The lingo in Northern California... (Sacramento: private school, live, area)

[Milliano]

Originally Posted by krudmonk

That's too literal a definition. I could have easily replaced "cash" with "Post-It notes" or "Play-Doh."

Hehe, I just find it silly because the slang originally was used literally.

[saimamom]

Originally Posted by achtungpv

Pretty sure South Park took "hella" national a few years ago.

I had a friend from Maine that said "wicked" all the time. I hear it a lot now. It's definitely spreading like a weed.

Well back in 1985 in Canada everyone said 'wicked' constantly. My brother's are 30 and professionals and I still overhear them saying, "Yeah man, that's wicked." It's funny how phrases go from the street into pop culture and then get regurgitated back to every section of the world.

[westbaytycoon]

its sick out here in the bay. there is so much slang that the rest of the country will probably start saying in a couple of years. they always bite off of us. we r 2 advanced 4 the rest

[jacq63]

Make that, like, the rest of the world..I'm a mature-age student at Sydney U, and the other students are like, constantly using U.S-derived slang, like, OMG totally a lot.
I like, dont mind it, it just makes feel like, totally OLD, like, over 30!
And stuff.

[rubyskye]

Wicked and wicked cool were in New England going all the way back to the early 70's and probably before that. It's how easterners say it though that gives it that north-eastern bite. Think of the the young guys in "Good Will Hunting" for example.
There's a hilarious, quick, intelligent, penetrating, sharp and wisecracking cynicism that comes out of many parts of the Boston area and no-one can say "wicked" as good.
As a native Californian that spent too much time as a child in MA it's the only thing that I miss back there.
Maybe it's the Irish influence in part .... a true warmth underneath a toughness necessitated by socio-economic conditions, the history of the struggle of unaccepted immigrants ...... oh, i'm on the California forum .... oooops .... just got a bit lost in my memories of Boston.
Oh but wait ... may be wicked is more specifically related to the puritan experience with their notion of evil, their fear/hatred of witches, etc.
Anyway, whatever its source, it's a good one if said with the right New England bite.

[Haaziq]

The Bay Area is the slang capitol of America. Hell is just one word they say. They also have the hyphy movement, which has so many words of it's own. I'm pretty familiar with most of their words though.

[LexusNexus]

Originally Posted by jacq63

Make that, like, the rest of the world..I'm a mature-age student at Sydney U, and the other students are like, constantly using U.S-derived slang, like, OMG totally a lot.
I like, dont mind it, it just makes feel like, totally OLD, like, over 30!
And stuff.

I completely agree. To me, the "slang" is the language of great immaturity and frivolity. One of the key problems with this area IMO.

[rubyskye]

Dude, we're like totally living in a media driven/saturated/dominated/meme infected/programmed culture. It's all good though .... not

[Taboo2]

Originally Posted by ImRandy

I've never actually heard normal people use "hella" only ghetto types and young kids. Oddly, I haven't heard the full "Hell of a" outside the Midwest used by anyone. You'd think if it came that route you would hear it occasionally. By the way it's used and sounds it's almost like the pigeon English you hear in Hawaii. I wonder if it was a Midwest expression that got mangled on the islands then was brought back?

BTW... Think "ohfer" is ever going to catch on?
BTW2... What ever happened to gnarly?

Regular people use "hella" here all the time. Business professionals who were never ghetto and attended private schools. It's a regional thing. Not like ebonics.

[Taboo2]

Originally Posted by redwoodlvr

Yes, mmm hmm, a midwest expression of course. You're kidding right? Okay here's the The HELLA trail...HELLA was a popular expression in urban, east coast hip hop culture that sprung up in the late 70's, translation "the ghetto people" started it. . Early 80's rappers used it quite often, it died way and then somehow was rebirthed into mid-90's popular culture and adopted into mainstream american slang very soon afterwards. It has been overused and worn out in Norcal ever since by all, including the unghetto and old people. lol.

Actually it has nothing to do with the ghetto. It has been around whitey since 1984 in Norcal. Here is the real deal on "Hella".
Hella (word) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia