DC-area "joning"

[Benjamin Zimmer]

In a thread a year ago about "the dozens" and related terms, Wilson Gray wrote:

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http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0607C&L=ADS-L&P=R687
In my day, "front off" was originally the most commonly-used term.
But, for some reason, it rather quickly fell out of use and was
replaced by a word that I heard as "jawing." Shortly thereafter, the
term of choice became "joning." Even back in that day, the '50's,I was
aware of the possibility that "jawing" was some kind of mishearing on
my part, and that the term always was "joning."
"Front off" still lives, with a variety of meanings, none matching the
one peculiar to St. Louis, in other parts of the country. I read
somewhere or other that "joning" is, or was, also the term of choice
in DC.
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In an article in today's Washington Post about the recruitment of
Filipino teachers in the Prince George's County (Md.) school system,
there's some proof that "joning" is indeed still current in the
greater DC area.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/22/AR2007072200824.html
Perez, who is 35 and teaches special education at Oxon Hill
Elementary, said she and the other Filipino teachers spent their first
two years overcoming cultural challenges, such as learning the lingo.
She often asked her American co-workers to translate such words as
"joning," slang for making fun of someone.
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--Ben Zimmer

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