Hello Grammarians,

 

I have a question regarding what constitutes a word. Two sections of remedial writers at one college where I teach were asked to write a "Definition paragraph," by taking a word, such as "addiction" and then writing a paragraph about it. The paragraph would not merely include a dictionary definition of the word, but personal experience and evidence (real-world examples) to illustrate and define the word. One of my students chose the word "jawn." Although "jawn" does not appear in standard dictionaries, it is in the urban dictionary:

  

	jawn
	a word used by Philly cats to describe anything and everything. NY cats interject with the word "joint" but it doesn't convey the same feelings. you see that car? that jawn was hot. you was at Keisha's jawn last night? when them planes flew into that jawn, it exploded!! you heard that new jawn by B.Seigs & Freeway? nah, i was at the jawn when she came by.   At first I was hesitant to let the student write on this word, maintaining that "jawn" was not really a word, but then decided it was okay. If certain words are not located in the dictionary, or any standard dictionary, are they still considered words? I was surprised that "bootylicious" is in the dictionary, but not "jawn" as one of my students pointed out.      Thanks! (As always) Carol