In light of our recent onslaught of new additions to the TR youtube account, some of you may notice that TR has its very own language. In order to maintain a sense of clarity among us all, I think it is time to write a dictionary of our language, recently titled "Poobunny".
Poobunny
The Poobunny language takes its name from the first completely original word invented in the language itself.
Poobunny (n)- someone or something that is really lame; (adj) really lame
Now that we have established the meaning of this language's root word, I think it is important to list a few rare and sparingly used off-branches of "Poobunny":
Poohappy (adj)- the opposite of poobunny; totally awesome
Poohottie (n)- the noun form of poohappy; refers to someone totally awesome
Now that these few words are brought into the vocabulary, the rest of Poobunny is really only dialectical and quite straight-forward.
Poobunny has several sub-dialects on which I will elaborate shortly:
1. ghetto
2. Stucidese
3. general ending consonant removal
Ghetto
Ghettospeak is where Poobunny originated. Following are several examples of this language:
Dis and Dat: Replacing the 'th' Sound
Many of you are familiar with this. Take it a step further with words ending in "th" such as "mouth" and "tooth". In these cases the "th" is replaced with "f" to become "mouf" and "toof".
'Y'all got any scrimps?': Replacing Consonants following an 'S' with a 'C' or 'K'
Shrimp=Scrimps
Street=Screet
Strawberry=Scrawberry
Straight=Scraight
Other Words
These don't fit in the above categories:
Girl=Girr
This one is VERY common, and is used as an interjection, an exclamation, or simply to address anyone, male or female. In Poobunny it is perfectly acceptable to address a male with "Heyyyyyyyyyyy girr, how you is?"
That brings us to:
+HEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY and Other Greetings
"Heyyyyyyyyyy"—pronunciation of this is very important. It almost sounds like the English word "Hi" but with the slightest touch of a long "A" sound. It's a very delicate balance.
"How you is?" —usually follows "Heyyyyy girr!"
"Wutchu doin'?" —-often follows "heyyy girr", "how you is?" or both!
All versions of the above greetings are considered to show deep affection in the Poobunny dialect and are to be used only on people the speaker feels fondly towards.
"Pahk the Cah in the Yahd!":"R" Removal
Another element of this dialect is the removal of all "R" sounds. The above title reflects the Bostonian usage of this technique, which is often employed in Poobunny. Popular non-Bostonian examples:
Cracker=Cracka
Picture=Picha
Store=Sto'
Poor=Po'
"Sto'" and "po'" are good examples of the technique employed when an "R" is dropped following an "O". Apostrophes are important in Poobunny dialect:
Corn=Co'n
Storm=Sto'm
Other important rules to remember are that "is" often replaces "are" in so-called normal English and is often reversed in sequence with the subject. Thus the English "how are you?" becomes "how you is?" in Poobunny. Oftentimes, however, state-of-being verbs are removed entirely. Common examples:
"That is hot" becomes "Dat hot."
"I am eating a pineapple" becomes "I eating a pineapple"
Altered Vowels
Another important element of Poobunny is the necessity to alter vowel sounds of words. The most common word like this is "yee" meaning "yeah." Other common words include, "hurr" (hair), "thurr" (there) and "wurr" (where). Oftentimes this practice combines with "R" removal, such as in the cases below:
Here= Hee
Ex) "Zsa Zsa! Come hee!"
There/Their=They
Ex) "Put that box of dead babies over they!"
Stairs= Stays
Ex) "Fell down the stays into my arms…"
"Main, Mah Ace is too Fait!":Altered "A's"
A specific technique of altering vowels just recently developed. This involves replacing all short "A" sounds with long ones. Thus the phonetic replacements for several common words are as follows:
Man=main
fat=fait
damn=dame
ask=aysk
"Neeby? Neeby Jenkins?": Consonant Replacement
In Poobunny it is not only common practice to replace vowels, but also consonants. The foremost consonant used to replace nearly all other existing consonants is "B." Thus, "Neely" becomes "Neeby," "Jenny Lewis" becomes "Jibby Lewbis" and so on. The former are, however, more unusual cases. In common practice, "B's" usually replace "V's" as in "nebber" (never), "ebber" (ever) and "lub" (love).
"Time for Prattis!": The "CT" Rules
The creators of Poobunny acknowledge that it is simply too much work to pronounce the "C" in any words with a "C" followed by a "T". Thus, the "C" is removed and replaced by an addition "T". Sometimes the spelling of the rest of the word is altered so as to be phonetic. Thus, the following words arise:
Practice=prattis
Cactus= cattus
Octopus=ottopus
Another subcategory of Poobunny is Stucidese. This sub-dialect takes its name from a word in the dialect itself.
Stucidese
The basis of Stucidese is the replacement of various consonants in the middle (and sometimes the end) of words with "S" or "C" (and sometimes "Z") sounds. Some common examples are as follows:
Stupid=Stucid
Bottom=Bossom
Jacket=Jasset
Polly Pocket=Polly Posset
Saddle Creek= Sassle Creek
Sometimes this can be combined with the ghettospeak technique of "R" removal:
Water=Wassa
Better=Bessa (first coined by Omaha recording artist Kianna Alarid of Tilly and the Wall)
This particular dialect can get very complex and difficult to understand if one is not paying close attention, as nearly any consonant is eligible for replacement.
I will now type the above sentence in Stucidese:
"This partisular dialest can ges very compless and dissicult to unzerstanz if one is noss pasing close attension, as nearly any consonans is elissable for replacemenz."
One of the most important things to remember about Poobunny is that it was originally invented by its creators to make speaking easier. It got sidetracked during its evolution, but some of the original intentions remain.
That brings us to:
General Ending Consonant Removal
Sometimes it just takes too damn long to finish off a word with its proper consonant. That is why we often leave it hanging with its last vowel sound.
Common examples:
Stop=Stah
What=Wuh
God=Gah
And the most common one of all:
Love=Luh
Sometimes this general process branches off to removing entire syllables, as in a very common Poobunny word, "sah". This word comes from the English "Sorry," which, when pronounced in a common Poobunny dialect of Bostonian, becomes "Sah-ree". This takes entirely too long to say and was thus shortened to "sah". Another word that utilizes this technique is "tomah" (pronounce "tuh-MAH") meaning "tomorrow". Use of this technique on other words in Poobunny was very shortlived as it was too difficult to decipher among the speakers and thus dissipated almost entirely. "Sah" and "tomah" remain two of the few vestiges of this fleeting dialectical phase.
