在多伦多的低收入聚居区——Driftwood、Shoreham 与 Jane & Finch——一种被称为“Toronto Mans”的快语速、强爆发式街头语体正在公开场景中普遍使用；其语音特征包括TH音停化（例如“this”变成“dis”），并包含“crodie”“gerbert”“oppblock”等词汇，与“wannabe gangsters”语境并行。学童在麦当劳等地随意使用这类表达，显示它已成为日常互动的一部分，而不只是少数帮派圈层语言。

该方言词汇来源多元：牙买加土著语提供了“ah lie”“two-twos”，索马里语有“kawal”，阿拉伯语输入了“wallahi”，而英国源语包括“peng”“ends”“wasteman”“mandem”，其中“Toronto Mans”中的“Mans”即衍生自mandem；与此同时，伦敦说唱的影响在2010年代中期后更为显著。2017年Big Shaq的《Man’s Not Hot》在Jane & Finch年轻人群中被反复吟唱（“one, two, three and four”），进一步强化了与伦敦青年文化的连接。

语言学者称其为“Multicultural Toronto English”，认为使用者会按互动场景策略性切换语音和词汇；社群内部对其“天生语言”还是“表演身份”看法不一。趋势上，TorontoTide把这种说法扩散到更宽语域，包括在Yorkdale等更高消费空间的自拍视频；与此同时，Shoreham等地也出现由家长推动的反噬性规范，要求孩子先学“proper English”，显示向上流动的标准语言资本与地方认同之间出现持续拉扯。

Across the low-income districts of Driftwood, Shoreham, and Jane & Finch in Toronto, a speech variety called “Toronto Mans” is now used openly in everyday public settings, featuring TH-stopping (for example, “dis” for “this”) plus slang such as “crodie,” “gerbert,” and “oppblock,” and a performative style linked to “wannabe gangsters.” Schoolchildren using it in places like McDonald’s indicate this is not a fringe code but part of routine interaction among youth.

Its lexicon is strongly hybrid: Jamaican-based items like “ah lie” and “two-twos,” Somali “kawal,” and Arabic “wallahi” mix with London-derived terms such as “peng,” “ends,” “wasteman,” and “mandem,” with “Mans” itself derived from mandem. The pattern aligns with a mid-2010s British rap connection after Drake amplified artists like Skepta and Giggs internationally, and 2017 Big Shaq lyrics from “Man’s Not Hot” (“one, two, three and four”) are echoed by Jane & Finch teens in public spaces.

Researchers describe this as Multicultural Toronto English, a repertoire where speakers strategically switch lexical and phonological features depending on audience, while residents disagree on whether the style is authentic identity or performance. Expansion is uneven but clear: TorontoTide videos now circulate this dialect from Yorkdale and other affluent zones while, in Shoreham, some parents push children toward “proper English” first, producing a visible tension between local in-group prestige and mainstream linguistic mobility goals.

Source: The strange, multicultural slang of Toronto’s teenagers

Subtitle: London rappers have an outsize influence

Dateline: 4月 09, 2026 04:29 上午 | Toronto