DC Slang (Washington: public school, college, live)

[jksouthbay88]

What's the deal with that?Is it different in music or is it just general talk?I listen to underground hip-hop so I notice words that just don't understand.Can anyone feel me in on this?

[Zippy7fo]

Yeah Dc has different slang. All cities do for the most part...I can tell someone from the Bay Area or NY or DC or the South by the slang/accents they use. Even Baltimorians use different slang and have the weirdest accent in all of N.A.

[pwright1]

It's funny but when I go back to DC to visit I notice people use their R's a lot. For instance the word ERROR, they say ERR. Or the name Derrick, they say DERK. Or even the word Saturday, they say Serdee. Check it out the next time you talk to a native Washingtonian.

[grindin]

I notice a lot of DC folks use the word "Bama", which I think at first meant "hick" or "badly-dressed person" (need to talk to my DC relatives about this), but I think it is a more generally used term now to describe any random person. I could be wrong.

[lscalder]

The word bama is word which describe someone in a negative way.

Example: If someone did you wrong. You would say that person is a Bama because he/she did this to me.
Or If someone have no sense of fashion, that person is a Bama.

[JennOSU2008]

That is so weird.

[nuevaluz]

A bama was originally a DC term (50s or 60s?) meaning someone who was countryfied. I also remember the term cackalacka, which were folks from the Carolinas.

[Moth]

nuevaluz is on the right track. "Bama" derives from Alabama and was originally an African-American term denoting snobbery. A Bama was a black person who was right off the farm, dressed and spoke the wrong way and was generally unsophisticated, especially in comparison to the regal African-Americans of the upper crust- known then and now as the Gold Coast here in DC. If you have seen the film, "Malcolm X", refer to the scene where he first enters the bar in Harlem and one of the patrons dresses him down for his clothes and demeanor. Basically, it was like whites calling other whites redneck or trailer park trash or "lace curtain Irish" vs "shanty Irish."

When I was in DC public school in the 70s and early 80s, blacks used the term as an all around put down, but one lacking in real venom or malice. A good many of us took to using the term as well and I utilized it well into my college years.

[City Veteran]

Some examples of common inner-city slang, and it's definitions:

As quoted by lscalder- The word bama is word which describe someone in a negative way.

Example: If someone did you wrong. You would say that person is a Bama because he/she did this to me.
Or If someone have no sense of fashion, that person is a Bama.

JOINT or JONT- Any noun used to describe a personal possession, a place, thing, or more commonly a marijuana cigarette. (ex. "I got that JONT!" or "Let me see that JOINT right there.")

JOE - A common used nickname to replace your given name. (ex. What's up Joe?")
Other common used forms of nicknames include, but not limited to:
MAINMAN, SLIM, YUN, CUZ or CUZ-O. (all though I have heard the term JOE used in Chicago.)

LUNCHIN'- An often used term depicting strange behavior. (ex. "Yun, what's up with your man? That bamma was LUNCHIN' the other night." or "Boy, you better stop LUNCHIN'!")

CRANKIN'- Used to describe nice sounding music with a hard steady driving beat, such as Go-go. (ex. "Joe? Man, Backyard was CRANKIN' last night down the CFE.)

JACK- Often referred to as a cigarette. (ex. "Can I bum a JACK?")

ROLLER- A person known to be sexually active with more than one person at any given time. (ex. "I heard that girl Theresa was a ROLLER. I'm trying to get at that JOINT.")

BO-DEENS, DA FLAG, FEDS, or DEM BOYS- Simply put, THE POLICE. (ex. "Watch your back, 'cause DEM BOYS posted up 'round the corner.")

AMIGO- Commonly known as the Spanish term for "friend", most DC area people use this to describe any person of Latino descent. (ex. "Mt. Pleasant is where all the AMIGOS live.")

U-U- Derived from the law enforcement term Unauthorized Used of a Vehicle, most inner-city youngsters use this term in reference to a recently stolen automobile. (ex. "Those youngins got a U-U the other night!")

There are alot more slang terms used by mostly inner-city youth, but it's hard for someone in their late 30's to keep up with most of it. As I hear more, I'd love to share it with you all.

[Moth]

Another piece of slang specific to the DC area is "Bumper" which is what others refer to as a "40" as in the 40 ounce beer bottle. The rise of hip hop may have done away with this, but us old timers stubbornly call them Bumpers.