Brooklynese

[brook-luh-neez, -nees, brook-luh-neez, -nees]

noun

1. the speech, especially the pronunciation, thought to be characteristic of a person coming from New York City, especially Brooklyn.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Brooklynese¹

First recorded in 1945–50; Brooklyn + -ese

Example Sentences

The reader can almost hear Camilleri’s longtime translator, Stephen Sartarelli, chuckling over his rendition of Catarella’s chatter as that mishmash of h-dropping Cockney and diphthong-slaying Brooklynese.

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Bracco needs an interpreter because, though her grandfather and great-grandfather were from Sicily and though she found fame in two of the most iconic Italian American pop cultural artifacts of our time, “Goodfellas” and “The Sopranos,” the closest the Bay Ridge native comes to speaking the mother tongue is her brassy Brooklynese with un poco italiano thrown in, assisted by enthusiastic hand gestures.

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Finding the subtle “Brooklynese” that Fincher wanted in her voice was the trickier part.

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In the Brooklynese of Smith’s characters, I’d say “Nyah.”

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Written in the most glorious prose, its beat and buoyancy is delivered by Dominic Hoffman, a master at capturing the rhythm of backchat and in rendering Brooklynese, Southern and Spanish speech.

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