Off The Dome

"Off the dome" is slang for "off the top of your head."  I use it here, partly in jest, because I feel it's a bit obscure as far as white consciousness goes when it comes to street slang used predominately in black culture.  You won't hear an aging white executive use it in the boardroom when he feels a bit too comfortable with his black subordinates.  He doesn't know that term.  Adversely, you may hear him say "jiggy," "you the man," or "bling-bling."

He passively absorbed these terms from network television programs featuring aging, drug-addled pseudo-celebrities dancing to tortuous renditions of popular songs...from movies featuring likable, non-threatening black comic-relief caricatures...from overheard phrases as he passed the bedroom of his preteen child as they watched MTV.  

This man will never bother to learn "off the dome" - it's too clever.  But, he will continue to pervert the phrase, "What's the dilliyo?" (my spelling).  The fact that the word "what" is paired with an apostrophe and an "S" is the perversion.  This translates to "What IS the dilliyo?"  White people think "Dilliyo" means something amusing, but they aren't quite sure what.  To them, it's a whimsical-sounding infant of a word and they like the way it sounds prior to that silly giggle that forces its way out when they say it to each other.  

Of course, the proper use of this phrase is as follows (I'm not going to try to spell it out phonetically - my whiteness prevents me from doing so without feeling foolish): "What the deal is, yo?"  

"Yo" = in black culture, a popular term for a fellow male that you respect to a certain degree.  Either that, or you just don't know him that well yet.  The white equivalent would be "man," "buddy," or "chum." 

So, the proper pronunciation is a suave mash-up of "What the deal is, yo?"  The white equivalent would be:  "What's going on?"  "How's it going?" or "What time is the gang bang?" 

In short, the subject of this post was strictly off the dome.  I had nothing in mind as I started typing and that's what came out.  This is my first post on my first blog.  I'm going to try and make this therapeutic for my brain and hopefully somewhat entertaining to my friends and anyone else who bothers to read.  These will be completely random notes on life.  Certain days I may get deep.  Sometimes it will be a complete jerk off session.  So, what the deal is, yo?

I'll tell you what the fuckin' deal is.  I got a Mega Millions ticket right here and the drawing for $350M is tonight at midnight.  Whether I win or lose, I believe my next post tomorrow will be about the lottery.

*Disclaimer:

If you are wondering why I refer to being white myself but still refer to the targets of this post as "white people," keep thinking.  You'll get there.