Slang dictionary
finna
or finta or fitna
What does finna mean?
Finna, a contraction of fixing to, means “getting ready to do something.”
It’s used to express a goal to take some sort of action in the near future.
Where does finna come from?
Finna, sometimes pronounced or spelled as finta or fitna, is a shortening of the expression fixing to, like gonna is a shortening of going to.
Fixing to has a long history in Southern American English, and its sense of “getting ready to” is seen as early as the 1700s, where fixing meant “to intend,” “arrange,” or “make preparations.”
By the mid-1800s, the verb was settling into the phrase fixing to, widening in meaning from just “preparing to,” to mean “going to,” “intending to,” or “getting ready to” do something. It’s still used like this today in some Southern dialects.
Finna emerged from fixing to in African American English and is recorded in hip-hop lyrics in the late 1980s. For example, N.W.A.’s 1987 “3 The Hard Way” features the line “I finna kick this shit, alright!” and King Tee’s 1998 “Act a Fool” includes “I’m finna act a fool.”
Examples of finna
Who uses finna?
Although finna and gonna are similar in meaning, they have subtle differences.
Finna can sometimes be more immediate, and, unlike gonna, can’t be used to indicate something in the distant future. Instead, finna refers only to intent that’s going to happen in the near future. The meaning is a little bit more similar to bouta, similarly contracted from about to.
The fucking Grind Really Finna Go Crazy 🤑🤑🤑
— F e n i c i a ™️ (@TyvpL) January 8, 2019
Finna can also be also be a negative, so you can say “I’m not finna fight with you.”
Ain’t nobody finna stress me out …
— Quissy 🎃 (@Kingquissy) January 7, 2019
Be mindful that finna is a valid feature of African American English and it is not grammatically incorrect.
Also be aware that the use of finna, while widespread in popular hip-hop culture since the 1990s, can come across as patronizing, insensitive, or appropriative when used by people who are not part of African American speech communities.
Note
This is not meant to be a formal definition of finna like most terms we define on Dictionary.com, but is rather an informal word summary that hopefully touches upon the key aspects of the meaning and usage of finna that will help our users expand their word mastery.