How Fresh Is Your Talk: The Origins Of Some Of Your Slang

A lot of folks use slang terms without knowing their true origins. Many of the popular ones come from the slang heavy Bay Area. For example, take a term like Playa Hater.. It’s commonly used but its roots are found in Richmond, California with a rapper named Filthy Phil.

Back in the days (80s) there was a group of police called the Cowboys. They were a rough bunch who were actually profiled on the news show 60 Minutes. Phil ran with a crew who called themselves the Playboys.. “players” for short.

The cowboys used to mess with Phil’s crew and hence got dubbed ‘Player Haters‘. That was the original meaning.

The term Ghostriding has been immortalized in songs and has come to mean cats walking alongside their car or riding the roof with no one in the drivers seat. The practice was popularized in the Oakland ‘side shows‘ which is our term for cruising. The initial term came about when the police would come up to hot spots like Berkeley’s Telegraph avenue and break up the large crowds. They would get out their patrol cars to usher people along … Some got the idea of putting the un-manned cruisers in motion to crash them , either by shifting gears or putting brick or rocks on the gas pedal.. The un manned patrols cars crashing were said have been ghostridden

The term Fa-Sheezy and its numerous variations which many attribute to Snoop Dogg, was popularized by Bay Area slangologist E-40. 40 got the term from his homies 3x Krazy which included Keak tha Sneak another noted slang master.  Many say the initial phrasing came from  pig latin, but if you listen to an old Grandmaster Flash cut from the early 80s.. pioneer Mele-Mel flips some pig latin and there’s no Fa Sheezy being said.. We maintain our originality.

We could go on and on, and I’m sure some will argue about the local folklore. We know we know, nothing’s new under the sun.. But when it comes to the Bay Area some of it is-LOL

Below is a video/ song from Rafael Casal that chronicles some our uniqueness on the wordplay tip.. Enjoy..And if you object, get ur skillz together and do your own.. Just make sure you note we did this here thing first.. LOL

[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rq0ZDnshYkU’]

Source: Davey D’s Hip Hop Corner

Where are you from and what are some slang terms that originated in your area?  Leave a comment below and let us know.

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