being referred to as "tiktok slang"
Nopeace in main
Was watching deadwood and I heard a new word I think y'all will like
I like that using this in the phrase "okay ofay" makes it sound like pig latin so you are sure to induce confusion based rage in a certain subset of people
Reminiscent of "okay boomer" as well
richard feynman's art name
also appears in that SNL sketch that paul mooney wrote for richard pryor
CTRL+F pryor
Came here to say that. It was the first time I heard the word (1976) and it was old then. Here's the clip. "Ofay is near 1:06. Content warning! N-word (yes, they said the n-word on live TV). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuEBBwJdjhQ
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
Can this replace y*kubian as a better slur for crackers that won't make poc feel weird?
Sounds too much like "au fait"
might think it's a compliment
I'd like to think so. It's possible there's more history for this word I don't know about that could be problematic, given I only know it's meaning but if the scene it was said in means anything I think it safe. It was shouted by the black stableman in response to absolute vile ofay behavior.
Seems like it should be okay. I did a quick search and came across this paper. The author thinks it's of Yoruba origin.
::: spoiler spoiler
Fascinating! If it's a Yoruba word, then ofay should have a tonal component to its correct pronunciation, which just makes it more fun to say imo. Idk if we have any Yoruba-speakers here to instruct, though.
White people are always looking for a new slur huh?
ofay boomer
deadwood is where i learned “swedgin”
Honestly I like "swedgin" better than "swearengen". "Swedgin, Wu, hang dai!"
'gleet'
My grandpa used to say this
Pls just leave our words alone. Before I know it this will end up being referred to as "tiktok slang"