Slang dictionary
nawf
[nawf]
What does nawf mean?
Nawf is a dialectical pronunciation and spelling of “north,” commonly associated with Black English. The popular rap group Migos to refer to north Atlanta, Georgia as the Nawf.
Where does nawf come from?
North, of course, is one of the four cardinal directions. In some dialects of English, including Southern English and Black English, north is pronounced like norf, a common feature of those overlapping dialects to treat听th sounds as an f or v.
Nawf听doesn’t emerge online until 1998, in a Texan Usenet group in which a user proudly referred to north Houston as nawfside (northside). In an Irish Usenet group, however,听苍补飞蹿听was used to mock a Southern US accent.
Nawf began to spread in popular culture thanks to hip-hop, ever partial to spelling words as they are pronounced (e.g., mouf for mouth). Rapper Slim Thug used听nawf to refer to the same north Houston, Texas neighborhood in Chamillionare’s听2004 song, “Still Tippin’ 2.” Into the 2000s,听苍补飞蹿听was occasionally used for various northerly locations by social media users from the American South.
I need to get back to Nawf Carolina…the air there is so damn clean…
— Dante Sexum (@Vandalyzm)
Oh yeah i forgot. ian and i rep the nawf side
— que_pedo (@que_pedo)
Nawf takes off in popular culture thanks hip-hop trio Migos’ 2016 hit song “Bad and Boujee.”听In the song, the rappers boast are from the Nawf, or north Atlanta, specifically the city of Lawrenceville in Gwinnett County. Although “Bad and Boujee” gave nawf national attention, Migos had favored the term since at least 2012.
everybody who came out to our show last night. and da mob came and fuckd wit the NAWF!!
— MIGOS鈩� (@Migos)
Examples of nawf
Who uses nawf?
After Migos’ success, other residents of Gwinnet County (and the greater north Atlanta area) took to using the听Nawf听to rep their home.
The nawf ain鈥檛 nothing like the north bro. Smh this place is like dry unseasoned chicken, Gwinnett a nice juicy fried hot lemon pepper wing
— fern. (@fernandojuare93)
The Nawf don鈥檛 want you
— $moneybag louie鈦垛伓鈦娥搮� (@LouieMoneyBags)
Gotta love the Marietta Hawks 馃槀馃槀 But for real I love my city 馃馃徑馃槑
— I Am B Hunter (@Movie_Messiah)
Nawf is also used to refer to northern sections of cities, especially in the South or to the northerly directions more generally. It’s especially associated with colloquial black speech and writing. It may be considered appropriative for non-black people to adopt it.
they just legalized weed in canada who wants to go on a fuckin adventure to da nawf
— car (@caarrlym)
Im from Nawf Memphis where young niggaz runnin shit 馃憤馃従
— AK 馃敟 (@_AKno47_)
It’s important to note that pronouncing north as nawf isn’t due to ignorance but is consistent with the complex grammar of Black English.
Note
This is not meant to be a formal definition of nawf like most terms we define on 亚洲网紅露点, but is rather an informal word summary that hopefully touches upon the key aspects of the meaning and usage of nawf that will help our users expand their word mastery.