-izzleVerified
suffix · Philadelphia schoolyards (the -iz- infix, recorded 1980); East Oakland and Vallejo, California (the -eezy and -izzle suffix, mid-1990s); Long Beach and Los Angeles (national popularization, 2000–2004) · 1980s
A speech-play pattern that breaks a word open and reseals it — sure to shizzle, place to plizace — carried from Philadelphia schoolyards and Bay Area slang long before Snoop Dogg made it a national joke.
100Verified
adjective · U.S., urban Black communities (with strong Southern and West Coast hip-hop throu · 2000s
A state of full honesty and authenticity — telling the whole truth without editing, flattering, or performing for an audience. Used standalone ('I'm 100 with you right now') or inside the fuller phrase 'keep it 100,' it marks a statement or a person as unfiltered and trustworthy, the way '100 percent' marks a grade as perfect. To 'keep it 100' is a running commitment to that honesty, not a one-time act; to fail at it — to fake, front, or flatter — is to be called out as 'not keeping it 100' or, in the sharper in-group joke, 'keeping it negative 100.'
all up in the Kool-AidVerified
phrase · No single city — nationwide, with deep Southern and Midwestern Black currency · 1990s
Meddling in a matter that is not yours — and, in the full form, doing it while knowing nothing about it.
Aunt Hagar's childrenVerified
noun phrase · Black Protestant congregations of the South and Upper South, carried nationally by migration · 1920s
Black people, named as one family through the biblical bondwoman Hagar.
AuntieVerified
noun · U.S. South, with parallel usage across the African diaspora (West Africa, Caribb · 1800s (as fictive kinshi
A term of address and kinship for an older Black woman who commands respect, whether or not she is a blood relative — a woman who has earned her place in the community through age, wisdom, and proven care for the people around her. In the fictive-kinship tradition, Auntie names a bond of trust: she is watching out for you, she will check you when you're wrong, and she has standing that a first name alone doesn't carry. The word also does double duty as a modern honorific for outspoken, unbothered older Black women in public life, and — depending on who's speaking and to whom — it can tip into
ayeVerified
interjection · San Francisco Bay Area, California and Atlanta, Georgia · 2000s
A one-syllable call used to greet, get attention, agree, hype up, or punctuate a statement — the meaning riding entirely on tone and placement. Dropped at the front of a line it works like 'hey' or 'yo,' pulling someone's attention. Barked sharp and short on its own, it hypes a moment — a crowd chant, a producer tag, an ad-lib thrown behind a rapper's bar. Said soft and drawn out, it can nod along in agreement or acknowledge what was just said. It is not the parliamentary 'aye' of a voice vote, and it is not the naval 'aye aye' of a sailor following orders — those are older, unrelated homophon
bad niggerVerified
noun · American South — Mississippi Valley, St. Louis, south Alabama · 1890s
In Black folklore, the hero who refuses all authority and all limits — Stagolee, Railroad Bill — admired for the refusal itself.
bagVerified
noun · U.S. South (Atlanta hip-hop scene), spreading nationwide · 2000s
A large sum of money, or by extension any goal, opportunity, or prize a person is actively pursuing — a job, a deal, a come-up, even a romantic partner. To 'get,' 'catch,' or 'secure' the bag is to successfully obtain that money or goal through hustle, grind, or deliberate effort; to 'fumble the bag' is to lose it or squander the opportunity through carelessness. In its narrowest sense the bag is cash itself — often cash tied to hustle, a side deal, or the music business — but the word has widened into a general symbol for whatever a person is working toward.
ballerVerified
noun · U.S. — West Coast street scenes (L.A.) and basketball courts nationwide, adopted · 1980s
A person who has come up big — someone living large off money made through hustle, skill, or grind, whether that grind was on the court, in the streets, or in the game of life. Originally named someone who played basketball at a serious level, then widened in the streets to mean anyone rolling in money and flaunting it: fresh whip, fresh gear, big spender energy. As an adjective ('that's baller'), it describes anything excellent, flashy, or impressive in its own right, not just the person doing it.
ballinVerified
verb · West Coast (South Central/Pomona, CA), spread nationwide through hip-hop · 1980s–1990s
To be living in visible success and abundance — flush with money, dressed sharp, riding clean, and carrying yourself like it. It describes a state of being, not just a bank balance: the swagger and display that come with having arrived, whether that's cash, clout, or command of the room. It can also keep its literal court sense — playing basketball, and playing it well — with the two meanings often layered on top of each other since the lifestyle sense grew directly out of the game.
ballingVerified
verb · West Coast (South Central/Pomona, CA), spread nationwide through hip-hop · 1980s–1990s
To be living in visible success and abundance — flush with money, dressed sharp, riding clean, and carrying yourself like it. It describes a state of being, not just a bank balance: the swagger and display that come with having arrived, whether that's cash, clout, or command of the room. It can also keep its literal court sense — playing basketball, and playing it well — with the two meanings often layered on top of each other since the lifestyle sense grew directly out of the game.
Baltimore clubVerified
proper noun · Baltimore, Maryland — Cherry Hill, Sandtown, East and West Baltimore; the Paradox and Hammerjacks; 92Q radio · 1990s
A Baltimore dance music built on an 8/4 breakbeat at roughly 130 BPM, and the fast, footwork-driven dance that grew up with it.
bandVerified
noun · U.S. South (Atlanta, Memphis, Houston, Baton Rouge) · 1990s
A thousand dollars, so called from the rubber band a hustler snaps around a stack of one hundred bills to keep it tight and countable; by extension, "bands" (often clipped to "bandz") stands in for cash in general, or for wealth itself when someone talks about "getting to the bands." A single band is one grand; ten bands is ten thousand, and so on — the word does the math for you.
bandoVerified
noun · Atlanta / U.S. South, later UK · 2010s
A vacant or abandoned house, often stripped of utilities, that has been taken over as a base for street-level drug packaging, sales, or use; by extension, any stash spot or low-key operating base a hustler works out of. In wider circulation it can simply mean 'the trap' or 'the spot' — the place where the work happens, whether that's product changing hands or a crew posted up.
bandsVerified
noun · U.S. South (Atlanta, Memphis, Houston, Baton Rouge) · 1990s
A thousand dollars, so called from the rubber band a hustler snaps around a stack of one hundred bills to keep it tight and countable; by extension, "bands" (often clipped to "bandz") stands in for cash in general, or for wealth itself when someone talks about "getting to the bands." A single band is one grand; ten bands is ten thousand, and so on — the word does the math for you.
barsVerified
noun · New York City, spreading nationwide through hip-hop culture · 1980s
Rap lyrics themselves, and especially lyrics judged to be exceptionally sharp — dense with wordplay, punchlines, storytelling, or technical rhyme skill. To have bars, spit bars, or drop bars is to demonstrate real lyrical command; the word is used both literally, for the measured lines of a verse, and as a standalone exclamation of praise when a line lands hard.
beat to the socksVerified
adjective phrase · Harlem, New York City, and the Black urban circuit · 1930s
Completely broke, or completely worn out.
big chiefVerified
noun · New Orleans, Louisiana — Seventh Ward, Tremé, Central City, Sixth and Ninth Wards; also carried by post-Katrina diaspora in Houston and Atlanta · 1880s
In New Orleans Black Masking Indian culture, the head of a tribe — the man who sews the biggest suit, calls the songs, and answers for everyone walking behind him.
biggetyVerified
adjective · Georgia, Florida, the Carolinas, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, Arkansas — and carried north with the Great Migration · 1870s
Carrying yourself as though you were more than you are — conceited, puffed up, forward with people who did not invite it — from Black Southern speech of the 1870s.
black bottomVerified
noun · Nashville, Tennessee · 1900s
A jook-joint dance: knees bent, torso crouched, syncopated stamps, slaps to the backside, hips rolling. Named for the neighborhood it came out of.
Black Girl MagicVerified
phrase · Washington, DC; spread nationwide through Black Twitter, then through Essence, BET and national press · 2010s
An affirmation that the excellence, beauty and endurance of Black women and girls is ordinary, inherited, and needs no outside permission.
Black PowerVerified
phrase · Greenwood, Mississippi for the flashpoint; Lowndes County, Alabama for the organizing; Oakland and Harlem for the institutions · 1960s
The demand that Black people build and control their own political, economic, and cultural institutions rather than seek admission to white ones.
Black TwitterVerified
proper noun · Nationwide, with heavy weight in the South (Atlanta, Houston, the Carolinas), plus New York, Chicago, DC and the Bay; diasporic ties to South Africa, Nigeria, the UK and the Caribbean · 2010s
The overlapping networks of Black users whose conversation, humor and collective attention made Twitter a Black public square — and, at times, an instrument of pressure.
Black Wall StreetVerified
proper noun · Greenwood District, Tulsa, Oklahoma; extended nationally · 1950s
The Greenwood District of Tulsa, Oklahoma, before it was destroyed in 1921 — and, by extension, any concentrated Black business district.
blickyVerified
noun · Brooklyn (Flatbush, East New York, Canarsie), Queens, the Bronx; Newark and Paterson; North and West Philadelphia; Detroit · 2010s
A handgun — usually a pistol carried on the body, often with an extended magazine. Drill and rap vernacular out of Brooklyn and the wider Northeast.
bobosVerified
noun · U.S. South / Mid-Atlantic (D.C., Atlanta) · 1970s
Cheap, generic, or knockoff sneakers — the kind sold in bulk bins at discount stores, with no real brand name or a cheap imitation of one (two stripes instead of Adidas' three, a fake star instead of a Converse patch). By extension, the word covers anything low-quality, off-brand, or fake, and in some Black communities it has been carried into carceral slang for the plain white slip-on shoes issued to people when they enter jail or prison with no money on their books.
bombVerified
adjective · U.S. — originating in Black jazz scenes, carried forward through Black urban hip · 1980s
Describes something outstanding, impressive, or the best of its kind — a beat, a plate of food, a party, a person's looks, or anything else the speaker wants to praise without reservation. It's a superlative on the level of "fire" or "the shit," said with a flat article ("the bomb," not "a bomb") to signal top-tier approval rather than the unrelated sense of "bomb" meaning a failure.
bout itVerified
adjective · New Orleans, Louisiana (U.S. South) · 1990s
Describes a person, crew, or thing as fully committed, ready, and unafraid to back up their words with action — whether that means fighting, hustling, partying, or handling business. To say someone is 'bout it' is to vouch that they don't just talk, they follow through; to ask 'you bout it?' is a direct challenge or invitation to prove that commitment on the spot.
brazyVerified
adjective · Los Angeles / West Coast, later Chicago · 1990s
Brazy describes behavior, energy, or a situation that is wild, unhinged, or intensely out of control — a harder, more emphatic register of "crazy." It can describe a person acting recklessly, a party or scene that has gotten out of hand, or, among Bloods-affiliated speakers specifically, it doubles as a badge of allegiance since the initial letter break with the rival Crips' "C."
breadVerified
noun · U.S. — Harlem, Kansas City, Chicago jazz circuits · 1930s
Money — cash, income, or earnings in general; what a person is working for or living off of. Used for money as a whole ("I need to get some bread") and for pay owed for a specific job or session ("how does the bread smell?" meaning what does the gig pay). Carries a working musician's or working man's framing: bread is what you sweat for, not what you inherit or gamble into.
bugginVerified
verb · New York City (Brooklyn/Queens) · 1980s
To act in a way that's irrational, paranoid, erratic, or flat-out wrong — losing your composure, your judgment, or your grip on a situation. It covers everything from mild disbelief ('you buggin if you think that') to someone visibly unraveling in public, and can describe a person, a claim, or a whole situation that doesn't add up. A related form, 'buggin' out,' intensifies it toward genuinely losing control — panicking, snapping, or spiraling.
buggingVerified
verb · New York City / U.S. Northeast · 1980s
To act irrationally, erratically, or in a way that signals someone has lost their grip on good sense — whether from stress, anger, disbelief, or just plain foolishness. Said of a person mid-meltdown, mid-tantrum, or mid-nonsense, and also used to flatly reject what someone just claimed, as in telling them their version of events doesn't hold up. Carries a second, milder sense of being overly worked up or excited about something minor. The clipped form 'buggin' is the everyday spoken form; 'bugging out' is the fuller, more emphatic version for someone who has really lost it.
bull's woolVerified
noun · Harlem, New York City; earlier across the American hobo, prison, and underworld circuits · 1930s
Cheap, secondhand, or stolen clothes.
burnerVerified
noun · U.S. Northeast (New York/Bronx-Queens hip-hop corridor), spread nationwide throu · 1970s
A handgun, especially one carried for immediate, high-stakes use — often one that is unregistered, untraceable, or meant to be gotten rid of after a shooting. In wider street use it just means 'gun,' with the added weight that whoever's holding it is ready to use it, not just show it off.
burner phoneVerified
noun · U.S. South (Memphis) · 1990s
A cheap, prepaid mobile phone bought without a contract, used for a limited stretch of time and then tossed or swapped out so the number and call history can't be traced back to the owner. In everyday use it names both the object (a 'burner') and the practice around it: keeping business calls separate from a personal line, discarding the phone before it can be seized or subpoenaed, and cycling to a new one on a set schedule. The word carries a double life — inside street economies it is a plain tool of the trade, while in wider usage it has become shorthand for anonymous or throwaway communica
catch the Holy GhostVerified
phrase · Black church, South and nationwide · 1900s
To be seized by the Spirit in worship — shouting, dancing, falling out.
chainVerified
noun · The Bronx, New York — later spreading nationwide through hip hop's mainstream br · 1970s
A gold or diamond necklace worn as a visible marker of wealth, survival, and status — not mere jewelry but a personal monument to having made it out of scarcity. In the vernacular, a chain is read the way a title or a scar is read: it tells the room what the wearer has been through and what they now command. To 'get your chain snatched' is to suffer a public humiliation and a loss of standing, not just a piece of metal.
chain snatchVerified
phrase · New York City · 1980s
To have a neck chain physically ripped from one's throat in a grab-and-run street robbery, and by extension, to be publicly stripped of status, humiliated, or exposed in a way that undoes a carefully built image of power or wealth. In its literal sense it names a specific street crime long associated with gold jewelry worn as a badge of arrival. In its figurative sense, used heavily within hip-hop and street culture, it describes any moment — on camera, online, or in the streets — where someone's front gets torn away and their vulnerability is put on display for everyone to see.
chain snatchedVerified
phrase · New York City · 1980s
To have a neck chain physically ripped from one's throat in a grab-and-run street robbery, and by extension, to be publicly stripped of status, humiliated, or exposed in a way that undoes a carefully built image of power or wealth. In its literal sense it names a specific street crime long associated with gold jewelry worn as a badge of arrival. In its figurative sense, used heavily within hip-hop and street culture, it describes any moment — on camera, online, or in the streets — where someone's front gets torn away and their vulnerability is put on display for everyone to see.
chillVerified
verb · U.S. Northeast, urban · 1970s
To relax, calm down, or spend time at ease without stress or urgency; also used as a command telling someone to ease off an argument, a temper, or excitement. Extended as 'chill out' for the same act of cooling down a mood or a moment, and as 'chillin'' for the ongoing state of hanging out unhurried, often with others.
chillin'Verified
verb · New York City (Bronx/Harlem) · 1970s
To be at ease — relaxing, socializing, or simply passing time without stress, urgency, or a fixed agenda. It can describe doing nothing at all or doing something low-key with friends; the point is the unhurried state of mind, not the activity itself.
Chocolate CityVerified
noun · Washington, D.C. — coined on Black AM radio there in the early 1970s, then applied to majority-Black cities generally · 1970s
Washington, D.C., named by its own Black majority — not by outsiders and not by a record label.
chopped and screwedVerified
idiom · phrase · Houston · 2026
A way of remixing a record by slowing it to a crawl — roughly 60 to 70 beats a minute — and chopping it up with skips, stutters, and scratches until it drips. Also the whole slowed-down Houston sound made this way.
church hatVerified
noun · Black churches across the South — Alabama, Georgia, the Carolinas, Mississippi, Virginia — and in Chicago, Detroit, Harlem, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C. · 2000s
The wide, high, deliberately unmissable hat a Black woman wears to Sunday service — called a crown by the women who wear them, and worn as one.
clock itVerified
phrase · New York City (Harlem/Christopher Street ballroom scene) · 1980s
To notice or call out something that someone is trying to hide or that isn't immediately obvious — a flaw, a lie, a hidden truth, or, in its original ballroom sense, a person's gender or sexuality despite their attempt to "pass." To clock someone or something is to put two and two together and name what you've figured out, whether that recognition is delivered as a read, a warning, or quiet respect for how well someone pulled something off.
conjureVerified
noun, verb · The Black South; densest documentation along the Gulf coast and in New Orleans, with strong records in the Carolinas and Virginia · 1880s
The Black American practice of working the unseen — roots, powders, words — and the act of doing it.
cookVerified
phrase · San Francisco Bay Area, California · 2010s
A directive to step back and give someone room to work without interruption, spoken in the confidence that whatever they're building — a rap verse, a game-winning play, a flirtatious text, a wild idea — is going to pay off. It doubles as a statement of trust in someone's process even when that process looks messy, slow, or unconventional from the outside. The base verb "cook"/"cooking" carries the same charge on its own: to be visibly excelling, in flow, doing the thing at a high level, whether that's a rapper writing bars, a hooper scoring at will, or someone working an angle in conversation.
cookedVerified
adjective · U.S., urban Black communities · 1990s
Finished, ruined, or without a way out — used of a person or a situation that has hit a point of no return. It marks defeat, exposure, exhaustion, or embarrassment that cannot be undone: getting caught in a lie, blowing an opportunity, running out of options in a game, or simply being too worn down to go on. It sits as the negative twin of "cooking," which in the same vernacular means someone is doing exceptionally well — so whether "cooked" lands as an insult or a shared joke depends entirely on tone and relationship between speaker and listener.
cookinVerified
phrase · San Francisco Bay Area, California · 2010s
A directive to step back and give someone room to work without interruption, spoken in the confidence that whatever they're building — a rap verse, a game-winning play, a flirtatious text, a wild idea — is going to pay off. It doubles as a statement of trust in someone's process even when that process looks messy, slow, or unconventional from the outside. The base verb "cook"/"cooking" carries the same charge on its own: to be visibly excelling, in flow, doing the thing at a high level, whether that's a rapper writing bars, a hooper scoring at will, or someone working an angle in conversation.
cookingVerified
phrase · San Francisco Bay Area, California · 2010s
A directive to step back and give someone room to work without interruption, spoken in the confidence that whatever they're building — a rap verse, a game-winning play, a flirtatious text, a wild idea — is going to pay off. It doubles as a statement of trust in someone's process even when that process looks messy, slow, or unconventional from the outside. The base verb "cook"/"cooking" carries the same charge on its own: to be visibly excelling, in flow, doing the thing at a high level, whether that's a rapper writing bars, a hooper scoring at will, or someone working an angle in conversation.
coolin'Verified
verb · U.S. Northeast/Midwest jazz circuits, carried south and west through hip-hop · 1940s
To be at ease — hanging back, taking life slow, and staying unbothered, whether posted up alone or with people. Most often it answers a greeting, telling somebody that nothing much is going on and that's exactly how it's meant to be. It can also describe someone keeping their composure in a tense moment, holding steady instead of reacting.
copVerified
verb · Harlem's jazz world outward into Black speech everywhere · 1930s
To get, obtain, or acquire — whether by buying, taking, catching, or winning.
cornrowsVerified
noun · U.S. South · 1900s
A protective hairstyle in which the hair is braided flat against the scalp in continuous, raised rows, without leaving loose ends hanging free — the braid picks up new hair as it goes so the row stays tight to the head from root to tip. Beyond styling, cornrows function within Black communities as a marker of care, kinship, and identity: the parting patterns and sizing can signal region, generation, occasion, or personal taste, and the styling session itself is often a shared, generational activity between mothers, aunties, and children.
crashoutVerified
noun · U.S. South (Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee, Texas) · 2010s
A person who acts recklessly and without regard for consequence, often because they feel they have nothing left to lose; also used as a verb ("crash out") to describe the act of snapping — flying into sudden rage, grief, or destructive behavior after being pushed past a breaking point. As a verb it covers everything from a street-level explosion of violence to a filmed public meltdown; as a noun it names the person prone to that behavior or the specific episode itself ("her crash out").
cribVerified
noun · U.S. urban Black communities, especially New York and the wider Northeast corrid · 1980s
One's home — a house, apartment, or room where a person lives and feels most themselves. It carries warmth and ownership beyond the plain word "house": your crib is where you rest, host, and are fully yourself, and inviting someone there is a mark of trust.
crunkVerified
adjective · U.S. South (Atlanta, Georgia and Memphis, Tennessee) · 1980s
Wound up, hyped, and energized past the point of restraint — the state of being loud, excited, and ready to turn a room out, whether from music, adrenaline, alcohol, weed, or all three at once. It can describe a person, a party, a club, a song, or a car stereo pushed to full volume. In its verb form, 'to get crunk' means to work oneself and everyone around into that state; as a noun it names the Southern hip-hop genre — heavy on shouted chants, sparse drum-machine beats, and call-and-response hooks — built to produce that feeling.
cubbyVerified
noun · Harlem, New York City — Lenox Avenue, the Cotton Club circuit, and the touring band world that carried the dictionary nationwide · 1930s
Your room, your flat, the place you go back to — a small word for small quarters, printed in the first dictionary an African American ever published.
cuhVerified
noun · Los Angeles / U.S. West Coast, spreading nationwide through Black street and hip · 1960s
A term of address for a close male friend, associate, or fellow member of one's crew — used the way 'bro' or 'homie' is used, and carrying an implied claim of kinship even where no blood relation exists. In its tightest sense, among Crip-affiliated speakers, it marks in-group membership and mutual protection; in wider Black vernacular use it has loosened into a general, affectionate way to hail any close friend, regardless of gang affiliation.
curveVerified
verb · Harlem and New York Black speech, then nationwide · 2000s
To turn down someone's romantic or sexual interest — usually sideways rather than head-on, by deflecting, stalling, or simply going quiet.
cuzVerified
noun · Los Angeles / U.S. West Coast, spreading nationwide through Black street and hip · 1960s
A term of address for a close male friend, associate, or fellow member of one's crew — used the way 'bro' or 'homie' is used, and carrying an implied claim of kinship even where no blood relation exists. In its tightest sense, among Crip-affiliated speakers, it marks in-group membership and mutual protection; in wider Black vernacular use it has loosened into a general, affectionate way to hail any close friend, regardless of gang affiliation.
dapVerified
noun · verb · Originated among Black G.I.s in Vietnam and the U.S. South and inner-city Northe · 1960s
A dap is a greeting exchanged between Black people that goes beyond a simple handshake — a sequence of hand slaps, finger hooks, fist taps, chest bumps, or shoulder claps, often improvised and unique to the two people doing it. To dap someone (or to "dap up" or "give dap") is to perform this greeting as an act of respect, solidarity, or love, not just hello. Among Black men especially, the dap has historically carried a second layer of meaning: it can be a way of checking on someone, passing information, or affirming that you've got each other's back.
dipVerified
verb · U.S. urban Black communities, multi-regional (New York, Midwest, West Coast hip- · 1990s
To leave a place, promptly and often without much ceremony — to slip out of a party, a conversation, or a bad situation before it gets worse. Said of oneself ("I gotta dip") or as a call to others ("let's dip"), it carries a note of self-preservation or cool detachment rather than panic.
dissVerified
verb, noun · New York City — Harlem, the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens · 1970s
To disrespect somebody out loud, on purpose, in public. Also the record built to do it.
doloVerified
adjective · Queensbridge, Queens, New York · 1990s
Alone, by oneself, without a crew or companion — used to describe moving, handling business, or existing without backup. Carries a double edge: it can signal quiet confidence and self-sufficiency (someone who doesn't need a team to get things done) or, less often, isolation and lack of support. Frequently doubled as 'solo dolo' for emphasis, and used in constructions like 'rolling dolo,' 'going dolo,' or 'by my dolo.'
doo-wopVerified
noun · Harlem and the Bronx, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Newark, and other Northern cities · 1950s
Black street-corner vocal harmony singing of the late 1940s through the early 1960s, named after its own background syllables.
Double DutchVerified
noun · Harlem, the Bronx, Brooklyn and the Lower East Side; Philadelphia; Chicago South Side; now international, with strong competitive scenes in Japan and France · 1970s
The two-rope jumping game turned world-class sport, carried on Black city sidewalks by girls who made it an art, a training ground, and a piece of hip-hop foundation.
doughVerified
noun · General American, with a especially strong second life in Black urban musical co · 1850s (general slang); 1
Money — cash in hand, earnings, or wealth in general, used interchangeably with amounts small or large depending on context. Carries a workingman's weight to it: dough is money you've earned, hustled for, or are actively chasing, not money sitting untouched in an account. It shows up in phrases about need ('ain't got no dough'), abundance ('rolling in dough'), and devotion to the grind ('I love the dough').
down homeVerified
adjective, noun · The Mississippi Delta, Alabama, Georgia, the Carolinas, Louisiana, and East Texas — as spoken of from Chicago, Detroit, Harlem, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Oakland, and Los Angeles · 1920s
The South as the place you or your people came from — spoken from a Northern kitchen, meaning a specific county in Mississippi and everything that county still holds.
dreadlocksVerified
noun · Jamaica, adopted widely in U.S. Black communities · 1930s (Jamaica) / 1970s–
A hairstyle in which the hair is left uncombed and allowed to mat, twist, or lock into thick, rope-like sections; also shortened to 'dreads' or called 'locs.' In everyday Black speech the word names both the physical hairstyle and, by extension, a stance — wearing your hair in its natural, uncut, unstraightened state as a statement of identity, spirituality, or refusal to conform to mainstream grooming standards.
dreadsVerified
noun · Jamaica, adopted widely in U.S. Black communities · 1930s (Jamaica) / 1970s–
A hairstyle in which the hair is left uncombed and allowed to mat, twist, or lock into thick, rope-like sections; also shortened to 'dreads' or called 'locs.' In everyday Black speech the word names both the physical hairstyle and, by extension, a stance — wearing your hair in its natural, uncut, unstraightened state as a statement of identity, spirituality, or refusal to conform to mainstream grooming standards.
dripVerified
noun · Houston's South Side; the Screwed Up Click · 1990s
A stylish, expensive, head-turning look — the clothes, the jewelry, the whole presentation. Originally the image of diamonds and chains "dripping" off a person.
drop barsVerified
noun · New York City, spreading nationwide through hip-hop culture · 1980s
Rap lyrics themselves, and especially lyrics judged to be exceptionally sharp — dense with wordplay, punchlines, storytelling, or technical rhyme skill. To have bars, spit bars, or drop bars is to demonstrate real lyrical command; the word is used both literally, for the measured lines of a verse, and as a standalone exclamation of praise when a line lands hard.
duragVerified
noun · First printed in the industrial Midwest — Detroit, Akron, Dayton — for a practice already national · 1960s
A close-fitting cloth cap tied over the head, worn to hold hairstyles in place and, above all, to lay and train 360 waves. A tool of Black grooming that also became a statement of style and identity.
fashoVerified
adverb · U.S. South / West Coast (Bay Area, CA) · 1990s
An affirmation meaning 'for sure' or 'definitely' — used to confirm a plan, back up a claim, or answer 'yes' with full conviction. It can stand alone as a one-word reply or sit inside a sentence to underline that something is certain, no argument needed.
FreaknikVerified
proper noun · Atlanta, Georgia — the Atlanta University Center, Piedmont Park, John A. White Park, Cascade Road, Lenox Square; later Memorial Drive in DeKalb County · 1980s
The Atlanta spring gathering, begun in 1983 as an HBCU students picnic and grown by the 1990s into a city-wide Black street party of hundreds of thousands.
Free Breakfast for School ChildrenVerified
proper noun · Oakland, California · 1960s
the Black Panther Party's community program, begun in Oakland in 1969, that fed children before school
freshVerified
adjective · New York City (South Bronx) · 1980s
Sharp, stylish, and impressive — describing an outfit, a hairstyle, a car, a rhyme, or a whole presentation that is new, clean, and put together with intention. To be fresh is to command respect through appearance and execution without saying a word; the term can also describe anything current, cutting-edge, or done exactly right — a fresh beat, a fresh rhyme, a fresh pair of kicks straight out the box.
frfrVerified
adverb · U.S. nationwide, rooted in Black urban speech communities · 2000s
An intensifier meaning "absolutely, without exaggeration" — used to underline that a statement is completely true or completely meant, doubling the force of the base phrase "for real" into "for real, for real." It can close out a claim to preempt doubt, back up a compliment, or answer a question by confirming sincerity beyond argument.
fuck boyVerified
noun · New York City (Harlem) · 1990s
A man who is weak, fraudulent, or lacking backbone — someone who fronts, talks big, and 'ain't shit' when it counts. In its harder street register the word carries an older, sharper edge: a man made to submit, punked, or used, the lowest rung a man can be put on by other men. In its softer, later sense — the one most people know now — it names a specific kind of romantic disrespect: a guy who strings people along, won't commit, ghosts after getting what he wants, and centers his own convenience over anyone else's feelings.
fuckboyVerified
noun · New York City (Harlem) · 1990s
A man who is weak, fraudulent, or lacking backbone — someone who fronts, talks big, and 'ain't shit' when it counts. In its harder street register the word carries an older, sharper edge: a man made to submit, punked, or used, the lowest rung a man can be put on by other men. In its softer, later sense — the one most people know now — it names a specific kind of romantic disrespect: a guy who strings people along, won't commit, ghosts after getting what he wants, and centers his own convenience over anyone else's feelings.
FWMVerified
phrase · U.S. — urban Black communities nationwide, with strong hip-hop through-lines fro · 2010s
Literally "fuck with me," used to ask or state whether someone rocks with you, trusts you, respects you, or is willing to engage with you — as a friend, a romantic interest, or an ally. Depending on tone it can be an invitation ("you FWM?" = are you down to talk to me/hang with me), a declaration of loyalty or approval ("I fwm you heavy" = I really trust/support you), or a warning about testing someone's boundaries ("don't fwm" = don't mess with me/don't test me).
GVerified
noun · Los Angeles / Compton, California, with parallel East Coast street use · 1980s
A term of direct address between men (and increasingly between women, or across genders) that signals familiarity, respect, and street-level credibility — as in 'what's good, G?' Rooted in 'gangster,' it names someone who carries himself with authority, loyalty, and composure under pressure; used loosely, it has broadened into a general term for a close friend or peer, comparable to 'bro' or 'homie,' though it never fully sheds its association with hardness and having 'been through something.' It also survives as short for 'grand,' meaning one thousand dollars.
G.O.A.T.Verified
noun · New York City (Harlem streetball, hip-hop) with roots also tracing to Ali's Loui · 1990s
The single greatest performer or thing in a given field, full stop — no qualifiers, no close seconds. Used as a title bestowed by consensus or self-declared with total confidence. The adjective form 'goated' extends the same judgment to anything — a person, a play, a plate of food — that is being called exceptional, elite, or simply the best of its kind.
gameVerified
noun · U.S. urban Black communities, with early documentation in Chicago and later curr · 1960s
Skill, charisma, and practiced strategy — the ability to read a person or a situation and move it in your favor through talk, timing, and presence. It covers everything from courtship (a man or woman who can draw someone in with confidence and wit) to hustling (a con, a strategy, a way of making money on the street) to general competence (someone who performs at a high level and carries themselves accordingly). To 'have game' is to possess this skill; to 'run game' is to use it, often on someone specific; 'the game' can also mean a whole way of life — the streets, the hustle, the business one
Georgia skinVerified
noun · Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana — turpentine camps, sawmill and levee camps and jooks; later Harlem, Chicago, Philadelphia and Southern prison farms · 1930s
The gambling card game of the Black South — every card face up, every player betting his own card will outlast the rest — carried out of the turpentine and levee camps into the migration cities.
get choseVerified
phrase · U.S. urban Black communities, spread nationally via Black Twitter and Instagram · 2010s
To be singled out, selected, and taken seriously as a partner — especially by a woman who wants a man to choose her for a committed, marriage-track relationship rather than a casual one. By extension, it describes anyone or anything (an outfit, a look, a person in a crowd) standing out enough to be the one picked over all other options.
ghost ride the whipVerified
phrase · Bay Area, California · 2026
To put the car in gear, step out while it is still rolling, and dance alongside it or on top of it.
glow upVerified
phrase · Chicago's South Side, out of the drill scene · 2010s
A dramatic transformation for the better — in looks, confidence, or circumstances. The arc from a rougher earlier version of yourself to a polished, thriving one.
GOATVerified
noun · New York City (Harlem streetball, hip-hop) with roots also tracing to Ali's Loui · 1990s
The single greatest performer or thing in a given field, full stop — no qualifiers, no close seconds. Used as a title bestowed by consensus or self-declared with total confidence. The adjective form 'goated' extends the same judgment to anything — a person, a play, a plate of food — that is being called exceptional, elite, or simply the best of its kind.
goatedVerified
noun · New York City (Harlem streetball, hip-hop) with roots also tracing to Ali's Loui · 1990s
The single greatest performer or thing in a given field, full stop — no qualifiers, no close seconds. Used as a title bestowed by consensus or self-declared with total confidence. The adjective form 'goated' extends the same judgment to anything — a person, a play, a plate of food — that is being called exceptional, elite, or simply the best of its kind.
got barsVerified
noun · New York City, spreading nationwide through hip-hop culture · 1980s
Rap lyrics themselves, and especially lyrics judged to be exceptionally sharp — dense with wordplay, punchlines, storytelling, or technical rhyme skill. To have bars, spit bars, or drop bars is to demonstrate real lyrical command; the word is used both literally, for the measured lines of a verse, and as a standalone exclamation of praise when a line lands hard.
got it out the mudVerified
idiom · phrase · U.S. South (Louisiana, Georgia, Florida trap scenes) with early adoption in Sout · 2010s
A statement of pride that whatever you have — money, status, a car, a family, a way out — was built entirely from scratch, with no safety net, no connections, and no help from anybody. It marks success as self-made and hard-won, coming from conditions of poverty, street life, or struggle rather than privilege. It doubles as a credibility claim: the speaker is not to be doubted or corrected on the subject because they lived the hardship that produced the result.
grown and sexyVerified
adjective phrase · United States, nationwide, in Black urban nightlife markets; the earliest verified print use is from Tallahassee, Florida · 2000s
The mid-2000s Black nightlife register for a dressed-up, over-25 crowd and the venues, dress codes, and music that served it.
GucciVerified
adjective · U.S. South (Atlanta) · 2000s
Used to say that a person, situation, or plan is fine, solid, or all right — 'we Gucci' means there's no problem, everything is settled and good between people. It can also describe something as sharp, high-quality, or fashionable, carrying the shine of the luxury name it borrows, but in everyday Black speech the word has drifted from the handbags entirely and just means 'good' or 'we're straight.'
gyattVerified
interjection · U.S. South (Black Vernacular English), spread nationally via Black Twitter and l · 2000s
An exclamation of shock, awe, or emphatic reaction — the vocal equivalent of a gasp — historically used the way one might use 'goddamn' or 'good Lord.' In its most common present-day sense it is shouted or typed on seeing a person, almost always a woman, with a large, shapely backside, and by extension it has become a noun for that very feature and a general intensifier for anything impressive.
hangVerified
verb · Harlem, New York, spreading through Black urban communities nationwide via jazz · 1940s
To spend easy, unhurried time with your people, with no set agenda beyond being together — to sit in, stay close, and let the time pass without rushing it. Also used as a noun for that shared quality of togetherness itself, as in 'a good hang,' meaning the company was worth staying for.
hatinVerified
verb · San Francisco Bay Area / West Coast, later nationwide · 1990s
To express resentment, envy, or unearned criticism toward someone else's success, style, or confidence — usually said of a person who talks down on someone doing well because that success threatens their own ego. It describes an attitude, not a factual complaint: the person 'hatin' is understood to be reacting out of jealousy rather than legitimate grievance, and calling someone out as 'hatin' is itself a way of dismissing their criticism as illegitimate.
hatingVerified
verb · San Francisco Bay Area / West Coast, later nationwide · 1990s
To express resentment, envy, or unearned criticism toward someone else's success, style, or confidence — usually said of a person who talks down on someone doing well because that success threatens their own ego. It describes an attitude, not a factual complaint: the person 'hatin' is understood to be reacting out of jealousy rather than legitimate grievance, and calling someone out as 'hatin' is itself a way of dismissing their criticism as illegitimate.
HBCUVerified
noun · The South and border states — Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Tennessee, Virginia, Maryland, Washington D.C.; plus Pennsylvania and Ohio for the oldest institutions · 1980s
Historically Black college or university — a U.S. institution founded before 1964 whose principal mission was, and is, the education of Black Americans.
hey big headVerified
phrase · U.S. South (family usage) / nationwide (Black Twitter meme usage) · 2010s
A greeting an ex sends when they resurface after silence or a breakup, usually once they've noticed the other person doing well, gotten dumped themselves, or simply gotten lonely — a casual, disarming opener that tries to reopen a door without admitting why it closed. Underneath the deeper family sense, 'big head' is also a long-standing term of endearment used between parents and children or between partners, so the phrase can land as flirtatious or nostalgic warmth rather than manipulation, depending entirely on who's saying it and what history sits behind it.
hit a lickVerified
phrase · U.S. South (Houston, Texas hip-hop scene), later carried nationwide · 1990s
To pull off a fast score — most often a robbery, theft, drug sale, or hustle — that brings in a large sum of money quickly and with little sustained labor. The core sense is criminal: sticking up a person, a store, or a dealer for a payout. Over time the phrase stretched to cover any sudden windfall, legal or not — a lucky gambling win, a fat check, a lopsided trade — but even in its loosest use it keeps the flavor of getting paid fast rather than earned slow.
hit me upVerified
phrase · U.S. urban Black communities, nationwide · 1980s
A casual invitation or instruction to make contact — call, page, text, DM, or otherwise get in touch — with no fixed channel implied and no urgency required beyond "whenever you get a chance." In its older, fuller sense it can also mean to ask someone for something, usually money, a favor, or a hookup of some kind, a usage that survives alongside the newer "contact me" meaning. The clipped form HMU is the same phrase collapsed for text and captions, read letter by letter, and functions as sign-off, open invitation, or low-pressure romantic overture depending on who sends it and where.
hmuVerified
phrase · U.S. urban Black communities, nationwide · 1980s
A casual invitation or instruction to make contact — call, page, text, DM, or otherwise get in touch — with no fixed channel implied and no urgency required beyond "whenever you get a chance." In its older, fuller sense it can also mean to ask someone for something, usually money, a favor, or a hookup of some kind, a usage that survives alongside the newer "contact me" meaning. The clipped form HMU is the same phrase collapsed for text and captions, read letter by letter, and functions as sign-off, open invitation, or low-pressure romantic overture depending on who sends it and where.
hog mawsVerified
noun · American South, especially the Carolinas, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee; carried to Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Philadelphia and New York · 1800s
Pig stomach, cleaned and cooked as food.
homeboyVerified
noun · the Black South, then the Migration cities · 1890s
Somebody from back home — your town, your place, your people. A close friend by extension. Black, Southern, and on paper since 1899.
homieVerified
noun · U.S. South, carried into Detroit, Chicago, and other Northern and Western cities · 1940s
A trusted friend or close associate — someone from your neighborhood, crew, or inner circle whose loyalty is assumed rather than earned fresh each time. Carries warmth and familiarity; used as both a term of address and a way of naming who belongs to your circle.
hoodVerified
noun · U.S. South Side Chicago originally, later Los Angeles and nationwide Black urban · 1960s
One's home neighborhood or block, especially a Black urban community and the people, streets, and daily life that make it up; used both plainly ("I'm from the hood") and as a marker of pride, belonging, and shared struggle rather than simply a synonym for "bad neighborhood." Carries a double register: inside the community it names home, kin, and turf with affection; outside it, especially in mainstream and media use, it gets flattened into a stand-in for poverty, crime, or Blackness itself — a narrowing the community itself did not intend.
hooptieVerified
noun · West Coast (Seattle/Pacific Northwest and California), spreading nationwide via · 1960s (concept); 1980s–1
An old, worn-down car that keeps running despite rust, dents, duct-tape repairs, or missing parts — used both as a put-down for a rough ride and, more often among the people who drive them, as a term of pride and affection for a car that has character and history even if it isn't pretty. Can extend loosely to any beat-up machine or object that still somehow does its job.
hooptyVerified
noun · West Coast (Seattle/Pacific Northwest and California), spreading nationwide via · 1960s (concept); 1980s–1
An old, worn-down car that keeps running despite rust, dents, duct-tape repairs, or missing parts — used both as a put-down for a rough ride and, more often among the people who drive them, as a term of pride and affection for a car that has character and history even if it isn't pretty. Can extend loosely to any beat-up machine or object that still somehow does its job.
houseVerified
noun · Harlem, New York; ballroom · 1970s
In ballroom, a chosen family — a named collective that takes members in, raises them, trains them, and competes together at balls under a shared name.
I said what I saidVerified
phrase · Atlanta, Georgia; nationwide by way of television and social media · 2010s
NeNe Leakes's refusal to walk it back — said once, meant once, no revision offered.
if you like it, I love itVerified
phrase · U.S. South · 1980s
A phrase of pointed non-endorsement — used to signal that the speaker will not fight, criticize, or involve themselves in another person's choice, even though that choice is not one they'd make or approve of themselves. On its surface it reads as agreeable support, but among those who use it, it functions as a release of responsibility and, often, a polite way of saying they actually disagree or disapprove but have decided the matter isn't theirs to referee.
IssaVerified
phrase · U.S. South (Atlanta) · 2010s
A run-together pronunciation of "it's a," used to introduce a noun the way "it's a" would in standard English — as in "issa knife," "issa vibe," or "issa mood." In practice it also works as a stand-alone confirmation, letting a speaker name or label something plainly and without apology.
J-settingVerified
noun, verb · Jackson, Mississippi and HBCU campuses across the Deep South; club and team scenes in Atlanta, Houston, Memphis and Jackson · 1970s
The sharp, high-kick dance style of Jackson State's Prancing J-Settes, later a Black gay club form.
J'sVerified
noun · U.S. urban centers, especially the Northeast, Midwest, and South · 1980s
A pair of Air Jordan sneakers, the Nike-manufactured basketball shoe line endorsed by Michael Jordan; used as an affectionate, everyday clip of "Jordans" among people who track colorways, releases, and condition the way others might follow stocks. In looser use, especially in the South, "a J" can also mean a rolled marijuana cigarette (a joint), so listeners lean on plural marking and context — "my J's" almost always means shoes, while "a J" alone can go either way.
jakesVerified
noun · New York City — Queens, Brooklyn, Harlem · 1980s
The police — a New York Black vernacular term documented in print by the mid-1980s, carried worldwide by 1990s rap, and now naturalized in British drill.
jitVerified
noun · Florida (Tampa Bay, South Florida) and the wider U.S. South · 1990s
A young person — a kid, a younger sibling, a new or inexperienced member of a crew, team, or neighborhood. Depending on tone, it can be a plain description of age, an affectionate nickname for someone coming up, or a sharper knock at a younger person who's acting like they know more than they do, moving reckless, or talking out of turn before they've earned the right.
John the ConquerorVerified
noun · Black South, with the densest documentation in New Orleans and the Gulf; carried north by the Great Migration and by the blues · 1930s
The root you carry, and the man in the story who never broke.
JsVerified
noun · U.S. urban centers, especially the Northeast, Midwest, and South · 1980s
A pair of Air Jordan sneakers, the Nike-manufactured basketball shoe line endorsed by Michael Jordan; used as an affectionate, everyday clip of "Jordans" among people who track colorways, releases, and condition the way others might follow stocks. In looser use, especially in the South, "a J" can also mean a rolled marijuana cigarette (a joint), so listeners lean on plural marking and context — "my J's" almost always means shoes, while "a J" alone can go either way.
jumping the broomVerified
phrase · Plantation South — Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana; now Black weddings nationwide · 1850s
A Black American wedding rite in which the couple leaps together over a broom laid on the ground, marking the union before the community.
keep it one hunnidVerified
idiom · phrase · U.S. South / West Coast, spreading nationwide via hip-hop · 1990s
To be completely honest, to speak the unvarnished truth even when it's unflattering, or to conduct oneself with total authenticity and no pretense. It functions both as an instruction (telling someone to level with you) and as a self-description (claiming you never front or fake). The 'hunnid' stands in for 'one hundred percent,' so 'keeping it one hunnid' means giving the full, unfiltered truth rather than a diluted or dressed-up version of it.
kicksVerified
noun · Northeast U.S. (New York), spreading nationwide via Black urban and hip-hop cult · 1960s
Shoes — especially sneakers, but extended to any footwear worth naming, from run-of-the-mill takes to a prized, closet-worthy pair. In Black vernacular the word carries more than plainness; it flags footwear as a marker of care, taste, and status — 'fresh kicks' means the shoes are new, clean, or otherwise on point, and asking someone about their kicks is asking about their whole presentation.
knock yourself outVerified
phrase · Harlem, New York · 1940s
Go ahead and enjoy yourself fully — have all the fun you want. Documented Harlem speech from 1942, long before it sounded like anybody's catchphrase.
know what I'm sayingVerified
phrase · U.S. South, spread nationwide via the Great Migration and Black urban communitie · 1960s
A verbal check-in dropped into the middle or end of a sentence, asking the listener to confirm they're following — not because the meaning is unclear, but to keep the two of you locked into the same wavelength as the thought unfolds. It functions less as a literal question and more as a rhythmic anchor, a way of inviting agreement, building trust, or buying a half-second to gather the next thought. In tighter company it shortens to 'you know what I'm sayin'' or just 'sayin''' and can carry anything from earnest emphasis to sly irony depending on the tone.
Knuck If You BuckVerified
phrase · U.S. South (Atlanta, Georgia) · 2000s
A challenge and rallying cry meaning you are squared up and ready to fight — knuckles balled, temper wild — issued the instant somebody starts trouble or the energy in a room turns confrontational. It doubles as a party chant: shouted or sung along to when the bass drops, it signals that the crowd is hyped to the point of throwing elbows, whether or not an actual fight follows.
KwanzaaVerified
proper noun · Los Angeles (Black Los Angeles, post-Watts); now nationwide, plus Canada, the Caribbean and Black Britain · 1960s
A seven-day Black American holiday, December 26 to January 1, built on the Nguzo Saba — seven principles, one named each night.
lameVerified
adjective · U.S. — jazz circuits of New York, Chicago, and Kansas City, later nationwide Bla · 1930s
Describes a person, thing, or move that is out of step with what's happening — unhip, out of touch, or behind the culture. Said of a person, it marks someone as socially unaware, easily played, or without style or nerve; said of a thing (an excuse, a joke, a party, a verse), it means weak, unconvincing, or flat. The word carries a judgment of standing: a lame is someone on the outside of the knowledge, the fashion, or the game that everyone else is already inside of.
let her cookVerified
phrase · San Francisco Bay Area, California · 2010s
A directive to step back and give someone room to work without interruption, spoken in the confidence that whatever they're building — a rap verse, a game-winning play, a flirtatious text, a wild idea — is going to pay off. It doubles as a statement of trust in someone's process even when that process looks messy, slow, or unconventional from the outside. The base verb "cook"/"cooking" carries the same charge on its own: to be visibly excelling, in flow, doing the thing at a high level, whether that's a rapper writing bars, a hooper scoring at will, or someone working an angle in conversation.
let him cookVerified
phrase · San Francisco Bay Area, California · 2010s
A directive to step back and give someone room to work without interruption, spoken in the confidence that whatever they're building — a rap verse, a game-winning play, a flirtatious text, a wild idea — is going to pay off. It doubles as a statement of trust in someone's process even when that process looks messy, slow, or unconventional from the outside. The base verb "cook"/"cooking" carries the same charge on its own: to be visibly excelling, in flow, doing the thing at a high level, whether that's a rapper writing bars, a hooper scoring at will, or someone working an angle in conversation.
lightly, slightly and politelyVerified
phr. · Harlem, New York City · 1940s
Doing a thing perfectly — with ease, and no strain showing.
litVerified
adjective · U.S. South and East Coast hip-hop scenes, spreading nationwide · 1990s
Charged with excitement, energy, or excellence — used of a party, song, performance, or moment that has reached a peak of collective hype. A secondary, older sense describes a person who is drunk or high, the feeling of being "turned up" past sober control. Both senses share a root idea: something (or someone) set ablaze, glowing, alive with an intensity that everyone in the room can feel.
locsVerified
noun · U.S. South and Afro-Caribbean diaspora (Jamaica), with the terminology shift cen · 1990s
Rope-like sections of hair formed by allowing strands to coil, twist, or mat together over time; the preferred term within Black hair culture for what outsiders often call 'dreadlocks,' used deliberately to strip the style of the old slur baked into that word and to name it instead by what it actually is — locked hair.
loosiesVerified
noun · New York City (Harlem, the South Bronx, Bed-Stuy, Staten Island), Philadelphia, Chicago, Baltimore; Black and immigrant neighborhoods nationally · 1980s
Single cigarettes broken out of a pack and sold one at a time — by a bodega, a barbershop, or a man who works a fixed corner.
ma dukesVerified
noun · New York (Brooklyn) and Detroit hip-hop communities · 1990s
A person's mother, spoken with a mix of familiarity, respect, and pride — often specifically the kind of mother regarded as tough, wise, or the unquestioned head of the household. Used both as a direct reference ('that's ma dukes right there') and, less commonly, as a form of address. Sometimes extended to 'pop dukes' for a father, and occasionally to an older woman in the neighborhood who acts as a surrogate mother figure to kids who need one.
mackVerified
noun · verb · U.S. South (New Orleans origin point) and nationwide Black urban centers · 1970s
A man who works the game of seduction — sweet-talking, persuading, and moving with a practiced charm that can range from harmless flirting to the calculated recruitment tactics of a pimp. As a noun, a mack is either the pimp himself or, in its lighter, broadened sense, any man recognized as effortlessly smooth with women. As a verb, to mack (or mack on someone) is to talk game, to flirt hard, to work the seduction — and in its older, harder sense, to actively pimp or recruit. The word carries a spectrum: a 'hard mack' rules through threat and control, a 'sweet mack' through charm alone, and by
make a way out of no wayVerified
phrase · Black Baptist, Methodist, and Pentecostal congregations across the Deep South and the Great Migration cities; documented in Montgomery, Alabama, and Atlanta, Georgia · 1950s
To bring something out of nothing — the Black church's name for provision that arrives when every visible road is closed, credited to God, delivered often enough through people.
maneVerified
interjection · U.S. South (Memphis, TN); later Bay Area, California · 1990s
A Southern Black pronunciation of 'man,' used as a direct address, a filler, or an exclamation of emphasis at the start, middle, or end of a sentence. It carries the same weight as 'man' in Black American speech generally — calling someone in, marking frustration, disbelief, or solidarity — but the vowel is stretched and flattened into something closer to 'mayn,' a marker of Southern, and especially Memphis, speech. It can open a sentence, close one, or do both, and is often doubled or tripled in a single breath of complaint or excitement.
mayneVerified
interjection · U.S. South (Memphis, TN); later Bay Area, California · 1990s
A Southern Black pronunciation of 'man,' used as a direct address, a filler, or an exclamation of emphasis at the start, middle, or end of a sentence. It carries the same weight as 'man' in Black American speech generally — calling someone in, marking frustration, disbelief, or solidarity — but the vowel is stretched and flattened into something closer to 'mayn,' a marker of Southern, and especially Memphis, speech. It can open a sentence, close one, or do both, and is often doubled or tripled in a single breath of complaint or excitement.
mmhmVerified
interjection · South / national · historical
Yes — agreement, confirmation, or "I hear you," hummed rather than spoken. The tone does the work: it can affirm, doubt, console, or warn without opening the mouth.
motherVerified
noun · Harlem, New York; ballroom · 1970s
The head of a ballroom house — the one who takes members in, teaches, feeds, disciplines, and answers for them. A title of authority and care, earned rather than given.
nation sackVerified
noun · Memphis, Tennessee and the surrounding Mississippi Delta and eastern Arkansas · 1930s
In Memphis-area hoodoo, a charm bag carried only by women, worn at the waist, used to hold a man to her and keep him faithful and generous.
neo-soulVerified
noun · New York and Philadelphia industry offices; artists drawn from Richmond, Dallas, Philadelphia, Brooklyn and elsewhere · 1990s
A late-1990s industry label for Black singer-songwriters working the 1970s soul aesthetic through hip-hop, jazz, and spoken word.
nutcrackerVerified
noun · Manhattan (Washington Heights, Harlem, Upper West Side), the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and the Rockaways; increasingly Philadelphia, Atlanta and wherever New York vendors travel · 1990s
A strong, sweet, brightly colored liquor-and-juice drink sold without a license out of coolers on New York streets, beaches, parks and barbershop back rooms.
off the hookVerified
adjective · Atlanta and the Southern and mid-Atlantic Black corridor · 1990s
Excellent, wild, past the point where ordinary praise will carry it — said of a party, a record, a night, a plate of food.
OGVerified
noun · Los Angeles / South Central, spreading nationwide through Black hip-hop networks · 1970s
A person of proven standing — someone who was there first, put in the years, and earned deference from those who came after. Originally marked rank inside a gang: a founding or elder member whose time in the life outweighed any newer recruit's claim to respect. Carried into wider Black speech, it now names anyone — an elder, a mentor, an artist, a friend — whose experience and authenticity are beyond question, and doubles as a modifier for the first or truest version of anything ('the OG lineup,' 'OG recipe').
old headVerified
noun · Philadelphia, spread nationwide through Black communities · 1970s
An older man (or, in extended use, an older woman) in the neighborhood who is looked to for street-tested wisdom, discipline, or mentorship of younger people coming up in the same block, corner, or scene; also used more loosely for anyone visibly older than the speaker, sometimes with a teasing edge about being out of touch. In its fullest sense it names a social role, not just an age bracket: the old head has 'been through it,' has stayed in or near the game long enough to have standing, and is expected to pass down rules of conduct — how to carry yourself, how to avoid trouble, how to surviv
on godVerified
interjection · U.S. South / urban Black communities nationwide · 1990s
An oath phrase used to guarantee that what a speaker just said, or is about to say, is the absolute truth — invoking God as witness in place of a handshake, a signature, or a Bible. It can stand alone as a one-word vow ('On God.') or get tacked onto a sentence for emphasis, and it can also be used defensively, thrown back at someone who's questioning your word ('you swear? On God.'). Its shortened text form, 'ONG,' does the identical job in DMs and comment sections.
on oneVerified
phrase · U.S., broadly Black American vernacular with strong hip-hop-era ties to the West · 1990s
To be caught up in an intense, unpredictable state of mind or behavior — acting erratic, keyed-up, aggressive, euphoric, or emotionally out of pocket, whether from anger, adrenaline, substances, or just a mood that's taken over. It can describe someone tripping and acting a fool, someone popping off in anger, or someone riding a wave of confidence and refusing to come down; the exact flavor is read from context and tone, not the words themselves.
ONGVerified
interjection · Nationwide, via Black Twitter and hip-hop · 2010s
A clipped, texted form of the oath 'on God,' used to swear that a statement just made is completely true or deeply felt — functionally the same as saying 'I swear to God' or 'for real.' It's dropped into or at the end of a sentence to certify sincerity, not to make a literal religious claim; most speakers use it as pure emphasis, the way you'd lean on a word to show you mean it.
oppsVerified
noun · Chicago (South Side), later New York and UK drill scenes · 2010s
One's enemies or rival faction — the people an individual or crew is in active conflict with, whether that conflict is gang-related, personal, or just competitive. Usually spoken in the plural, 'opps,' to refer to an enemy camp collectively; a single adversary is 'an opp.' In its home context the word carries real weight, naming people tied to actual violence or territorial beef; away from that context, among younger or wider audiences, it has loosened to cover any rival, hater, or person working against you, sometimes said half-jokingly.
out the mudVerified
idiom · phrase · U.S. South (Louisiana/Atlanta trap corridor), later nationwide · 2010s
Said of a person, family, or crew who reached money, stability, or respect after starting with nothing — no connections, no safety net, no shortcut. It names success that was dug out by hand from poverty, violence, or systemic neglect rather than handed down, and it doubles as a claim of credibility: the harder the come-up, the more the win is respected. The related forms "from the mud" and "got it out the mud" carry the same weight and are used interchangeably in verse and conversation.
outcheaVerified
adverb · U.S. South (Gulf Coast hip-hop corridor and South Carolina/Georgia Lowcountry Se · 2000s
A contracted, dialect-true pronunciation of "out here," used to declare presence, location, or active involvement — as in being physically somewhere, being caught up in a situation, or asserting that one is genuinely part of a scene or struggle. In its collective form, "we outchea," it functions as a statement of solidarity and visibility: an assertion that a person or group belongs, endures, and is seen in a given space, whether that space is a block, a club, a movement, or a cultural moment.
overstandVerified
verb · Jamaica (Rastafari origin); Northeast U.S. Black and Caribbean-American communit · 1970s
To grasp something fully and consciously — not just to process information passively, but to perceive the deeper truth, power structure, or spiritual reality behind it. Where 'understand' is felt to put the listener beneath ('under') the thing known, 'overstand' places the knower above it, in a position of clear sight and awakened awareness rather than submission.
partnerVerified
noun · U.S. South (Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Memphis corridor) · 1990s
A close friend, ally, or partner-in-crime — someone trusted like family. Patna carries the warmth of 'partner' stripped of its business connotation and rebuilt as a term of loyalty: the person who has your back, rides with you, and is named almost like kin. It is most often used between men addressing each other directly ('what's good, patna') or in the plural 'patna dem' to mean one's whole crew or circle of friends.
patnaVerified
noun · U.S. South (Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Memphis corridor) · 1990s
A close friend, ally, or partner-in-crime — someone trusted like family. Patna carries the warmth of 'partner' stripped of its business connotation and rebuilt as a term of loyalty: the person who has your back, rides with you, and is named almost like kin. It is most often used between men addressing each other directly ('what's good, patna') or in the plural 'patna dem' to mean one's whole crew or circle of friends.
pauseVerified
interjection · Harlem, New York City · 2000s
A one-word check called out right after a sentence that could be heard as sexual or homoerotic, used by the speaker or a listener to flag the double meaning, laugh it off, and move the conversation along without anyone having to actually address what was just implied. It functions less as an apology than as a verbal wink — an acknowledgment that everybody caught the slip, followed by tacit permission to keep talking like it never happened.
peepVerified
verb · U.S. urban Black communities, especially New York and the West Coast · 1980s
To notice, observe, or take mental note of something — to catch on to information, a situation, or someone's behavior, often before others do. Used both as a plain transitive verb ('peep that') and inside the set phrase 'peep game,' meaning to read a situation correctly, to catch on to someone's motives or a hustle in progress, or to understand how things really work.
playa hatinVerified
noun · San Francisco Bay Area (Oakland/Richmond), later carried into Memphis and New Or · 1990s
A person who resents, badmouths, or tries to tear down someone else's success, style, money, or way with people—out of envy rather than any real grievance. The target of a player hater's scorn is someone seen as skilled at 'the game': pulling women or men, stacking cash, moving through the streets or the industry with confidence and ease. To 'player hate' is to let jealousy curdle into public criticism of someone who's simply doing well or doing it smoothly.
player haterVerified
noun · San Francisco Bay Area (Oakland/Richmond), later carried into Memphis and New Or · 1990s
A person who resents, badmouths, or tries to tear down someone else's success, style, money, or way with people—out of envy rather than any real grievance. The target of a player hater's scorn is someone seen as skilled at 'the game': pulling women or men, stacking cash, moving through the streets or the industry with confidence and ease. To 'player hate' is to let jealousy curdle into public criticism of someone who's simply doing well or doing it smoothly.
player hatingVerified
noun · San Francisco Bay Area (Oakland/Richmond), later carried into Memphis and New Or · 1990s
A person who resents, badmouths, or tries to tear down someone else's success, style, money, or way with people—out of envy rather than any real grievance. The target of a player hater's scorn is someone seen as skilled at 'the game': pulling women or men, stacking cash, moving through the streets or the industry with confidence and ease. To 'player hate' is to let jealousy curdle into public criticism of someone who's simply doing well or doing it smoothly.
plugVerified
noun · U.S. South (Atlanta/Gulf Coast trap scene), spreading nationwide · 1990s
A trusted supplier of drugs — the person a customer or lower-level dealer calls to get product, be it weed, pills, powder, or anything scarce and needed fast. To have someone as 'your plug' is to have direct, personal access to a source most people can't reach, and the word carries the same weight whether it's cocaine, a re-up on weight, or, in looser modern use, any hard-to-get item or hookup. 'The plug' names both the individual and the position in the supply chain — the connection point where product moves from the wholesale side of the trade down to street level.
pocket watchVerified
verb · U.S. South (Atlanta trap scene) with early circulation via Black Twitter and the · 2010s
The act of closely tracking, speculating about, or fixating on someone else's money — how much they make, spend, or own — usually out of envy, suspicion, or a desire to knock them down a peg. It describes an onlooker's behavior, not the person being watched: the pocket watcher is the one running the mental math on somebody else's bag while contributing nothing to how that money was earned. It's used both as a call-out (accusing someone of hating) and, less often, self-deprecatingly to admit to scrolling someone's come-up out of curiosity or insecurity.
pocket watchingVerified
verb · U.S. South (Atlanta trap scene) with early circulation via Black Twitter and the · 2010s
The act of closely tracking, speculating about, or fixating on someone else's money — how much they make, spend, or own — usually out of envy, suspicion, or a desire to knock them down a peg. It describes an onlooker's behavior, not the person being watched: the pocket watcher is the one running the mental math on somebody else's bag while contributing nothing to how that money was earned. It's used both as a call-out (accusing someone of hating) and, less often, self-deprecatingly to admit to scrolling someone's come-up out of curiosity or insecurity.
poppin bottlesVerified
phrase · U.S. South (New Orleans, Atlanta) · 2000s
To buy and uncork bottles of champagne or top-shelf liquor in a club or private party as a public, shared display of money, status, and celebration — the bottle is often bought in multiples, poured out generously (sometimes wastefully, sometimes on people rather than just in glasses), and the spending itself is the point as much as the drinking. It signals that someone has arrived, that the night is elevated, and that the group around the bottle is meant to witness and share in the flex.
poppin trunkVerified
verb phrase · Houston, Texas — Third Ward, South Park, Fifth Ward, Northside; spread across Texas and the wider South · 1990s
Opening the trunk of a slab to show off the sound system, lights and lettering inside.
popping bottlesVerified
phrase · U.S. South (New Orleans, Atlanta) · 2000s
To buy and uncork bottles of champagne or top-shelf liquor in a club or private party as a public, shared display of money, status, and celebration — the bottle is often bought in multiples, poured out generously (sometimes wastefully, sometimes on people rather than just in glasses), and the spending itself is the point as much as the drinking. It signals that someone has arrived, that the night is elevated, and that the group around the bottle is meant to witness and share in the flex.
pour one outVerified
phrase · Los Angeles / South Central, spreading nationwide through hip-hop · 1990s
To spill a small amount of a drink — usually liquor or malt beverage — onto the ground as a tribute to someone who has died, incarcerated, or otherwise can no longer be present to drink it themselves. The poured portion stands in for the sip the absent person would have taken, and the act is typically done aloud, by name, among friends who are already drinking together rather than as a solitary or purely private gesture.
press and curlVerified
noun · Black America — St. Louis, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, Chicago, and across the South · 1900s
Straightening hair with a hot comb, then setting it in curls with a heated iron.
pretty boyVerified
noun · U.S. urban Black communities, nationwide (with strong Midwest boxing-gym and Sou · 1990s
A man or boy who takes visible pride in his looks, grooming, style, and self-presentation, and who carries that attention to appearance as a mark of confidence and status rather than weakness. In Black vernacular use it is not primarily about femininity — it describes someone who puts more energy into his hair, clothes, and face than into toughness, sports, or grinding, and who knows it. Said among men it can be a light jab implying vanity or softness, but it is just as often worn proudly, as swagger, especially when paired with 'swag.'
prettyboyVerified
noun · U.S. urban Black communities, nationwide (with strong Midwest boxing-gym and Sou · 1990s
A man or boy who takes visible pride in his looks, grooming, style, and self-presentation, and who carries that attention to appearance as a mark of confidence and status rather than weakness. In Black vernacular use it is not primarily about femininity — it describes someone who puts more energy into his hair, clothes, and face than into toughness, sports, or grinding, and who knows it. Said among men it can be a light jab implying vanity or softness, but it is just as often worn proudly, as swagger, especially when paired with 'swag.'
pullVerified
verb · U.S. South and Northern urban Black communities, with strong Black Twitter circu · 1970s
To pull someone means to successfully draw their romantic or sexual interest — to get them to want you, whether that ends in a phone number, a night together, or a relationship. As a noun, someone who 'has pull' or 'can pull' is naturally good at attracting people; it describes magnetism more than effort. The word can also carry an older, harder edge in Black street vernacular, where to pull someone meant to recruit or draw them into your orbit — most notably in pimp and hustler talk, where a man 'pulled' a woman away from another man or into his own stable.
pull upVerified
phrase · U.S. South and East Coast, urban Black communities nationwide · 2000s
To arrive somewhere, often with confidence or style, and depending on tone, to show up ready to reconcile, hang out, or confront. It can be a casual invitation to come through, a boast about making an entrance, or a warning that someone is coming to settle something face to face.
pullingVerified
verb · U.S. South and Northern urban Black communities, with strong Black Twitter circu · 1970s
To pull someone means to successfully draw their romantic or sexual interest — to get them to want you, whether that ends in a phone number, a night together, or a relationship. As a noun, someone who 'has pull' or 'can pull' is naturally good at attracting people; it describes magnetism more than effort. The word can also carry an older, harder edge in Black street vernacular, where to pull someone meant to recruit or draw them into your orbit — most notably in pimp and hustler talk, where a man 'pulled' a woman away from another man or into his own stable.
quiet on the creekVerified
idiom · phrase · U.S. South (Florida) → nationwide via TikTok · 2020s
A tongue-in-cheek instruction to keep something hushed, low-key, or discreet — literally borrowed from the idea of staying silent while fishing so you don't scare the fish, and now used as a knowing "don't say too much" or "keep that between us" warning, often delivered as a joke or in mock seriousness rather than a literal command about actual fishing.
racksVerified
noun · San Francisco Bay Area, California, spreading through Atlanta trap · 2000s
A unit of money equal to one thousand dollars, most often a banded stack of one hundred-dollar bills; used in the plural to describe cash on hand, income, or wealth in general — 'I got racks' meaning thousands of dollars, no further specificity needed. The word carries a boastful, physical charge: it names money you can hold, count, and show, not an abstract balance in a bank app.
raise upVerified
phrase · U.S. South · 1990s
A directive meaning to get up, get moving, or make yourself known — used to tell someone to stand and represent where they're from, to get out of the way, or to rise to an occasion rather than stay small or silent. In its confrontational sense it's a command to back off or clear out; in its celebratory sense, most associated with Southern hip-hop, it's a call for people to stand up, throw a shirt in the air, and claim their city or crew out loud.
ratchetVerified
adjective · Shreveport, Louisiana · 1990s
Loud, unpolished, and unbothered about it — behavior with the filter off. In its home usage, closer to "real" and "bout it" than to the insult outsiders later made of it.
reading is fundamentalVerified
interjection · Harlem and Manhattan ballroom scene, New York · 1990s
The read — a precise, witty inventory of somebody''s flaws, delivered for sport — is a core skill, not a hobby.
redboneVerified
noun · U.S. South (Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Gulf Coast), spread nationwide · 1800s (ethnonym) / 1900s
A light-skinned Black person, especially one with reddish or copper undertones to their skin — a term inside Black communities that names a specific position on the shade spectrum, distinct from 'yellowbone' (yellow undertones) or 'high yellow.' Used as a descriptor and, often, as a compliment or term of flirtation ('what's up, redbone'), though it can also carry the weight of colorism when it implies that lighter skin is more desirable than darker skin. Can apply to a person's actual mixed ancestry (Black, white, and/or Native) or simply to complexion regardless of known lineage.
righteousVerified
adjective · Harlem, New York City · 1930s
Splendid, first-rate, the real thing. A word of high praise for something genuine and excellent, well before it narrowed in mainstream English to mean only morally upright.
rockVerified
verb · U.S. South (blues origin); South Bronx, New York City (hip-hop codification) · 1970s
To perform, wear, or carry yourself with visible mastery and confidence — whether that means commanding a microphone, wearing a look nobody else could pull off, or simply handling anything, from a job to a relationship, with style. To 'rock' something is to make it undeniably yours in front of an audience.
rootworkerVerified
noun · The American South — Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia, the Gulf states, the Mississippi Delta — and carried north and west by the Great Migration · 1870s
A practitioner of hoodoo, the African American folk magic and folk medicine tradition of the South. Also called a root doctor, conjure doctor, or two-headed doctor.
sanctifiedVerified
adjective · Mississippi, then Memphis and nationwide · 1890s
Of a person or a church: Holiness, Spirit-filled, and unashamed about it. The Sanctified Church started in Mississippi in the 1890s, a decade before Azusa Street.
say lessVerified
interjection · U.S. (nationwide Black vernacular), with a notable Toronto/Caribbean-diaspora am · 2000s
A response signaling total, immediate agreement or understanding — the listener is already convinced, already in, and needs zero further explanation. It functions as an instruction as much as a reply: it tells the other person to stop talking because the message landed, the plan is accepted, and action is already underway. It carries confidence and closeness — used between people who trust each other's word enough that a full sentence would be overkill.
shamoneVerified
interjection · Chicago gospel-soul circuit (Staple Singers), rooted in the wider Southern Black · 1970s
A jubilant, stylized cry of "come on!" — used to hype up a crowd, egg someone on, or punctuate a moment of peak energy in a song or performance. It is not a mispronunciation so much as a performance flourish: a singer stretching "come on" into something with more soul, more push, more swagger, so the word itself becomes part of the groove rather than just an instruction.
shawtyVerified
noun · U.S. South (Atlanta, Georgia, with roots in wider AAVE) · 1990s
A close, familiar term of address used for a person one finds attractive, is dating, or simply knows well — most often a young woman, but also used for a friend, a child, or anyone smaller in size or younger in age than the speaker. Depending on tone, it can carry flirtation, affection, or plain neighborly familiarity, the same way 'man' or 'girl' might be used to open a sentence.
ShineVerified
proper noun · Black urban neighborhoods and prison yards — documented in Philadelphia, Harlem, the Delta, and Texas prisons · 1910s
The Black stoker of the Titanic toast who warns the captain, is ignored, and swims to shore.
shookVerified
adjective · New York (Queensbridge, Queens) origin, nationwide Black vernacular use · 1990s
Rattled, thrown off balance, or overcome by fear, shock, or surprise. Used to describe someone whose composure has cracked in the face of a threat, a piece of news, or an unexpected moment — from real fear on the street to lighter emotional jolts like embarrassment or awe. Distinct from simply being 'scared,' shook implies that the fear or shock is visible or has knocked someone off their game, exposing that their tough front wasn't real.
shordyVerified
noun · U.S. South (Atlanta, Georgia, with roots in wider AAVE) · 1990s
A close, familiar term of address used for a person one finds attractive, is dating, or simply knows well — most often a young woman, but also used for a friend, a child, or anyone smaller in size or younger in age than the speaker. Depending on tone, it can carry flirtation, affection, or plain neighborly familiarity, the same way 'man' or 'girl' might be used to open a sentence.
shout outVerified
phrase · New York City (Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn) · 1980s
A public acknowledgment, greeting, or word of praise given by name to a person, crew, block, or hometown — traditionally delivered live over a mic, on air, or on record so that the person named, and everyone listening, knows they've been recognized. It functions as a small act of communal honoring: naming someone into the record of a broadcast, a track, or a crowd.
signifyingVerified
verb · South / nationwide · 1920s
Indirect, layered talk — saying one thing to mean another; needling, boasting, or critiquing through implication, wordplay, and misdirection.
simpVerified
noun · Oakland, the Bay Area and Los Angeles; first documented in Black campus speech in the Northeast · 1960s
A man who is excessively, self-abasingly devoted to a woman — doing too much, giving too much, expecting little back. From simpleton.
slabVerified
noun · Houston, Texas · 1990s
A customized car in the Houston style — an older American sedan on chrome swangas, wrapped in candy paint, trunk rigged to pop. Slow, Loud, And Bangin'.
softVerified
adjective · U.S. urban centers, prison culture, later hip-hop nationwide · 1970s
Describes a person — almost always a man, in most contexts — who lacks heart, nerve, or backbone: someone who folds under pressure, won't stand on his word, or can be pushed around without pushing back. It is the direct opposite of 'hard,' the term used across Black street and prison culture to mean someone with grit, composure under threat, and willingness to handle business. Calling someone soft is a direct challenge to their manhood or standing, and it is one of the most efficient insults in the vernacular because it says, in one syllable, that a person cannot be trusted to hold their own i
solidVerified
adjective · Harlem / national · 1930s
Excellent, dependable, settled — and, standing alone, an agreement: understood, done, say less.
square from DelawareVerified
phrase · Harlem, New York, with Philadelphia in the mix from the start · 1930s
Someone hopelessly out of step — the rhyming, full-dress version of calling a person a square.
stuntinVerified
verb · New Orleans / U.S. South, spread nationwide via hip-hop · 1990s
To show off deliberately — flashing money, jewelry, cars, clothes, or anything else that broadcasts status, usually with a performative flair meant to be seen and talked about. It can describe an honest flex (real wealth on display) or a hollow one (someone playing bigger than their pockets actually are), and context tells you which. The related noun "stunna" names the person doing it, and the phrase "stuntin' on" someone means showing off specifically to outdo or provoke them.
stuntingVerified
verb · New Orleans / U.S. South, spread nationwide via hip-hop · 1990s
To show off deliberately — flashing money, jewelry, cars, clothes, or anything else that broadcasts status, usually with a performative flair meant to be seen and talked about. It can describe an honest flex (real wealth on display) or a hollow one (someone playing bigger than their pockets actually are), and context tells you which. The related noun "stunna" names the person doing it, and the phrase "stuntin' on" someone means showing off specifically to outdo or provoke them.
Sugar HillVerified
noun · Harlem, New York · 1930s
The northwest corner of Harlem, above 145th Street — where Black wealth, professionals, and artists lived. By extension, any well-off Black neighborhood.
sundown townVerified
noun · Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Missouri, the Ozarks, and the West more than the Deep South · 1900s
A town where Black people could pass through by day but could not be caught inside it after dark.
susVerified
adjective · U.S. nationwide (Black internet/social media), with an earlier, distinct British · 2000s
Suspicious, shady, or not sitting right; used of a person, a story, or a whole situation that feels off and doesn't add up, prompting side-eye rather than trust.
suspectVerified
adjective · U.S. nationwide (Black internet/social media), with an earlier, distinct British · 2000s
Suspicious, shady, or not sitting right; used of a person, a story, or a whole situation that feels off and doesn't add up, prompting side-eye rather than trust.
swagVerified
noun · originated New York hip-hop scenes, spread nationwide through rap and later West · 1990s
A person's outward display of confidence, style, and self-possession — the way someone carries themselves, dresses, talks, or moves that signals they know their own worth without having to say so. Swag can describe a look (fresh sneakers, a fitted cap worn just right), a walk, a way of talking, or an overall vibe of ease and self-assurance. It is judged, not claimed for yourself in a straight-faced way — you can be told you have swag, but announcing your own swag too hard reads as trying too hard, which is itself a swag violation.
talk yo shitVerified
phrase · U.S. South / nationwide Black urban communities · 2000s
An imperative or descriptive phrase meaning to speak with full confidence and no apology — to assert your worth, brag on your own accomplishments, or say exactly what's on your mind without softening it for anyone else's comfort. It doubles as encouragement shouted at a friend who's bragging, flexing, or finally speaking a hard truth ('go 'head and talk yo shit'), and as a description of someone's unapologetic self-assurance ('she be talkin' her shit'). It is not simply 'trash talk' aimed at an opponent — the object is 'yo/your,' meaning the truth or the pride is the speaker's own, not an insu
talk your shitVerified
phrase · U.S. South / nationwide Black urban communities · 2000s
An imperative or descriptive phrase meaning to speak with full confidence and no apology — to assert your worth, brag on your own accomplishments, or say exactly what's on your mind without softening it for anyone else's comfort. It doubles as encouragement shouted at a friend who's bragging, flexing, or finally speaking a hard truth ('go 'head and talk yo shit'), and as a description of someone's unapologetic self-assurance ('she be talkin' her shit'). It is not simply 'trash talk' aimed at an opponent — the object is 'yo/your,' meaning the truth or the pride is the speaker's own, not an insu
talking out the side of your neckVerified
phrase · Black American speech nationwide; carried further by funk and by the Southern HBCU band circuit · 1980s
To say something false, foolish, or disrespectful — talk you cannot back up.
talmboutVerified
verb · South / national · 2010s
Talking about, compressed into a single word — most often a quotative verb, introducing what somebody said in order to question it, mock it, or set it up for correction.
tap inVerified
phrase · Sacramento, California (Oak Park), spreading through West Coast and national hip · 2010s
To link up with someone, to make contact, or to get connected to a person, a scene, a plug, or an opportunity — used as a command, an invitation, or a description of already being connected. In its fullest use it also describes being plugged into current information, culture, or a network, as in staying tapped in with what's happening in a city, a fashion, or a sound.
the ancestorsVerified
noun · U.S. South (with strong through-lines in the Gullah/Lowcountry and Kongo-influen · 1700s (practice); 1970s–
The collective spirits of one's deceased forebears — family dead but also, more broadly, the enslaved and struggled-for generations of Black people whose lives made the present possible. In everyday Black speech the phrase names both a private, familial presence (the grandmother, the great-uncle, the line of kin watched over from the other side) and a public, historical one (the enslaved, the marchers, the ones who "didn't make it" so someone else could). To invoke "the ancestors" is to call on that presence as witness, protector, or judge — thanking them, apologizing to them, or joking that s
the bagVerified
noun · U.S. South (Atlanta hip-hop scene), spreading nationwide · 2000s
A large sum of money, or by extension any goal, opportunity, or prize a person is actively pursuing — a job, a deal, a come-up, even a romantic partner. To 'get,' 'catch,' or 'secure' the bag is to successfully obtain that money or goal through hustle, grind, or deliberate effort; to 'fumble the bag' is to lose it or squander the opportunity through carelessness. In its narrowest sense the bag is cash itself — often cash tied to hustle, a side deal, or the music business — but the word has widened into a general symbol for whatever a person is working toward.
the barbershopVerified
noun · Nationwide — no single city; Chicagos South Side, Harlem, and Atlanta are the most cited exemplars · 1800s
The Black barbershop — a business, a newsroom, a courthouse, and a mens meeting hall in one room.
the blacker the berryVerified
phrase · Black South in origin; nationwide since the Great Migration · 1910s
Shorthand for the proverb "the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice" — an assertion that dark skin is desirable, made against a colorism that says otherwise.
the bombVerified
adjective · U.S. — originating in Black jazz scenes, carried forward through Black urban hip · 1980s
Describes something outstanding, impressive, or the best of its kind — a beat, a plate of food, a party, a person's looks, or anything else the speaker wants to praise without reservation. It's a superlative on the level of "fire" or "the shit," said with a flat article ("the bomb," not "a bomb") to signal top-tier approval rather than the unrelated sense of "bomb" meaning a failure.
the devil is a lieVerified
phrase · Black church congregations nationwide, strongest in Southern and Pentecostal traditions · 20th c.
a church-born declaration that a fear, setback, or false claim will not be accepted as truth
the Divine NineVerified
proper noun · Washington D.C. (Howard University), Ithaca NY (Cornell), Bloomington and Indianapolis IN, Baltimore (Morgan State); now every HBCU yard, most PWI campuses and graduate chapters nationwide · 2000s
The nine historically Black fraternities and sororities of the National Pan-Hellenic Council, named together as one body.
the doors of the church are openVerified
phrase · Black Baptist and Methodist congregations nationally; the formula rooted in the Southern Black church · 2010s
In the Black church, the formal invitation extended near the end of service for anyone who wants to accept Christ, join the congregation, or rededicate themselves to come forward.
the funky chickenVerified
noun; also verb phrase, to do the funky chicken · Memphis, then nationwide · 1970s
Elbows out, knees bent, legs giving way under you — the dance Rufus Thomas named in Memphis.
the Great MigrationVerified
phrase · No single city — out of the rural South into Chicago, Detroit, New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, and Oakland · 1910s
The movement of roughly six million Black Americans out of the rural South to Northern, Midwestern, and Western cities between about 1916 and 1970.