s01e02 Chandler: You don't get a lot of 'doy' these days...

What is 'doy'? And why don't you get a lot of it these days?

Rachel is looking for her engagement ring around Monica's apartment. Guys are helping Rachel in her quest. Joey asks if Rachel remembers where did she have the ring on last? Phoebe feels like this is a stupid question:

Phoebe: Doy! Probably right before she lost it!

Chandler: You don't get a lot of 'doy' these days...

What does doy mean? Why Chandler feels that it is out of fashion? What does doy say about Phoebe?

Doy takes its roots in a type of dialect called Valley Speak and originates in Southern California. The term Valley Speak spread in 1982 after some singer Frank Zappa released a single called Valleygirl. In a music video Frank's daughter a 14 year old Moon Zappa showcases the Valley Speak lines as a background sound:

- Like it was so awesome! 
(the use of like not as a verb or for noticing similarity in things, but as a filler word, instead of umm)

- Oh, my goooood!
(making the vowels sound a little longer)

- You car is bitchin! 
(including into one's speech some unique to the dialect words: bitchin=excellent, grody=dirty and doy=obviously)

So what does this Valley Speak reference tell us about Phoebe? 

If you saw Legally Blond or Clueless you start to notice the image, that get attached to a person speaking in a Valley Girl way. The dialect in those movies aims to paint a picture of a rich, materialistic, superficial, obsessed with the looks, and even ultimately not so smart sort of girl. Plus those characters are more often then not appear to be blond. Who is the only blond in the FRIENDS show? Yes, it is Phoebe. And yes she does give out this sort of not so much in touch with reality vibe. So this is the bit Chandler refers to, while writers keep painting the picture of Phoebe's character for us.

But what about the spoiled and only about looks girl bit? 

If we know one thing for sure about Phoebe, she is no rich baby. Phoebe is utterly altruistic, even gives birth to kids of her brother and his wife. So the real question for this post is how Phoebe got so natural at Valley Speak?

I see this code switch ability of Phoebe's as a way she learned to adapt in order to survive her insane life. Among rich or poor, Phoebe learnt how to be around those people. So be it acting as an Valley Girl, or playing Joey's agent over the phone, or speaking French and Italian, or living in Prague, or singing, or anything really, our girl Phoebe can seamlessly change colors in the most random of situations, as a reflex, just like a chameleon. 

And there is one more reason I found, why Phoebe would have this Valley Speak down. See even though the girls who speak it are considered not so smart, this way of talking still has its charm. Valley Speak alludes to the power and dominance those rich girls normally have over the rest of the group, at least if we are speaking American school. The way Valley Girl speaks is designed to be signal that special belonging to the inner circle, insiders' information and resources. Even this doy word, it doesn't translate simply as obviously, it implies aren't you dumb not to know such basic things? And over the show we keep learning how amazing Phoebe is  at keeping power in her hands. Just think about her completely ruining Ross in their evolution debates.

So by dropping doy into the second episode of the first season, we now knowing the context of Valleygirl, start guessing what to expect from Phoebe, both the out of this world blond and the master dominance.

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Did I get this joke right? Share your takes in the comment section!

Katia