hood tax
n.—Gloss: a mugging or the things taken in a mugging. «Police say some criminals have taken to calling their robberies at gunpoint of people on Akron streets a “hood tax,” part of a growing number of robberies involving guns.…The victim, 28, told police he was walking to Family Video at about 10:30 p.m. when he was approached by the two, who pulled handguns and announced: “This is hood tax.” The victim said he understood “hood tax” to mean he should surrender his cash and valuables.» —“Street stickup gets 75 cents, cell phone—then victim shot” by Carl Chancellor Beacon Akron Beacon Journal (Ohio) Nov. 8, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Samantha Harvey’s novel Orbital is a sensuous, exhilarating meditation about the strangeness of life on a space station, with its mix of tedious tasks and jaw-dropping views. And: a musician who rode the rails in his youth shares the slang he...
Steve, a singer-songwriter from Rock Springs, Wyoming, shares some slang he picked up while months riding the rails and busking. Spanging refers to panhandling, from asking for “spare change.” The term bull refers to a type of security...