Word.

Because my friends seem to think I'm the Whitest Person in the World (which is funny because they also like to pretend that I'm biracial...), I get gifts like Slang Flashcards for my birthday. These things are, pardon my slang, the bomb. They include the slang word, and a dictionary-like entry, along with illustration and use in a sentence that you would find most upper-class white people saying. Because I actually am pretty hip (In the words of Walter Stratford on 10 Things I Hate About You, "I'm down, I've got the 411, and you are not going out and getting jiggy with some boy, I don't care how dope his ride is. My mama didn't raise no foo'!"), I knew most of the words. However, there were a few that were new to me, and I thought I'd share them with you, so that we may all be enlightenedly ghetto together.

• jan●ky \’jaŋkē\ adj [junky + skanky] 1: undesirable, intensely repellent or unpleasant, esp. a person “PEOPLE ON REALITY TV ARE OFTEN JANKY” 2: of inferior quality, worthless, not up to standards 3: junky, dilapidated 4: weird, inappropriate 5: tacky, messy, out of control -- jank●ety \’jang-kə-tē\ in extreme despair, sorry state

• floss \fläs, ‘flos\ vb flossed; floss●in’ or floss●ing [prob. modif. Of F floche soft, weak (of sink fiber), fr. Gascon, fr. L fluxus, lit., loose, flowing, pp. of fleure to flow] vi 1: to flaunt, to boast “HE WAS FLOSSING ABOUT HIS DAUGHTER’S GRADES” 2: to pretend, to feign “HE’S FLOSSING LIKE HE’S A CEO” 3: to show off 4: to look stylish and attractive 5: vt to outstrip in a game or competition “YOU GOT FLOSSED!”

• stee●lo \’stē-lō\ n [by shortening of style, fr. ME stile, style, fr. L stilus spike, stem, stylus, style of writing; perh. akin to L instigare to goad] 1: style “HER STEELO IS SO LAST YEAR” 2: confidence, charisma, attitude “LOOK AT HER WALKING THROUGH THE BAKE-OFF WITH ALL THAT STEELO”

• dime out \dīm-‘aůt\ vt [fr. longtime cost of pay-telephone (booth) call, usu. anonymous] 1: to inform on, tell on, expose “MY SISTER DIMED ME OUT FOR DRINKING FROM THE CARTON” – syn drop a dime, squeal, blow the whistle, tattle