-izzle
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"-izzle" is an American English suffix used for pop-culture hip hop slang. It is sometimes called "Snoop speak" or "Snoop slang" [verification needed] because it was popularized by Snoop Dogg, although several other musicians have used similar slang long before him such as MC Lucas and Dr. Dre. The "izz" infix technique is a similar form of this practice. [verification needed]
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[edit] "Izzle" suffix usage
The "-izzle" suffix technique is performed by inserting "-izzle" after a word's last pre-vowel consonant in its final syllable while deleting the remaining letters: "minute" becomes "minizzle" and "America" becomes "Americizzle." Using the technique with a one syllable word usually creates a word that is impossible to decipher (but also add ambiguity): "cream," "crime," and "crap" all translate into "crizzle." Nevertheless, it is here that the suffix is often used: "thizzle" "thing" and "bizzle" "bear" (Starsky & Hutch) have turned up. "Thizz" is also a Bay Area Slang term for the drug ecstacy, popularized by the late rapper, Mac Dre.
The best-known example of using the "-izzle" suffix is "fo' shizzle", meaning "for sure." The common phrase "fo' shizzle my nizzle." translates "For sure my nigga."
[edit] "Izz" infix usage
The "izz" infix technique is performed by inserting "izz" after a word's last pre-vowel consonant in its final syllable without deleting any letters: "minute" becomes "minizzute," and "America" becomes "Americizza."
One-syllable words generally translate better with this technique: "cream" becomes "crizzeam" and "crap" becomes "crizzap."
It can also be performed by inserting izz at the beginning of a lone vowel: "I" becomes "Izzi" and "O" becomes "Izzo."
Snoop's first recorded use of this technique came in Dr. Dre's 1992 album, "The Chronic" in the opener, "The Chronic (Intro)," on a few occasions. A few examples are "That crazy-ass nigga's back in the mother fuckin' hizzouse," "Well if that bitch can't swim...well she bound to drizzown!" and "Peace to my nigga Drizzay" (Dr. Dre). Its usage didn't reach high pop culture status until Jay-Z's 2001 song "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)."
[edit] Origins
While Snoop Dogg and Jay-Z are credited for popularizing these techniques in the early 2000s, previous artists used them or similar forms earlier. Snoop's first known recorded use of "-izzle" came from Dr. Dre's 1992 album The Chronic, and was later popularized through his 2000 single "Snoop Dogg (What's My Name, Part 2)".
The first musical use of the "izz" infixes came from funk musician Frankie Smith's 1981 hit single "The Double Dutch Bus". The song's bridge contained numerous uses, such as "gizzirl", "wizzat", "mizzove", and "wizzay" (the above words are "girl", "what", "move", and "way"). It also used "ilz" infixes in a set of names, like "Bilzarbra", "Tilzommy", and "Milzary" ("Barbara", "Tommy", and "Mary"). Snoop Dogg in fact samples The Gap Band's version of "The Double-Dutch Bus" in his song "Snoop Dogg".
The 1985 song "Roxanne Roxanne" by UTFO used the "izz" infixes with lines like: "The izzi is the grizzeat Kizzangizzo" and "Then crizzi to gizzone and seen number izzone."
Rapper E-40 was not the first to record the "-izzle" suffix, but he is known to be the first to record the similar offshoot suffix "-eezy" in his 1996 album Tha Hall Of Game. His song "Rappers Ball" contains the line "We off the heezy fo'sheezy." His song "Records Haters" contains the line "3X Krazy laced me, taught me how to say fo'sheezy."
From 1991, the song "Playground" by preteen rap/R&B group Another Bad Creation also used "izz" infixes in the line: "M to the Izzark chillin' in the pizzark ... mother said be home by dizzark."
Carnies (carnival worker) have used 'iz' in precisely the same fashion for centuries.[1] A Pig Latin-like dialect emerged from the practice of adding "ee-uz" after each consonant, and was dubbed "Ciazarn" (from the dialectized form of "carny").
Bay Area Rapper Seagram is famous for recording the 1993 song "Straight Mobbin'", which is performed entirely with "izz" and "-izzle" words (except for the memorable line: "White folks tryin' to get up on the convo").
Rapper Eminem used the -izzle suffix in his song Til' I Collapse from his third studio album The Eminem Show. The line states "Fa shizzle my wizzle, this is the plot listen up, you bizzles forgot slizzle does not give a fuck."
[edit] Shizzle
Shizzle is a rap slang word for "sure", coined by E-40 and popularized by rap star Snoop Dogg. It has been adopted by several rappers and reggae deejays and is commonly used as: "fo' shizzle" as in, "for sure", often paired with "my nizzle" as in, "my nigga".
The song Double Dutch Bus, written by Frankie Smith originally spawned the use of '-izzle' as a suffix for words. While used in its purest form and true meaning as listed above, izzle as a suffix was rarely used, with exceptions occurring in a song now and then. [verification needed] But as the pop and rap scene grew increasingly successful, the phrase became quite popular. [verification needed] Those who heard the phrase, not understanding its meaning, often misenterpreted it, and further spread it without fully understanding it. [verification needed]
This has led to the use of Shizzle to mean "shit" to replace any noun in popular speech, much like "shizznit," as in "my shizzle's hella fizzle, yo." Such terms can be used in slightly more polite company, or to get past censors on TV or radio.
Shizzle my Nizzle has also become a popular phrase to express surprise in New Zealand, popularised by Glen Browne who is also the author of the wildly popular Diggy Dr Brzay's word of the Dzay.
[edit] Pop culture
By 2003, "Snoop Speak" fully entered the pop culture lexicon and showed up in a number of movies and commercials as jokes.
- In the film Legally Blonde 2, a character performed by Bob Newhart says "Fo-shizzle, my izzle."
- In an Old Navy commercial, actress Fran Drescher says "My Shizzle's Gone Fazizzle."
- A New York Times article is titled "Fo' Shizzle, That Big Bad Chrysler Really Does Sizzle."
- In the film "Head of State," an elderly woman says "It's off the hizzle for shizzle."
- In an AOL commercial with actor Jerry Stiller, Snoop parodies himself by saying "Now wait just one minizzle" after which the characters surrounding him respond with laughter.
- Disney Channel commercials for the cartoon Kim Possible have one of the show's villains use "heezy" in various ways: "Off the heezy."
- FHM magazine in Australia entitled an article about Snoop Dogg "20 Thizzles You Ought To Know About Snoop Dogg".
The website Gizoogle, a parody of Google, uses the "-izzle" suffix in their "translations" of websites.
By 2004, Snoop said he had gone tired of "Snoop Speak's" prevelance and admitted that he overused it himself. This, however, has not prevented him from using the lexicon in a 2005 Chrysler commercial with Lee Iacocca.
[edit] References
- Kathleen E. Miller: "On Language: Izzle", The New York Times, September 12, 2004. Fulltext: [2] or [3]
- Russell Jones - SOH 2006. "Number #1 BABY!"
