New York City is the trendsetter for food, fashion and slang words — but sometimes the choices are so cringe.
A new survey conducted by Wordtips revealed the most loved and hated slang words in NYC and 13 other areas with “distinct dialects,” including Hawaii, Philadelphia, Boston and New Jersey. They relied on UrbanDictionary.com to evaluate the number of upvotes and downvotes for each word so they could calculate the percentage results, ultimately collecting 50 oft-used terms.
The poll revealed people can’t get enough of the popular New York slang term “cringe,” which means “embarrassing or awkward,” explained UrbanDictionary.com.
“Cringe” came out on top with 94.03% of upvotes from respondents.
The viral term is followed by “yerrr/yurrr,” which many people use as a greeting, though it can used as a shortened version of “What’s up?” However, when responding, it’s encouraged to say the phrase back louder to the person who initiated the greeting.
“Whip” is the third most-loved in conversation, with New Yorkers interchanging “whip” with with the word “car,” referring to their vehicle, such as, “I’m parking the whip.”
Next up is “dead ass,” which is something used when trying to emphasize their seriousness.
And although New York is known for its diverse food scene, whenever locals refer to a “snack,” it’s not about food. The slang word, rated NYC’s fourth most popular phrase, is often referred to as a sexy person looking just as good as something you can eat.
While New Yorkers appreciate being highly influential for slang terms across the country — 84.28% of survey respondents voted the region as one of the best for it — there are some words they would prefer people erase from their vocabulary.
They dead ass can’t stand people saying “brolic,” a Big Apple term to describe someone with a muscular shape. The phrase, which landed in the No. 1 spot as the most hated New York slang, can be associated with buff or swole and used in a sentence as, “Yo, son, he’s looking brolic!”
Other phrases locals can’t stand to hear include “yas/yaaas,” which is used to hype your friend up for something they did and ranked as the second most hated term, and “peep”, which is used when you notice something someone else may not have.
By the way, since we’re keeping it real, the common phrase “real talk” also is a major no-no in NYC, as is the third most-hated term “Gucci” when describing something as all good or cool.
While New York is often the birthplace for slang terms, the study said, it was Hawaii that actually ranked No. 1 for the most popular phrases.
The term “Hapa,” referring to a person of mixed race, received a 90.9% upvote rate across the board.
