Detroit slang?

[caspermi]

A coworker and myself had a similar discussion recently. The one term that we agreed on was the word "jew" used a verb used to infer that one got a deal or a lower price from good negotiation.

How much did you "jew" the seller down when you bought the used car.

Anyone else remember this term?

[Baselinepunk]

Yes, unfortunately I remember that term.

[Detroitnerd]

A coworker and myself had a similar discussion recently. The one term that we agreed on was the word "jew" used a verb used to infer that one got a deal or a lower price from good negotiation.

How much did you "jew" the seller down when you bought the used car.

Anyone else remember this term?

We seldom heard that growing up. Then again, we just said "gyp" instead, which is a slur on Romani people, not Jews.

[jcole]

We seldom heard that growing up. Then again, we just said "gyp" instead, which is a slur on Romani people, not Jews.

You know, I'm half 'Romani'[[Magyar Hungarian) and I never once found gyp offensive.

[Detroitnerd]

You know, I'm half 'Romani'[[Magyar Hungarian) and I never once found gyp offensive.

That's cool. For me, personally, once I figured out what it meant, I tried to avoid using it. Now I use the verb "jew" exclusively.

[gnome]

Ya'll are raising an interesting notion: is a slur a slur if no malice is intended? If a word is just a collection of letters, and if it has no meaning unless meaning is ascribed to it, then could someone use a word [[now considered a slur) lovingly or affectionately?

Howard Cosell comes to mind and his fall from the broadcast booth. In describing a smallish returnman who had just spun, twisted, juked and scooted through a hapless defense; Cosell exclaimed during the return, "Look at that monkey run."

The resultant press exploded all over the Cosell's use of the word. But nothing in Cosell's past had ever indictated he held any racists opinions. A few people remembered Cosell as a stallwart supporter of Ali and the larger NOI movement, but more villified Howie and compared him to Jimmy the Greek.

So if Cosell meant no harm, is there harm? If Dnerd's mom meant no harm, was there harm? Isn't context everything? or not?

[Detroitnerd]

Ya'll are raising an interesting notion: is a slur a slur if no malice is intended? If a word is just a collection of letters, and if it has no meaning unless meaning is ascribed to it, then could someone use a word [[now considered a slur) lovingly or affectionately?

Howard Cosell comes to mind and his fall from the broadcast booth. In describing a smallish returnman who had just spun, twisted, juked and scooted through a hapless defense; Cosell exclaimed during the return, "Look at that monkey run."

The resultant press exploded all over the Cosell's use of the word. But nothing in Cosell's past had ever indictated he held any racists opinions. A few people remembered Cosell as a stallwart supporter of Ali and the larger NOI movement, but more villified Howie and compared him to Jimmy the Greek.

So if Cosell meant no harm, is there harm? If Dnerd's mom meant no harm, was there harm? Isn't context everything? or not?

Another weird thing: If "sheeny" is a derogatory word for Jews, why are so many of the "sheeny-men" described on this thread actually African-American?

[jcole]

Another weird thing: If "sheeny" is a derogatory word for Jews, why are so many of the "sheeny-men" described on this thread actually African-American?

From what my husband described to me of his life on the lower west side back in the '40s, most 'Sheeniemen' were neither black nor Jewish. They were of Arabic or 'Romani' descent.
If you look back at the childhoods of most Detroiters older than, say, 50, you'll find various stereotypes that really don't intend harm. When I was a kid, most of the fruit truck vendors were referred to as being Italian, cops were Irish a lot of dry cleaners were Oriental. I didn't think of it as racial; I just thought it was the way things were.

[Lt. Dan Bassett]

calling someone a "funk bum" still resonates.
also: "FNA, man!"
If it comes to it, Detroit 1-8-7 needs to say "Lasher."
"The Queen is blessing you today."
"sh*t the bed" has always been popular.
more '70s: "Whomp it, Mr. Drysdale! [[a reference to Beverly Hillbillies)
gotta say: "Dearbern."
"Sh*tfire! Piss and corruption.
"I'll paint any car any color for only twenty-nine-ninety five."

[Lt. Dan Bassett]

". . . press your way down to 12244 Dexter, at the corner of Courtland . . ."
". . . send your tax-deductible contribution to my father, the Rev. John Douglas . . . and darling daugher Yvonne."
"I'll betcha!" [[MJ the Queen)

[Detroitnerd]

Dearbern and Redferd, you mean. ;-)

[Hermod]

a lot of dry cleaners were Oriental

"no tickee, no washee" has always been a slang term when someone doesn't have the required receipts or paperwork.

[Django]

A coworker and myself had a similar discussion recently. The one term that we agreed on was the word "jew" used a verb used to infer that one got a deal or a lower price from good negotiation.

How much did you "jew" the seller down when you bought the used car.

Anyone else remember this term?

I figured everyone is familiar with that one. I got Jewed or I Jewed him down.

Ill never forget introducing my new girlfriend to my Mom one evening in the mid 80s. We all talked a bit and my Mom mentioned about how much she wanted a Jew Canoe [[Cadillac) then realized she was talking to a stranger and asked my girl with a sheepish grin "Oh, your not Jewish are you?" Luckily she didnt get the joke but said "yes, I am"

I dont feel all that comfortable talking racial slang but its interesting and in a way I think it should be discussed. Anyway, anyone ever heard the term Jew Canoe in reference to a Cadillac? My moms the only one Ive heard use it. In defense of my Mother, she was a 50s child, shes not all that bad.

What do I hear on the streets?

Can I smoke with ya? = I need a smoke.

Have you been served? = Did someone get your drugs for you yet?

Flip the script is one of my favorites that I started hearing
about 6 years ago in the corridor.

Paper = cash [[Im sure thats old)

Trees = marijuana

On paper or In the system = on parole, probation or was at one
time.

The Dickhead = High grade dope.

[dookie joe]

My co-worker and I have had this discussion before: Back in the day, whenever someone did something unkind, Detroiters would say, "man, that's bold." In the suburbs, they said "man, that's bogue."

Another slang term I've heard only in Detroit [[again, this is going back to the 70s/80s) is "biting" or "bunning" to denote a copycat. As in, "Battlestar Gallactica is bunning [[or biting) out of Star Wars."

In SW Detroit, people called a fight a "nub." As in, "Hey, Joey and Chico got thrown out of school because they were nubbing in Clark Park."

And I don't know if this is a Detroit-only thing, but back in the days, black folks would refer to a quarter [[the coin) as a "case quarter." I never did figure out what that means.

One last thing, also popular among black folks: Stuck up people were referred to as "sa-ditty." I don't know if that's spelled correctly; I've never had occasion to actually write that word down until now!

[Django]

Another definition of Bogue = dope sick, as in an addict hasn't had their heroin fix. Leakin or leaking is another term for dope sick. I think that comes from when a heroin addict is sick, their eyes tear up, their nose runs, they sneeze as well as have the runs and sometimes throw up. Their entire body is "leaking" so to speak. Thats just my little analogy.
There could be an entire dictionary dedicated to dope slang.

Sorry if Im getting off topic, Ive always loved these threads on slang. Some of the other slang threads from years back were really great. One person in particular had a wealth of knowledge on Detroit slang. Was it Blacksoul?


Can we include some phrases commonly heard in the city. Ive already posted some like "can I smoke with ya"

Ive noticed recently that I get a lot of "Hey man, how you been?"
People out of the blue will be hangin out at a gas station or party store and ask me how Ive been. When I aks them where we know each other they hem an haw expecting me to just pretend to actually know them and continue a friendship that never really started. Then they would ask me about the $2 I owe them. Seems they rely on the old black ppl all look the same theory.
When I respond with "where do we know each other from?" they usually freeze for a sec and just name a main crossroad nearby, then I tell them I never hang out there. They usually back off then. Cant blame a man for tryin though, you gotta laugh whether you get taken by it or not. I certainly fell for it some years back when I was fresh.

Fresh = Jamaican, for a tourist just off the plane who might buy a crappy bag of weed for United States prices. A "Fresh One" will usually have the tan of a Michigander in February, and thats how a Fresh One is spotted on the beach, by their lack of tan.

[FoxyScholar10]

Ya'll are raising an interesting notion: is a slur a slur if no malice is intended? If a word is just a collection of letters, and if it has no meaning unless meaning is ascribed to it, then could someone use a word [[now considered a slur) lovingly or affectionately?

Short answer: YES.

Extended answer: words are more than a collection of letters. Words make meanings TANGIBLE. Words originate from a source to uplift or harm or uplifting one through harm of another.

And yes, I hold this same principle to the dreaded N-word. I don't like it and I don't like this latest trend of redirecting the meaning to a term of endearment. I understand the noble motivation, but because of the SOURCE of the word and the centuries in which that word has been used to cause harm, if I could I would erase it from the planet.

[ggores]

Wait a second... a lot of these terms slung about seem to be not Detroit Slang, but rather, neighborhood slang. Much of the words presented I have never heard before. Many I have [[heard and use). The reference to the Susie Q, yeah, that one was regular semantic. Anyways, kinda makes me head spin in a Popeye kind of way. So, I offer my last little two cents:

1) I grew up "trash-picking" in the alleys. But yet many of you claim that there is a name for these people's. So, it'd go like this, "Hey Sg, it's trash day, wanna go do some garbage picking?" We'd collect some good garbage and then try, mostly in vain, to peddle the good trash, door-to-door.

2) For a long stretch of time, the word "royal" was used exstensively, one way or the other, in positive or negative. "That sucks royal." or, "Now THAT was ROYAL!"

3) Another good one - "You tellin' shtories?" [[when one was suspected of making up a story).

But perhaps one piece of slang that rounded about, and which origin I can trace back to a friend of mine back in, ohhhh, 1980-ish was "Dick Up!", which basically meant to shut the hell up. Or, heh, "look at ya, all dick-happy", which meant you was actin' a fool and laughing just a little too much. There was never THAT much to be laughing about.

4) Honorable mention must go to "Spot me", as in, "hey, can ya spot me until Friday?" There was no numerical value involved, it basically meant that, well, give me waht you can and I'll catch up with you later.

We called each other "wops" and "daygo's". A "wop" being of Pillipino descent. A "daygo" being of Italian descent. Could go on, but this IS a family show, yes?

Heh heh, as for those quacky withdrawl references, Djnago having mentioned an interpretation of "Bogue", some of you correctly making inference to Humphrey Bogart [['cause he was an original bad-ass, "don't bogart that joint! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogart), we'd just say, "Ummm, he/she is DOWN" or "He/she went on vacation". This meant that one was not to be disturbed for three or four days at least.

Being from a relatively later generation, I can say that for a short stretch of time that lasted about six years in my formative years, oy, seemed like all of you who are now in your mid-fifties were constantly saying "I'm hip." For a while, I thought that the whole world was "hip". And what wasn't "hip", "sucked royal".

And then another easy one to remember is "Floyd Out" which meant that, ummm, well... :-)

[Django]

I have run into Ppl who, when you ask them where they've been for the past few weeks or months say, "Ive been on vacation" meaning jail.

I like the one I heard on The Wire, jailed as in "yeah, we jailed together" The Wire has a boatload of interesting urban slang supposedly from Baltimore where the story takes place. I have a gut feeling a lot of it was made up though.

[Ravine]

My co-worker and I have had this discussion before: Back in the day, whenever someone did something unkind, Detroiters would say, "man, that's bold." In the suburbs, they said "man, that's bogue."

Another slang term I've heard only in Detroit [[again, this is going back to the 70s/80s) is "biting" or "bunning" to denote a copycat. As in, "Battlestar Gallactica is bunning [[or biting) out of Star Wars."

In SW Detroit, people called a fight a "nub." As in, "Hey, Joey and Chico got thrown out of school because they were nubbing in Clark Park."

And I don't know if this is a Detroit-only thing, but back in the days, black folks would refer to a quarter [[the coin) as a "case quarter." I never did figure out what that means.

One last thing, also popular among black folks: Stuck up people were referred to as "sa-ditty." I don't know if that's spelled correctly; I've never had occasion to actually write that word down until now!

Sometimes you may need 25 cents, as in a "quarter of a dollar," and it doesn't matter if it comes, say, in the forms of 2 nickels, a dime, and five pennies.
But, maybe it is 1975 and you want to play pinball. You need the actual 25-cent-piece, and that, because the 25 cents are encased in the single coin, is a "case quarter [[dollar.")
It seems a bit silly, but if you ask someone if you can bum a quarter, and they lack that single coin but have the eight coins I described above, they may ask you, "Do you need an actual quarter?"
So not so silly, really.

[Hermod]

I heard "Jew canoe" for a Cadillac one time in my life and that was in Milwaukee in the 60s.

"Spot me" could have a quantitative aspect as in "Can you spot me a five till Saturday?"

One ethnic slur I only heard in the Detroit was "buffaloes" for Belgians.

[OsbornGirl]

JUMP IN A DITCH DITCH and BUMP me off at my CRIB so I can get in my CRADLE before my TINKS wake up....translation.....GET ON THE FREEWAY and DROP me off at my HOUSE so I can get in BED before my PARENTS wake up. It's true...we really talked that way in the 80's..!!! This is after a night at Trumps [[on Harper) then breakfast at Corfu's. Why we wanted to eat lemon rice soup at 2:00am while we were drunk I'll never know...ah,memories....

[Baselinepunk]

One term I'm working on reviving is "Tight".

Used all the time to describe a most unfortunate turn in circumstances; there really hasn't been a better word to use certain situations. Used in a sentence:

"My Girlie just old me she's knocked up/got a bun in the oven".

Response from the Fellas" Dayum. That's tight!".

Then the inevitable smart ass remark from the wisecracking pee on in the group"

"Not anymore!".

[Baselinepunk]

I just thought of a few more:

"Bust a cap in yo ass."

I'm going to severely kick your ass.

"Don't make me go upside your head/I'm going to pop you one."

Describing a slap on the head; usually a hard slap on the back area of the head and said in response to someone doing/saying something very stupid

"That's lame!"

A catch all; used to describe and marginalize either someone or something that other people hold in high regard.

" ... pulled a boner."

Used to describe a situation caused by someone doing something completely stupid.

"The Boys ....".

Police.

"Punk Mutherfucker"

A real dumbass.

"Jonesing / feening"

Used to describe pseudo withdrawals from smoking pot. Speaking of ...

"Buds"

Good quality marijuana.

"That some real *enter favorite downriver community that the group always used to exemplify something bad* shit ditch weed."

Usually used to describe homegrown marijuana of poor quality or used to put down marijuana that's better quality than what you brought to the party.

"Bitch in heat".

A very sexually active female.

"Crew".

A group of people you hung out with.

"Dashboard dining."

Going to 7-11 for some hotdogs and a Big Gulp.

"Fresh".

Used to describe something in style or impressive.

"On my jock."

Very close to me; replaced with "all up in my grill."

"I'd tap that in a heartbeat."

Used to exemplify a female one would want to have sexual relations with.

"I wouldn't even hit that with your dick."

Used to exemplify a female one would not want to have sexual relations with.

[OsbornGirl]

OH MY!!!!! ^^^^...those are definitely NOT from the 80's.........^^^^

[Baselinepunk]

Yep, mostly mid to late 80's in my neck of the woods.

Some more:

"Shit on a stick".

Used to describe something of very poor quality.

"Fly"

See "Fresh".

"Jimmie"

Ones penis.

"More on / less on."

Used to describe someones intellectual capabilities.

"Jacked / all jacked up".

Raw end of a situation / a real bad situation.

"On fire."

A on roll; having very good luck or extremely good fortune.

"My main home piece."

My best friend.

"Homes / home body/bodies."

Good and trustworthy acquaintance/s in your crew.

"Dope."

Extremely cool.

"Snuts".

A person everyone in the group considered a more on. Used sometimes in a greeting in jest to a main home piece or home body/bodies. "What up, Snuts?".