This Florida slang phrase stumped Americans from other states and some Floridians
Some slang terms have become so ingrained in our culture that everyone knows what it means, like the beloved “y’all,” others are more of a head-scratcher.
For example, in South Dakota, a “tavern” is a sloppy joe, not a bar. And in New York “grilling” someone doesn’t mean peppering them with questions, it means staring them down.
But Florida slang might be some of the strangest. And one Florida phrase, created in and mostly used around the Jacksonville area, stumped respondents on a recent survey. The survey, conducted by language learning app Preply, measured the “hardest to understand states” by measuring how confused the rest of the country was by each state’s slang words.
Florida ranked in the top 20 hardest to understand states, with the phrase “jiffy feet” stumping 43% of the people surveyed.
What does the phrase “jiffy feet” mean to you, if anything? To people from Jacksonville, it doesn’t mean having great dance moves – which is what most respondents who took the Preply survey thought it meant.
What is the meaning of jiffy feet?
The phrase “jiffy feet” refers to the layer of dirt and dust that adorns the bottom of one’s feet after prancing around driveways, streets, dirt roads, gas stations or really anywhere barefoot.
It perfectly reflects the tendencies of “beachnecks” (proud beach-dwelling rednecks), who live around Atlantic, Neptune and Jacksonville beaches, to ditch their shoes – especially on beach, boat and pool days.
For example, if you’ve ever spent a Fourth of July biking up and down First Street, you probably had jiffy feet by the time you were walking back home from watching fireworks on the beach.
Where did jiffy feet come from?
The First Coast slang phrase is built on a slang word that also comes from the Jacksonville area. A “jiffy” or “jiffy store” refers to any gas station or quick stop-style store. For most Duval residents who have been in the area in the last 40 years, “jiffy” is to a quick stop as Kleenex is to a tissue.
This is because of an Orange Park-based chain of convenience stores called Huntley’s Jiffy Food Stores that had the bulk of its 342 stores in the Jacksonville metropolitan area. The chain of stores was bought out twice and any quick stop store that used to be a Huntley’s Jiffy is now a Circle K.
“Jiffy feet” became a popular saying around the Jacksonville area some time in the ‘70s according to reporting by Co-Owner and Editor of The Jaxson Bill Delaney.
“By the 80’s and 90’s, the term was in use in other parts of Florida as well, including Daytona Beach, Ocala, and the Panhandle as far as Pensacola, and even in some other Southern states,” Delaney wrote in an article on jiffy feet for The Jaxson. “At least initially, the term’s geographical range likely correlated with the presence of stores named ‘Jiffy.’”
What slang words are specific to Florida?
Here are some other Florida phrases and words that are common in the local lexicon. This is certainly not a comprehensive list. Vote for your fav at the end of the list!
Florida happy meal: A Florida happy meal is just easier than saying “I’m going to the jiffy for beer, a lottery ticket and cigarettes.”
Jit: It stands for “Juvenile in training.” Urban Dictionary has a more colorful description for the meaning of the word. If anyone calls you this, you’re being insulted.
Noseeum: This is what we call the little invisible bugs, actually midges, that decorate our legs with itchy red bumps in the summer. If you’ve never met a noseeum, just know they’re like the really annoying sidekick of mosquitoes.
Snowbirds: Hordes of northerners that flock to Florida beaches every winter.
Florida bath: Don’t feel like showering off the chlorine after your pool day? No worries! You don’t have to. You took a Florida bath.
Square grouper: Every once in a while, if you’re fishing or swimming in the right place at the right time, you could come across a square grouper. This is the name that the US Coast Guard working in the waters around South Florida gave to overboarded bales of drugs. It’s also the name of the Florida bar where Alan Jackson shot his “5 O’Clock Somewhere” music video.
Can't see the poll? Click here to cast your vote.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Weird Florida slang: Jiffy feet, Florida happy meal, square grouper
