Quinta Brunson Of 'Abbott Elementary' Teaches Stephen Colbert Philly Slang
By Taylor Linzinmeir
January 6, 2023
Abbott Elementary creator and Philadelphia native Quinta Brunson recently taught Stephen Colbert a lesson while appearing on The Late Show.
Brunson walked Colbert through some of her home town's unique vocabulary. "I thought it would be fun if you could teach me a few Philly terms that I don't understand at all," Colbert said. During the segment, he went through a few words, including "jawn" and "mac machine," and guessed what they mean.
For "jawn," Colbert guessed that it was simply a boy's name. Brunson corrected him by saying, "No, it is not a boy's name —But it can be a boy, or a girl, or this desk, or this cup... Jawn is a person, place, thing or idea. Some would call it a noun." Colbert then guessed that a "mac machine" is simply another name for a computer. Apparently the term "breaks" Brunson's brain. "A mac machine is the same thing as an ATM. And I only found out recently that mac machines are only in Philadelphia, so all my life I've been calling ATMs mac machines."
In his defense, Colbert did correctly guess what "wit/witout" and "hoagie" mean. Check out the whole video below.
Abbott Elementary aires Wednesdays on ABC. Brunson stars in the show as Janine Teagues.