English Reference

Word

jong

/ˈdʒɔŋ/

Definition

n. a person who is new to a sport or activity and does not know what they are doing yet. It is a casual, slightly rude way to call someone a beginner, especially in surfing or skiing.

n. a novice or inexperienced participant in a particular activity, most commonly used within surfing, skiing, or snowboarding subcultures. Informal and often derogatory in register, implying a lack of skill or etiquette.

Examples

“Don't be such a jong and get out of the way.”

“The local surfers grew frustrated when a group of jongs ignored the lineup rules and caused a collision.”

Examples

simple

“Don't be such a jong and get out of the way.”

contextual

“The local surfers grew frustrated when a group of jongs ignored the lineup rules and caused a collision.”

Usage

Primarily used as a pejorative within outdoor sports communities; often functions as a vocative to insult someone's lack of experience.

Etymology

From Tibetan རྫོང (rdzong, “fortress, castle; province, district”).

Borrowed from Afrikaans jong (“male servant; boy”), from Dutch jongen (“young”).

See djong.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This entry

Level
C2 · Proficiency
Frequency
Frequent
Updated

Scan code

englishreference.com/q/jong

English Reference