Book reveals A-Z of deadly gang slang where a biscuit is a gun and an elbow a pound of drugs
Lifting the lid on the shadowy underworld of gangs, a new book has revealed the coded language used by members and what terms mean.
It details the complicated vocabulary of slang including terms such as 'milk' for rival and 'elbow' meaning a pound of drugs adding a menacing secrecy behind which gangs operate.
Some words are unique to one gang, such as 'hotel' used to mean jail by the Israeli Mafia.
Members of the Bloods gang make their hand symbol. Sometimes gang members talk to each other using just symbols. This is known as 'stacking'
And in other cases a word may have more than one slang translation, such as gun. A generic gun becomes a 'biscuit', or a 'gat'.
If you're talking about a 9-mm handgun it's a 'nine', or a 'pump' for a shotguns. In Jamaica a gun is a 'puppy'.
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In Russia, organised crime members talk of a 'Fat Boris' to describe a scammer posing as an attractive woman.
'On point' is a generic term but most widely used by Bloods and Crips to mean getting ready for a fight.
Lou Savelli, an expert on gang culture, has written the expository book, titled Gang Related: Signs, Signals and Slang of Modern Gangs and Organised Crime.
Members of the LA gang 'Eastside Crips' flash gang signs
Lou Savelli is an expert on gang culture and has written several books about it
It is intended for both police officers and general readers and includes details of where terms originated.
Bumble Bee, for example, is the nickname Latin Kings got in the 1990s when they wore black and gold goose-down jackets.
There are more than 5,000 words and phrases in the book, including some that are used in mainstream society as well, such as 'bling' and 'chilling' and is considered to be a work in progress.
'Gangs have their own language to represent who they are and to show their camaraderie,' said Savelli, a leading consultant who founded the NYPD’s gang unit and is now deputy director of the nonprofit East Coast Gang Investigators Association.
'The slang they develop helps protect them from law enforcement,' he told the New York Post. 'They also don’t want other criminals ripping them off.'
Savelli added that outlaw motorcycle gangs have gained power and the number of small youth crews has increased.
NYPD Police Commissioner Ray Kelly recently called for the department's gang unit to be doubled.
Gang slang A-Z: Lifting the lid on gangster life
Adidas: 'All Day I Destroy a Slob' - a slogan worn on t-shirts as a boast to their rivals, the Bloods, who they call Slobs.
Biscuit: A gun. Other terms for gun include 'gat', nine (for the 9-mm handgun), puppy (among Jamaicans) and pump (for shotgun).
Crab: What the Bloods call Crips, referring to crabs of the sexually transmitted variety.
Drinking milk: Used by Crips term to mean targeting or killing a rival.
Elbow: A pound (lb) of drugs.
Fat Boris: A scammer who poses as an attractive woman online. This term is used by Russian organised crime members.
Ghetto star: A top street drug dealer, usually in a housing project.
Hotel: Used by the Israeli Mafia to dismissively refer to jail.
Inca: One of five top leaders in the Latin Kings.
Jumped in: An initiation beating, used by Bloods, Crips and Mexican crews.
Kite: A jailhouse letter in the shape of a miniature kite, sent from cell to cell and written in tiny lettering. It's a way of ordering drugs.
Lampin’: Hanging out under a street-light, usually where drugs are sold. A gangster's 'turf'.
Mug: An Albanian gangster.
Nickel: Five years in prison, a badge of honor among gang members as it indicates incarceration for a serious crime.
On point: Getting ready to fight.
Picasso: As in: ‘He’s so good with a knife, he’ll do a Picasso on you.'The mark of a serious slashing is also called a 'buck fifty' meaning at least 150 stitches.
Queen: Female member of the Latin Kings.
Rack: To steal.
Rack up: To shoplift.
Stack: Communicating using only gang hand symbols.
Terror Dome: Attica prison.
Uryt: To kill or bury a body in Russian.
Ventana: A lookout among Mexican and Latin King gangs.
Wanksta: A wannabe gangster,.
Xap Sam: A type of poker favored by Chinese gangsters.
Yubitsume: The chopping off of a little finger in the Japanese mob.
Zoomer: Someone who sells fake drugs.
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