jone

1 of 2

verb

ˈjōn 

variants or joan

joned or joaned; joning ˈjō-niŋ  or joaning also jonin' ˈjō-nən  or joanin'; jone or joan

transitive + intransitive

African American English slang

: to insult a person by joning : to engage in a ritualized exchange of insults

—usually used with on

My family is loving, but will jone on you until the roosters crow. … If you didn't jump in on the jokes, somehow you became the brunt of them (lol).

—Alsean Bryant, quoted at Waycross (Georgia) Journal-Herald (online)

"Ohhhhh! Ms. Valente jonin' on you, cuz!"

—Tiffany Jackson

He was just talking to me, telling me I always got jokes, I'm always joaning on him. I tell him that's not going to stop.

—Mark McCain, quoted at The Washington Post (online)

see also jones entry 1

joning

2 of 2

noun

jon·​ing ˈjō-niŋ 

variants or joaning or less commonly jonin'

ˈjō-nən 

or joanin'

African American English slang

: a ritualized exchange of insults that are often about the other person's appearance or members of the other person's family : capping entry 2

… You know it's … basically making fun of people or just basically joning.

—unidentified speaker, quoted in Corpus of Regional African American Language

The creator of the "Wild 'N Out" TV series, Cannon said he was inspired by shows like "In Living Color" and musical artist Def Jam, as well as "joaning" sessions with comedians like Katt Williams and Kevin Hart.

—Stacey Coles

As a source of inspiration for her book [You So Black], [Theresa] Wilson used the breadth of Black culture. She thought about "playing the dozens" or "jonin'," which usually comes from a caring individual in our lives. One of those making fun statements may eventually get to, "You so black …"

—Brenda C. Siler

compare the dozens, signifying entry 1

Word History

Etymology

Verb

of obscure origin

Noun

jone + -ing entry 1

First Known Use

Verb

1939, in the meaning defined above

Noun

1939, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for jone

• blown
• clone
• cone
• crone
• drone
• flown
• groan
• grown
• hone
• joan
• known
• loan