Adventures of an oldhead

One of the things I've enjoyed most about living in Philadelphia is getting acquainted with Philly slang. Since I'm working in a school, I get to hear it all straight from those who use it most. Here's a bulleted list:

• Jawn - The most commonly used word in the language of Philly youth. It's basically a substitute for "thing," probably a corruption of "joint," and can be used in any situation imaginable. For example, my students will say "I need some help with this jawn," or draw a comparison between two things by saying "Like the number line jawn." One of the all-time greatest uses of it was relayed to me by Seth, who was in line to buy us lunchmeat and overheard a fellow ShopRite customer singing the praises of "those crushed red pepper jawns." I started saying it ironically to get laughs out of my City Year teammates, most of whom are from Philadelphia, but now it has entered my lexicon for real.
• Young bull - Essentially serves the same purpose as "dude" or "guy," but specifically refers to someone your same age or younger. It's said in such a way, however, that I had the hardest time trying to figure out if it was "young bull" or "young boy."
• Oldhead - The opposite of young bull, in that it refers to someone noticeably older than you. I think it also carries some negative connotations, implying that the person is out of touch with the major trends of the day or trying to be something he is not. Friends of mine have been called oldheads when they played some pickup basketball. Also, at least one of my students has referred to me as "oldhead," and I'm not sure whether to take this as an insult or not, because he also referred to his uncle this way. I'm pretty sure, though, that writing this post qualifies me as an oldhead.
  
• Drawin', or drawlin' - Used instead of "trippin'" or "triflin'" to describe something heinous, extreme, or unfair.
  
• Decent - This, for whatever reason, has come to mean "extraordinary," as in "My 18th birthday party is gonna be DECENT!" I'm told, though, that this is commonly used in Pittsburgh as well, but considering that I'd never heard it used like this until coming to the Illadelph, I'm counting it.
• Salty - This is something that I distinctly remember being said when I was in middle school in Indianapolis, but I'm including it here because of the way it is said, with a long, long "a" and no "l" to speak of. Saaaaawty. If something is salty, it sucks.
  
• Corny - This has pretty much preserved its meaning, but I am fascinateed by how often I hear it and how it apparently, along with salty, has become the adjective of choice when describing something that is profoundly uncool. For example, being overly sincere is corny. Being the teacher's pet is corny. I don't think you can be both corny and drawin', though. That might be too much.
  
• Hype - As in, "You too hype!" to descrive someone that is overly excited about something, or someone that is misbehaving in class. It has clear negative connotations, which is strange, because I've always associated being hyped up with being excited and prepared for something. I guess it is has overtones of being out of control in its common usage, but here it is almost entirely negative.
• Kick rocks - This is in the same vein as "get lost" or "go fly a kite" (if one were really into 1950s slang): "I would have told her to kick rocks!" I am completely baffled by its origins. My service leader uses this all the time.
  

So: on this Thanksgiving weekend, I am thankful for getting to serve in a West Philadelphia school, because otherwise I would never be able to understand the sentence "This jawn is corny; young bull be drawin'."