Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Any of the nonstandard varieties of English spoken by black people throughout the world.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • proper noun Synonym of African American Vernacular English.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a nonstandard form of American English characteristically spoken by African Americans in the United States

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Except in Black English vernacular, where it remains common, now virtually restricted to contexts of deliberate and contemptuous ethnic abuse. b.

    Judith Ellis: Are We Conscious of Nigger Use? 2009

  • They've done a signal service in reminding us that Black English is as "legitimate" a dialect as the Queen's English, and that speaking the way Jane Austen writes doesn't make you more righteous than someone who uses y'all.

    Mental multivitamin 2009

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