finna

[Jesse Sheidlower]

On Wed, Sep 08, 2004 at 01:39:52PM -0400, Orin Hargraves wrote:
> Can anyone fill me in on finna? I keep coming across it in blogs; seems to be
> a straightforward substitute for “gonna.” Random examples:
>
> This isn't finished at all. it's finna be epic.
>
> Jacob wants to go to the beach, but I'm finna stay in the city and just relax.
>
> imma let her have all the easy shots because im finna take tha ball and make
> tha game a lil harder.
>
> What’s the pronunciation? And why does f substitute for g?
> Is it mainly AAVE? — that’s the impression I get from context.

This is a reduced form of _fixing to_ i.e. 'to be about to; to
be planning to; to be going to' etc. I probably see _finta_ more often.

I assume DARE covers this, but I don't have my copy handy.

Jesse Sheidlower
OED