# Slaves' African vocabulary into English

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slaves-african-vocabulary-into-english/672531>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 29, 2013, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slaves-african-vocabulary-into-english/672531 "2013-10-29T06:39:48Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\
**Post date:** [October 30, 2013, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slaves-african-vocabulary-into-english/672531/21 "2013-10-30T03:21:31Z")

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I recall reading a discussion that “Jelly” as used in the nickname “Jelly Roll” Morton, was an African word meaning semen, or essentially the essence of life.

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