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can you dig it 

"Do you understand?" or "Do you comprehend".

The general usage of the term DIG as an indicator of understanding "do you dig" / "dig me" (as in "do you understand") comes from non-English speaking Irish immigrants in the USA speaking Irish to each other.

"An dtuigeann tú?" (pronounced "On digging two") means "Do you understand?".

Also used in a short form "dig it", "dig me" etc.

Used in the 50's by the beatniks, the 60s and 70s saw it enter into the AAVE lexicon, the used of the term was widely popularised in blacksploitation movies such as Shaft, and later movies such as "The Warriors".
Lets not go there, the music sucks and the people are assholes. Way better craic in the old bars, can you dig it?

"You dig it"
"Pretty cool music man, like, look at Stacy... she digs it!"
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can you dig it 

A phrase first used in the awesome cult classic "The Warriors".

Cyrus - "You're standing right now with a nine delegates, from a hundred gangs and there's over a hundred more. That's 20,000 hardcore members, 40,000 counting affiliates and 20,000 more not organised but ready to fight. 60,000 soldiers! Now there ain't but 20,000 police in the whole town. Can you dig it?
can you dig it by Wendy The Vague December 24, 2005

can you dig it 

Used to mean the same as other definitions. 'Do you understand?'

Oh yeah.

(The Mock Turtles, 1990)
'You won't ever get me down, won't see me hanging aro-o-o-o-und, can you dig it? Oh yeah'

Mock Turtles, 1990.

can you dig it 

A phrase used in the song for the movie "Shaft" that was then used for a McDonald's commercial which had Shaq (famous basketball player) in it. As of now, this phrase has been incorporated into Shaq's short but annoying list of phrases such as "Meow" and "Kobe didn't rape that girl".
"SHAAAAAAAAAAQ Can you dig it?"
can you dig it by Icabod February 16, 2004

can you dig it 

This phrase appears in several times in the 70s movie 'car wash' at the beginning and during the film when a radio dj from a LA radio station plays black music. His voice sounds like Barry White's.
It also appears in other 'blaxplotion'-movies. In the movie 'Undercover brother' which is a parody to this movies it appears too.
And now we play <insert favourite soul/black music title here>. Can you dig it?
can you dig it by joe como August 23, 2006

can you dig it? 

Literally asking someone if they enjoy something or if they are enjoying something at that moment. Asking another person if they are in favor of something. Asking if they approve.
can you dig it? by Danbridge October 11, 2006
More from Urban Dictionary
The striver is an interesting phenomenon that is seen across college campuses. In essence, the striver is an over-achiever who comes from a working or middle class family. He may be an immigrant. He may have been a slacker in HS who was "born again" into an academic wunderkind. Or he may just be an over-achiever who is keeping at it.

The striver is willing to sacrifice his social life at the expense of Phi Beta Kappa and Summa Cum Laude. The striver is the guy who stays at the library long after you are gone. The striver is the guy who takes 30 credits/semester and considers anything below an A/4.0 failure. The striver doesn't work on campus, he is too busy finding ways to pad his resume instead of working retail or workstudy. The striver lets his grades pay his education by applying to ten scholarships a year.

The striver is a future Soros/Fullbright/Rhodes/Gates/Marshall/etc. fellow. The striver lives to study. For the striver, their fun comes from the rewards they expect to receive in return for their diligence. Be it Law School, B-School, academia, or politics. The striver seeks to find the American Dream through academic success.
Anthony was a striver. He transfered from a TTT to an IVY and graduated in 2 years. He studied his ass off and went to Penn Law. He got a Biglaw offer. But lost it all because of an unmoderated mesasgeboard.

Successful strivers:
- Barack Obama
- Harold Koh
Striver by URM Striver January 3, 2009
Word of the Day on August 15, 2026
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