See nah mean in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
{
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "knowwhaddamean",
"nocap": "1"
},
"expansion": "contraction of knowwhaddamean",
"name": "contraction"
}
],
"etymology_text": "A contraction of knowwhaddamean, itself a contraction of do you know what I mean; from *kno’ what Ah mean, an AAVE variant, which became *kno’ wha’ ah mean > *kno’ ’a’ ah mean, then finally *kna’ ah mean, which is spelled nah ah mean or nah mean, the former of which represents the actual pronunciation more faithfully, but is less commonly used (especially so by AAVE speakers themselves, who prefer the latter form). Equivalent to kn[ow] [wh]a[t] Ah mean.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "nah ah mean",
"tags": [
"alternative"
]
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "intj",
"senses": [
{
"alt_of": [
{
"word": "do you know what I mean?"
}
],
"categories": [
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "African-American Vernacular English",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Pages with 1 entry",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Pages with entries",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
335,
344
]
],
"ref": "2002 October 23, Don Reo, Damon Wayans, Damien Dante Wayans, “Claire's New Boyfriend” (10:55–11:10 from the start), in Andy Cadiff, director, My Wife and Kids, season 3, episode 6, spoken by Michael Kyle and Michael Jr. (Damon Wayans and George Gore II):",
"text": "Michael: We're gonna use this [hip-hop magazine] to hip you up, starting with your speech, all right?\nMichael: I highlighted some very important words that I want you to incorporate into your language. (shows page)\nJunior: Nah -- nah ha mean -- na -- na ha mem?\nMichael: No, it's not Hebrew.\nJunior: Okay.\nMichael: It's Ebonics. It's \"nah mean?\". It means, \"you know what i mean?\".",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
7,
15
],
[
33,
42
],
[
178,
186
]
],
"ref": "2005, The Herbaliser, “Nah Mean Nah’m Saying”, in Jake Wherry, Ollie Teeba (music), Take London ft. Jean Grae:",
"text": "My see nah mean\nYou mean nah say\nNah' mean nah'm sayin' when I'm kickin' this game\nHot streak these words nowhere flip it the same\nConcede indeed Jean frickin' the same\nMy speak nah mean",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
34,
43
]
],
"ref": "2007, 52:33 from the start, in Rob Schneider, director, Big Stan, spoken by Nazi Inmate (Kevan Paul Hewett), Sony Pictures Home Entertainment:",
"text": "He ain't gonna know what hit him, nah mean?",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
31,
40
]
],
"ref": "2014, J. Cole, “Blowin Smoke”, in Revenge of the Dreamers:",
"text": "You know how he used to say it\nNah mean?\nB-r-r-ing, warm up",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
31,
39
],
[
40,
48
]
],
"ref": "2020 November 19, Gustavo Guaapo, “Built Different (Outro)”, in Playa's Karma:",
"text": "Real money getters around here nah mean\nNah mean I used to think it was the first million that was the hardest\nYou heard ?",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
22,
30
],
[
67,
75
],
[
97,
105
],
[
147,
155
]
],
"ref": "2021 May 18, “BNBB Freestyle”, Guy Furious, DJ Komari (music)performed by Anik Khan ft. KIN:",
"text": "Pull up to the scene, nah mean\nBlack and brown boys looking clean, nah mean\nA dolla and a dream, nah mean\nA bunch of kings, hanging out in Queens, nah mean",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Contraction of do you know what I mean?."
],
"id": "en-nah_mean-en-intj-nl4ObREt",
"qualifier": "African-American Vernacular",
"raw_glosses": [
"(African-American Vernacular) Contraction of do you know what I mean?."
],
"tags": [
"abbreviation",
"alt-of",
"contraction"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "[nɘːɘˈmĩ]",
"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
"audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-nah mean.wav",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/8/8d/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Flame%2C_not_lame-nah_mean.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Flame%2C_not_lame-nah_mean.wav.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/8/8d/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Flame%2C_not_lame-nah_mean.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Flame%2C_not_lame-nah_mean.wav.ogg"
},
{
"ipa": "[nɑːɑˈmĩ]",
"tags": [
"Southern-US"
]
},
{
"audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Greengigga3000-nah mean.wav",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/0/0e/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Greengigga3000-nah_mean.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Greengigga3000-nah_mean.wav.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/0/0e/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Greengigga3000-nah_mean.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Greengigga3000-nah_mean.wav.ogg"
}
],
"word": "nah mean"
}
{
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "knowwhaddamean",
"nocap": "1"
},
"expansion": "contraction of knowwhaddamean",
"name": "contraction"
}
],
"etymology_text": "A contraction of knowwhaddamean, itself a contraction of do you know what I mean; from *kno’ what Ah mean, an AAVE variant, which became *kno’ wha’ ah mean > *kno’ ’a’ ah mean, then finally *kna’ ah mean, which is spelled nah ah mean or nah mean, the former of which represents the actual pronunciation more faithfully, but is less commonly used (especially so by AAVE speakers themselves, who prefer the latter form). Equivalent to kn[ow] [wh]a[t] Ah mean.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "nah ah mean",
"tags": [
"alternative"
]
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "intj",
"senses": [
{
"alt_of": [
{
"word": "do you know what I mean?"
}
],
"categories": [
"African-American Vernacular English",
"English contractions",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English interjections",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English terms with quotations",
"Pages with 1 entry",
"Pages with entries"
],
"examples": [
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
335,
344
]
],
"ref": "2002 October 23, Don Reo, Damon Wayans, Damien Dante Wayans, “Claire's New Boyfriend” (10:55–11:10 from the start), in Andy Cadiff, director, My Wife and Kids, season 3, episode 6, spoken by Michael Kyle and Michael Jr. (Damon Wayans and George Gore II):",
"text": "Michael: We're gonna use this [hip-hop magazine] to hip you up, starting with your speech, all right?\nMichael: I highlighted some very important words that I want you to incorporate into your language. (shows page)\nJunior: Nah -- nah ha mean -- na -- na ha mem?\nMichael: No, it's not Hebrew.\nJunior: Okay.\nMichael: It's Ebonics. It's \"nah mean?\". It means, \"you know what i mean?\".",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
7,
15
],
[
33,
42
],
[
178,
186
]
],
"ref": "2005, The Herbaliser, “Nah Mean Nah’m Saying”, in Jake Wherry, Ollie Teeba (music), Take London ft. Jean Grae:",
"text": "My see nah mean\nYou mean nah say\nNah' mean nah'm sayin' when I'm kickin' this game\nHot streak these words nowhere flip it the same\nConcede indeed Jean frickin' the same\nMy speak nah mean",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
34,
43
]
],
"ref": "2007, 52:33 from the start, in Rob Schneider, director, Big Stan, spoken by Nazi Inmate (Kevan Paul Hewett), Sony Pictures Home Entertainment:",
"text": "He ain't gonna know what hit him, nah mean?",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
31,
40
]
],
"ref": "2014, J. Cole, “Blowin Smoke”, in Revenge of the Dreamers:",
"text": "You know how he used to say it\nNah mean?\nB-r-r-ing, warm up",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
31,
39
],
[
40,
48
]
],
"ref": "2020 November 19, Gustavo Guaapo, “Built Different (Outro)”, in Playa's Karma:",
"text": "Real money getters around here nah mean\nNah mean I used to think it was the first million that was the hardest\nYou heard ?",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
22,
30
],
[
67,
75
],
[
97,
105
],
[
147,
155
]
],
"ref": "2021 May 18, “BNBB Freestyle”, Guy Furious, DJ Komari (music)performed by Anik Khan ft. KIN:",
"text": "Pull up to the scene, nah mean\nBlack and brown boys looking clean, nah mean\nA dolla and a dream, nah mean\nA bunch of kings, hanging out in Queens, nah mean",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Contraction of do you know what I mean?."
],
"qualifier": "African-American Vernacular",
"raw_glosses": [
"(African-American Vernacular) Contraction of do you know what I mean?."
],
"tags": [
"abbreviation",
"alt-of",
"contraction"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "[nɘːɘˈmĩ]",
"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
"audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-nah mean.wav",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/8/8d/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Flame%2C_not_lame-nah_mean.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Flame%2C_not_lame-nah_mean.wav.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/8/8d/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Flame%2C_not_lame-nah_mean.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Flame%2C_not_lame-nah_mean.wav.ogg"
},
{
"ipa": "[nɑːɑˈmĩ]",
"tags": [
"Southern-US"
]
},
{
"audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Greengigga3000-nah mean.wav",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/0/0e/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Greengigga3000-nah_mean.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Greengigga3000-nah_mean.wav.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/0/0e/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Greengigga3000-nah_mean.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Greengigga3000-nah_mean.wav.ogg"
}
],
"word": "nah mean"
}
Download raw JSONL data for nah mean meaning in English (4.5kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-12-23 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-12-02 using wiktextract (6fdc867 and 9905b1f). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.