Category Archives: Queens Janks

Janks collected in Queens, NYC surrounding the 2016 Queens International exhibit at the Queens Museum

051416010

Spanish:
English: Dress a monkey in silks, she’s still a monkey.
collected: Jamaica, Queens (05-14-2016)
origin: common expression from Mexico City that she remembers from her childhood. Used to describe someone who is a “wannabe.”

051416008

Dutch:
English: Do you have sand in your vagina?
collected: Jamaica, Queens (05-14-2016)
origin: First heard it in Eindhoven, Netherlands about 20 years ago. Something you say to someone who is being hypersensitive.

051416007

English: Your mama is so big, when you go around the corner, you’ve got to go AROUND the corner.
collected: Jamaica, Queens (05-14-2016)
origin: heard this playing The Dozens with friends in school, sometime around 1993 in Jamaica, Queens.

051416006

English: Your mama is so stupid, she bought a cup to see Juice.
collected: Jamaica, Queens (05-14-2016)
origin: heard this playing The Dozens with friends in school, sometime around 1993 in Jamaica, Queens. Juice is a 1992 American crime drama film featuring Omar Epps, Tupac Shakur, and Samuel L. Jackson.

051416001

Urdu:
English: Get out of my face
collected: Jamaica, Queens (05-14-2016)
origin: very common Urdu saying, which he heard from friends and family growing up in Pakistan. How this phrase is spoken, and in what context can change the meaning (from a funny joke to an aggressive order).