'Count Every Jawn': How a Philly Protest Sign Explains the US Election Drama

"Can you explain Jawn?"

Believe it or not, this is an extremely important election-related question that I am highly qualified to field. I received the query from several friends today after a viral protest photo from my hometown Philadelphia made the rounds on social media. It was of a protester demanding that officials "Count Every Jawn."

The main image was snapped right in front of the Pennsylvania Convention Center, where mail-in ballots are being counted that could push Democratic challenger Joe Biden over the top and hand him the election. Supporters of Biden and President Donald Trump - who needs the state to win while Biden could probably afford to lose it with his edge elsewhere - have descended on the part of the city that witnessed the birthplace of American democracy, as tempers flare over the drawn-out result. Local media has also reported that police received a tip about a possible armed attack on the center.

There is so much scrutiny on the count that the Philadelphia City Commission has posted a livestream of it, showing a comparably quiet, boring and normal operation inside as figures are calmly tallied.

The sign was only the latest meme-friendly multimedia to emerge from the city during the election, including a viral video of voters dancing in lines and others dressed as post office boxes. It's not out of character in a city where people have showed up dressed as Batman and Elmo in past demonstrations

But back to "jawn." In the sign, it means "vote." The protester wants every vote to be counted as heavily Democratic Philly could decide the winner. But that's the beautiful thing about the word. It can act as a stand-in for anything. It can be singular or plural. Right now, for instance, I'm writing an article, but if asked by my sister what I'm up to, I could say, "I gotta finish writing this jawn for Vice" and it would be completely understood. I'm really hoping this jawn gets shared a lot by the way.

Probably derived from the word "joint," jawn came into my consciousness through everyday conversation growing up in West Philadelphia, but mostly through hip-hop culture. "Da Jawn" was a popular song on a 1996 album by Philly rapper Bahamadia, featuring Black Thought from the The Roots, the most famous homegrown band. The word is still going strong. "Jawn" appeared in 3,000 playlists in Spotify’s "Philly Knows Music" campaign.

"Jawn" is now used in local businesses and plastered on mugs, souvenirs and t-shirts.

But you can't beat the explanation from the 2015 movie "Creed," an extension of the "Rocky" film franchise which itself drew on iconic images and symbols of a city that welcomes its tough image. The character played by actor Michael B. Jordan meets a singer and local Philly jawn (the word can also refer to a romantic interest) played by Tessa Thompson.

Thompson's character picks up various items on the table at a restaurant during a date, saying "these is jawns," "this is a jawn." Jordan responds by asking her if she is seeing anybody: "You got a jawn?" 

I don't use jawn much where I live in Southeast Asia, where I'm an editor for Vice World News. But other words and distinct pronunciations used in Philly have stuck with me. I still occasionally slip back into "wooder” for "water" and "hoagie" (correctly pronounced "hewgie" and meaning a large sandwich). I considered it a major cultural achievement a few months ago when my British fiance asked me if I wanted to get hoagies for lunch.

There are many cliches about people from Philadelphia. Yeah, we've got some rowdy sports fans, but the reputation is probably overblown. Sure, our mascots don't make much sense, and one of them is a grotesque but belovedly unidentifiable creature named Gritty. The city's word is from the Greek for "brother" and "love" but we're famous for not being very hospitable, even to robots. 

Trump has played on some of this, saying in a debate that "bad things happen in Philadelphia" alleging voter malfeasance there. But watching the election from afar, I wish I was home. I'm dropping my skepticism and ready to believe in all the legends about what makes the town great. We are gritty. And to paraphrase Biden, we're gonna win this jawn.