UCLA linguists catch up on student slang

• What's 'cherry' among Hawai'i teens?

By Monique Angle
USA Today

•	College slang A sampling from "U.C.L.A. Slang 4" boosie – out of style, out of touch with what is in style budget – poor quality bacon – police baebuddha – good marijuana chillax – relax, take it easy feti (pronounced "fetty") – money grit – cigarette mangina – crotch of a male wearing tight pants shman – female who looks like a male sideways – drunk yoink – steal

Every four years, a group of undergraduate students led by Pamela Munro, a professor with UCLA's linguistics department, spend two quarters searching for the latest expressions on campus and compiling their definitions.

The dictionary's 1,100 words and expressions cover "a wide range of topics related to life," Munro says. In part, slang reflects issues college students confront on campus, such as sex, drugs and alcohol, Munro says.

But the dictionary also sets out to simply define student chatter: insults, compliments and revitalized expressions once common in the 1960s, '70s and '80s.

But why collect and define slang? "Slang aids in the identification of people of a common age and experience,"

Munro says. It reflects a time period, with some terms indicating what's hot in popular culture.

And because much of slang begins in ethnic groups and is unique to particular ages and classes, you can begin to understand different aspects of society and history by analyzing slang, says John McCarthy, a linguistics professor at the University of Massachusetts.

For instance, many hot expressions first received air play in rap videos, such as "being all about the bling bling" (doing something only for money), "getting one's roll on" (to drive) or being "iced out" (wearing flashy jewelry).

Other terms apply a different definition to everyday words and often represent the latest in creative insults. Students describe a visual effect called D.D.F., or "distance distortion factor," which occurs when a male sees a female from far away and finds her attractive until he sees her close up. These women are called "scuds" (as in Scud missiles), replacing the term "Monet" popularized in the early '90s with the movie "Clueless."

Daytime talk-show watchers may recognize the term "pigeon," an often-yelled insult that describes women who are lazy. And there's the politically inspired put-down, the "hanging chad" (found in all states, not just Florida): a person who's an unwelcome follower.

College students do know how to give a compliment, although it may be difficult to decipher. "Federal" refers to a James Bond-like character: someone extremely good, unusual, impressive and distinguished.

A person making a lot of money is "stacking paper," and all things good or impressive are "roofy" (not to be confused with "roofie," the slang term for rohypnol, a drug associated with date rape).

In addition to defining slang, the dictionary sets out to determine the origins of the expressions. For example "5150" — to be crazy or feared — may have originated with the title of a Van Halen album or with California Penal Code 5150, which allows authorities to take a person into custody when he becomes dangerous because of mental illness.

Many UCLA expressions are unique to the campus, but others, like "feti" (money) and "put the smack down" (step in, take action), are heard coast to coast.

How do these new expressions move to campuses nationwide? Mainly through word of mouth. But "the media and MTV are really effective in popularizing the words people use," Munro says.

What's 'cherry' among Hawai'i teens?

• agros (n.) – tension
• cabbage (adj.) – when something is no good anymore
• canned (adj.) – when you're in trouble/busted
• cherry (adj.) – cool
• creeper (n.) – a problem/situation that creeps up on you
• dawn patrol (v.) – when you stay up until the wee hours of the morning
• dope (adj.) – cool; good
• eye candy (n.) – a good-looking person you like to look at
• GQ (adj.) – used to describe a good-looking male, like the kind you find in GQ Magazine
• hamburger (adj.) – when a person has a lot of cuts and scrapes. "His arm stay all hamburger."
• hella (adv.) – very
• kick-a** (adj.) – better than cool
• out of it (adj.) – spacey; not following the trend
• ripper (n.) – a good surfer/bodyboarder
• salty (adj.) – bitter; sulky
• sharp (adj.) – looking nice, well put together; used to describe males
• shibby (adj.) – hot; used to describe females
• solid (adj.) – really good; a complete package
• sweet (adj.) – good; nice. "That's a sweet ride."
• trippy (adj.) – weird, strange, deja-vu-like
• whack (adj.) – messed up; awesome
• zesty (adj.) – hot; used to describe females