After accepting a job in South Central Los Angeles a few months ago, I expected to be learning cool, new, inner-city slang all the time. I've been rather disappointed, however. The only new slang term I've heard was from a library clerk who used the term "booty" to describe a bully or bullying.
My best source of African-American slang remains my friend, Rene LaMour, and her son, Sampson. Here are a couple of my favorite Rene phrases:
I was to' up or
I was to' up from the flo' up (That's Tore up from the floor up to all you caucasians)
I was too through
Sampson of course introduced me to the adjective tight to describe something "cool" a few years ago. Tight still seems to be in use because a teen at the library described my glittery, Chinese shoes as tight the other day.
One day a few weeks ago, a teenager came into the library who had a different style than the rest of the kids. He had a super-sized skateboard and a light-colored Afro with three hair picks stuck into it. A little girl said to her friends, "Ooh look. Three hair picks. That's the new style."
I wonder if the three-hair-picks-in-a-fro style will overtake the Allen Iverson-style braids that are popular among some of the boys. Let me know if you spot anyone with this look.
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