Thursday, March 28, 2024 Mar 28, 2024
45° F Dallas, TX
Advertisement
Uncategorized

Today’s Etymology Question: The Origin of ‘T-Jones’

Knowledge is power.
By Tim Rogers |

Words are on my mind today. On the phone with Mike Mooney, I asked him how his T-Jones was doing. To which Mike replied: “?” I told him, “I guess you didn’t grow up on the mean streets of East Dallas. ‘T-Jones’ is slang for one’s mother.” If memory serves, I first heard the expression circa 1976, at Davy Crockett Elementary, where I was, if not the only, one of the very few white kids. Crockett introduced me to another word, too. After my first day there, I came home and said, “Mom, what’s a honky?” In any case, as I was talking to Mike, I googled “T-Jones” and was surprised to learn from the Urban Dictionary (if such a source can be trusted) that the term is mostly used in the Dallas area. Can that be true?

Linguistically knowledgeable FrontBurnervians, I need your help.

Related Articles

Image
Travel

Is Fort Worth Really ‘The New Austin’?

The Times of London tells us it's now the coolest city in Texas.
Image
Dallas 500

Meet the Dallas 500: Chakri Gottemukkala, o9 Solutions

The o9 solutions leader talks about garnering a $3.7 billion valuation, growing 10x over the next few years, and how the company is innovating.
Image
Local News

An Early Look at 2026 FIFA World Cup Logistics

The World Cup matches will be held in Arlington, but Dallas will be home to a great deal of team and fan experiences. We're getting an early look at what that will look like.
Advertisement