Do you speak Brooklynese?

It's basically a really thick New York accent that is retained more prominently in burroughs outside of Manhattan. People don't phonetically write that way, though.

Some sounds are altered in a distinct way local to NY, but I wouldn't call it an "accent."

I think this is perhaps a joke...but it's very hard to tell with the british. My question is why they need a translator in the first place? Have they been watching too much HBO?

@bellacaroline See, I like that kind of skepticism. It's a good, healthy thing...they probably are pulling everybody's leg.

@Everyone a google search brought up this article.. and the post of this add has been reported in various sections of the NY media so I dont think its a hoax..
http://linguistic-anthropology.suite101.com/article.cfm/speak_brooklynese_like_a_native

@Everybody: Too bad I don't live in Brooklyn or speak Brooklynese. I sure could use the money though.

I actually saw a news feature on the Brooklyn news channel where they went around asking people if they thought there was a such thing as Brooklynese. Most Brooklynites - natives of the place, mostly - seemed to agree that there was not.

@JenMac THANK YOU. This thread needs a reality check, guys.

Hahahahahaha! The whole Brooklynese thing is pretty much a joke - I'd like to know who thought it up all of the sudden.

Yeaaah... I didn't think people would actually take the whole Brooklynese thing seriously? The day I saw that on the news I thought oh, man don't they have anything better to talk about?

It HAS to be a joke. That just can't be for real.

Hey, there's plenty of weirder requests going around on Craigslist every day!

Good point, @ajadedidealist

What's everyone's weirdest craigslist find? Someone once put up an ad in NYC for a "naked poker dealer" for a party for him and his friends. Right...

@ajadedidealist Havent trolled Craigslist in a while must do so and see what I can come up with..

@Ajadedidealist and @Uptowngirl: You never know what you will find on Craigslist. That is why there are warnings posted about fraud and scams. Read the fine print before acting.

I saw an ad in Craigslist for a girl for hire to pretend to be some guy's girlfriend at bars and stuff. Oh, and I also someone wanting girls to work at a superbowl party topless for TWENTY dollars and hour. Uh, you wish buddy.

@JenMac: Serious! Oh, my. Now I have heard of crazy ads. I'll bet the guy got a ton of responds to. You'll be surprised what people will do this tight economy.

@hhusted for 20$/hr I dont think so...

@hhusted well I say!!!

Do you guys ever read Best of Craig's List? Quality stuff.

http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/nyc/

http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/all/

@Uptowngirl: Yep, Like I said, in NYC anything can and often does happen.

@JenMac Would you actually wear one, though?

I have been on craigslisting for a new apt, and frankly, if I don't have to be on that site at the moment, I'd rather not. I have looked at so many places and have yet to fall in love with one.... Craigslisting can be so difficult!

I don't get why there's so much spam on the Craigslist for apartments. Just noticing how may of the listings are so obviously not kosher, that no fool would ever answer them. So then why do people spend so much time posting that garbage? I've never tried to call one of the numbers or email the address listed, but even if you do, then what? What possible profit would anyone have from that?

@BroadwayBK and DBlack I think like everything on the internet you have to sift through craigslist ads to get something genuine.. a friend of mine found a no fee rental in the Village on it and proceeded to live in the apartment for the next three years so I guess there are some genuine postings there but like everything else it also has its own bunch of time wasters!

I've rented in Vienna and Rome with Craigslist. Vienna was a great/reliable deal, but while the place in Rome was "legit" (in terms of location, price, etc), the landlord lied about the number of bedrooms - my quiet room in a 2-bed flat was actually a noisy room in a 4 bed flat with 5 people officially living there and an additional 4-5 the landlord allowed to "crash" in the living room/gave a key to so they could use the internet in the daytime/girlfriends of residents/etc. Not a fun month!

I think Craigslist is going the way of the Village Voice classifieds, at least in NYC they are. Remember the days when looking for an apartment meant checking the Village Voice? I almost don't remember any more.

@DBlack a lot of people post false ads to collect emails - which they then sell to various corporations who buy email lists. It's a racket.

@ajadedidealist It always seems to me that rents outside the US are a bit overpriced on craigslist... Like they are taking advantage of American renters generally. Does it ever seem that way to you?

Definitely, @broadwayBK, but when it comes to short-term lets, craigslist is cheaper than holiday apartments/etc, by far, and htat's all that's really available for the 1 month range

@BroadwayBK Hah! I know I took advantage of Americans when I let my apartment to them in Germany. Being American in most parts of the world is synonymous with rich, even to other Americans! Never felt bad, either. I'd be astonished again and again to meet yet another expat and find out what outrageous price they were paying for their apartment.

@Neversleeps: I probably would if it were an exceptionally good one.

@everyone: I found my apartment through cragislist AND my broker who is now one of my best friends in the city.

@JenMac Wow, all the brokers I've met were either of the creeps and geeks variety or were really too flaky to take seriously. Maybe you chanced on the one human broker in the city?

@BroadwayBK Okay, I see how it's a racket, but so many of the ads are so obviously spammy, made up junk. Nobody could possibly be fooled otherwise, so what I don't understand is the value in producing those? Because who would even click on them? And there are hundreds of them posted a day, as far as I can see.

@NeverSleeps LOL! Just been reading the Best of Craigslist...amazing! The ad to rent out a bathroom? How do people come up with this stuff?

@uraniumfish: yeah, I know most of them are total skeeves. I really did luck out because he is just the best guy ever.

@ajadedidealist aha! there you go now .. enough proof that a certain lingo that is native to NYC does exist after all..

@Everybody: When I am looking for an apartment, I'll use Craigslist and every other conventional and non-conventional means possible to find one. When i get the lead, I will check the place and make sure it is exactly what the ad says, or I just walk.

@ajadeidealist Not to be a smartypants, but those words are all Yiddish and as such probably more natural to Manhattanite settlers, whereas Brooklynese wouldn't necessarily be centered only on Yiddish...

@JenMac You definitely lucked out - I've never met anyone involved in real estate (not even a landlord) that was capable of much truth telling! What a rare guy you found...

@everyone If Brooklynese is a thing, then what do they speak in Mobile, Alabama? Or Paris, Texas? Still can't believe anyone would try to say that there is such a language.

Also, glad you guys enjoyed Best of Craigs. I can't find it anymore, but I saw an ad recently for a room in Greenpoint that claimed to be a great retreat for writers. It apparently didn't feature a shower, though, as the ad suggested taking showers at the nearby YMCA. The room was $900-ish and the walls were literally completely lined with someone else's books. No thanks. It's crazy what people try to pass off as living accommodations in the city. Then again, the fact that I can't find the ad anymore suggests that someone took the room...

@NeverSleeps Nah, it can also mean it got flagged and deleted. There's a small legion of Craigslist trolls that scour the site and flag stuff. They're really vicious. Just had a run-in with a few of them the other day.

@DBlack Some people must be fooled, or else what is the point of doing it?

I met some fool recently who was telling me how he responded to an ad on craigs for a $1000 a month studio on the UES, but that the guy wanted money upfront (and sent overseas) and wouldn't show him the apt or send him the keys. You'd have to be crazy to fall for that, but I'm guessing that it works sometimes.

@Uraniumfish I flag stuff sometimes, when it is obviously a harmful crank. Also, I think it sometimes happens on accident. What did you put on on craigs?

@Uraniumfish It's incredible how easy it is for people to be rude and obnoxious under the cover of internet anonymity!

@BroadwayBK It's getting harder to dig through the spam and junk on CL and actually find a real post written by a real person for a real reason. There have to be better housing listings than CL? Anyone have alternate suggestions?

@DBlack that's so true , I once wrote a travel blog post for a company on discounted business class air carriers and on yet another travel website I wrote about my experiences on the now defunct carrier EOS airlines after I was accommodated on them when yet another carrier called MaxJet went bust . Well some smarty pants read both the posts and then proceeded to write in on how I should be grateful for MaxJet and how I didnt show any appreciation blah blah.. you have to wonder about these folk dont they have a life ?

No, uptowngirl, it is very clear that they do not have a life. Not at all. Being rude on the internet is a full time occupation for a lot of people, I'm sure of it.

@DBlack The Stephanie Diamond listings! Stephanie Diamond is an artist with her own website, and people send her their ads for housing/studio space wanted or space available, and she sends out an email on Wednesdays. It's definitely much less sketchy than Craig's. http://stephaniediamond.com/listings.html

@Uraniumfish @uptowngirl That's crazy - I often wonder why anyone would want to lurk around a public internet forum all day, insulting people. But it happens sooooooooooooo often! Seems like just about every forum has one. Except perhaps for Streetadvisor. Knock on wood.

@BroadwayBK: That's because the moderator wants this forum to be here to help people not hinder them. That's why if someone does post a bad comment, he removes it right away.

@BroadwayBK the Stephanie Diamond Listing website is way cool...

The immigrants who spoke Yiddish from roundabout WW II and are responsible for the vocab you quoted above finding its way into our mainstream vocabulary all mostly settled in Manhattan. Of course, Manhattan was a way different place back then.

@BroadwayBK That Stephanie Diamond thing is pretty cool... Are there a lot of listings on the email she sends out? I signed up out of curiosity, but haven't gotten one yet.

@NeverSleeps Not a ton of listings, and for the most part the listings are for artist work spaces. Obviously the potential is always there for making a random, and very good connection, but since her listings are not systematic, you have to get really lucky.

@NeverSleeps There definitely aren't as many listings as there are say, on Craig's, but I think there are as many apt listings as there are art studio listings. The thing I like about the Stephanie Diamond listings is that listers tend to be artists, and therefore tend to understand the life of a free lancer, which I am full time. This fact tends to scare off a lot of potential roommates.

@Uraniumfish For sure you have to be really lucky - but it's hard to find an apartment you want to live in and people you want to live with coexisting, no matter what listings you use. At least, that's been my experience over the past few months.

Thanks guys... I'll check it out myself. Not that I am looking for an art studio or planning on moving soon - but it is nice to know where to look.

How many people are on Stephanie Diamond's listings? Anyone know?

@DBlack She sends a weekly email and I guess there are about 15-20 listings for rooms for rent. I didn't think of it earlier, but her listings are not really a place to find a studio; rather, it's just a less shady listing for someone looking for a roommate or a shared art studio. You do see the occasional studio under the sublet heading, though.