Cecily from Indianapolis, Indiana, asks whether expressions she first heard in African-American English, such as hit us up and it’s been a minute, have long moved from minority communities into majority speech. Covert prestige describes the cultural...
Mark from Los Angeles, California, asks about gank, slang for stealing, as in ganking someone’s fries. The verb is strongly associated with African American Vernacular English and appears in hip-hop lyrics at least as early as a 1987 NWA song...
A law enforcement officer says he and his colleagues are curious about how the word pig came to be used as a derogatory term for police. This use has a long history that goes back more than two centuries. This is part of a complete episode...
A man in San Clemente, California, and his friends are debating the term for when a substance you are smoking for pleasure is all used up. Is the bowl cashed or cacked? In this case, both terms work. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of...
Hundreds of years ago, the word girl didn’t necessarily mean a female child — in the 14th and 15th centuries, it could refer to a child of either sex. Only later did its meaning become more specific. • Some people think that referring to a former...
Quiz Guy John Chaneski has a fill-in-the-blank puzzle about famous hip-hop rhymes. For example, from Run DMC, there’s the verse: “I’m the king of rock / There is none higher / Sucker MC’s should call me _________.” This is part of a complete episode...
