For anyone who is working or about to work in the correctional facility, interested or studying the correctional system, or has a closed one who just started their time in a correctional facility, it is important for you to learn about prison slang or argot. The reason why you have to learn about it is to understand what the inmates say. Even though the words that they say may be common, their intended meaning may be different. Check out the dictionary guide to prison slang or argot below.
Definition of Prison Slang
Prison slang is defined as an argot that is widely used in the correctional facilities by the incarcerated individuals. Many of them are about different kinds of inmates, legal cases, incarcerated life, criminal behavior, and street life. Every correctional facility, region, and county may have different prison slang. A lot of incarcerated people write down this kind of slang on diaries, letters, and their bodies as tattoos. Those who are musically genius or like to write also tend to include this slang in poems, songs, and ballads.
Examples of Prison Slang
There are a dozen of prison slang, including:
A:
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- Agitator: An incarcerated individual who initiates the fights with the intention cause the trouble
- All day and a night: A life sentence that has no parole
- AB: Aryan Brotherhood who is known as the oldest neo-Nazi prison gang and well-organized criminal group
B:
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- Bagman: A person who has drugs
- Books: The money account of the inmate
- Blues: Prison outfit with blue color
C:
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- Chicken: Money or cigarette
- Cadillac: Things like coffee with sugar and cream that is often considered a luxury in correctional facility
- Catching the chain: An inmate who has served their sentence and is about to be released
D:
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- Dotted up: A person who has a ton of tattoos
- Doing the Dutch: The act of killing someone in correctional facility
- Dime: 10 year prison sentence
E:
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- Erasers: Chicken that has been processed
- Ear hustle: The act of eavesdropping on or overhearing others conversation
F:
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- Fish: A new inmate or inmate with no experience
- Fiend: A person who is addicted to alcohol, drugs, or sex
- Fresh meat: A group of new inmates
G:
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- Gassing: Throwing disgusting things such as feces or other bodily fluids at other inmate or prison staff
- Grey shirt: Correctional officer
- Grapes: Gossip or rumor
H:
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- Hoop: The act of hiding contrabands in someone’s bodily cavities
- House: A prison cell
- Hole: Solitary confinement
I:
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- Iced: The act of killing another incarcerated person or prison staff
- Iron pile: Weightlifting equipment
- Items: Commissary items that are able to be traded within the correctional facility
J:
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- Jackrabbit parole: An attempt to escape from the correctional facility
- Jil or Jitterbug: An inmate with big mouth who likes to gossip and cause trouble
- Jail: To act well while spending time behind the bar in order to prevent from getting in trouble
K:
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- Kin or Kinfolk: African American inmate
- Kung fu joes: Poor quality prison shoes
- Kite: A note or contraband letter that is passed among the inmates secretly
L:
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- Longjohn: A common person from outside the bar who has sexual relations with the wife of an inmate
- L-WOP: Life Without Parole
- LOC: Loss of Commissary
M:
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- Monster: AIDS or HIV
- Malinger: The act of walking at a slow pace
- Monkey mouth: An uninteresting incarcerated individual who talks too much
N:
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- New Jacks: New correctional officers with no experience
- Nickel: 5 year prison sentence
- Netted up: An incarcerated person who has had a mental breakdown
O:
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- O.G.: Original gangster or an older inmate or an inmate who has been around for a while
- Outcount: An incarcerated individual who was not seen in the cell during the count because they were in another place such as hospital, kitchen, or education class
- On the River: Spending time in Louisiana State Penitentiary that is surrounded by the Mississippi River
P:
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- P.C.: Protective custody
- Pumpkins: New inmates or gang members whose heads look like a pumpkin after getting beaten severely
- Peels: Orange jumpsuit uniforms worn by the inmates in some correctional facilities
Q:
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- Quiet time: The time between after the evening count and before the cells are locked at night
R:
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- Rabbit: An incarcerated person who is planning to escape or who has tried to escape
- Red: An inmate or prison staff who has red hair
- Rec: Recreation or free time given to the inmates so that they can leave their cells to play games or to exercise
S:
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- Seg: Solitary confinement
- Snuffed: The act of taking away someone’s life or a person who has been killed
- Shakedown: The time when inspection for contraband started by the prison staff
T:
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- Torpedo: An incarcerated individual who is chosen by a gang leader to punish another incarcerated individual who has broken the inmate rules
- Ticket master: A prison staff who likes to write tickets
- Toochie or tuchie: A popular synthetic marijuana that cannot be detected in urine
U:
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- UA: Urinalysis (this one is usually conducted to check whether or not an inmate uses drug)
V:
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- Viking: An incarcerated person who is known to be lazy
- Violated: To be returned to the correctional facility after violating parole or probation
- Vampire: An inmate who manages to make their enemy bleed during a fight
W:
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- Wolf tickets: False promises
- Wall: An area away from prison staff and security cameras that is often used by the inmates to fight with each other
- Wham whams: Sweet treats like candies and cookies
X:
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- X’d out: An incarcerated individual who is labelled for “elimination” by a rival gang
Y:
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- Yard: A fenced area that is designed for outdoor recreation
Z:
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- Zoom zooms or zoo zoos: Sweet treats such as cookies and candies
Examples of Prison Slang in Sentences
If you are curious how prison slang used in sentences, check out the examples below given by Vice:
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- “Hold up, bro. You can’t make a move on that white boy. He’s down with the AB.”
- “I got a paper. You got a binky or what? I’m trying to get down.”
- “Dude got some air Force 1’s, size 11. He wants 25 books for them.”
- “That guy’s in the New York car. If you fuck with him, you’ll have to deal with all of them.”
- “You know that dude Psycho who owed me $250 for those papers? Punk-ass motherfucker checked in.”
- “The drama popped off on the yard after the basketball game between B-more and New York.”
- “I gotta go to education after lunch. I gotta call out for GED class.”
- “How many fish we got in the block off the bus today?”
- “That gump whopped that motherfucker’s ass. Told him he could suck his dick.”
- “I like to use grape juice for my batches. A little sugar, some yeast to kick it off, grape juice for the taste, and I can brew some mean hooch.”
- “Dude is back in the cut handling his business. I wouldn’t go around there right now.”
- “You got that jaunt? I’m trying to go.”
- “I got dude going in the VI (visiting room) and getting an OZ (an ounce of week or K2) in for me. It’s already wrapped up and sent to his people. All he has to do is go to the bathroom and keister it.”
- “What’s up, dude? You don’t want any problems with La Raza.”
- “The Mexican Mafia runs all the drugs and contraband on this compound. If you want anything, you have to go through them.”
- “Dude ain’t no good. They send some kites about him before he got here. He’s a check-in artist.”
- “When I hit the yard at Leavenworth I had to get on the count. That’s how I do my time.”
- “Dude in Helena Unit got papers for a hundred dollars each.”
- “You know this fucking CO is gonna enforce that quiet-time bullshit after count.”
- “The shot caller called the whole car out to the yard for roll call.”
- “I got hundred-dollar papers, but I don’t want store. I need a send-in or send-out.”
- “He said the unit rep had to get with the shot caller on the yard and see what’s up. They’re trying to make it right. I hope so or shit’s gonna pop off.”
- “I got a cap for you, but I need $25 in store.”
- “They said that tuchie is going around on the yard.”
- “Fuck, I just got called to the lieutenant’s office for a UA.”
- “I’m about to put that move down – I got myself a vic.”
- “You can’t sell no wolf ticket in the pen. Motherfuckers will expose that shit.”
- “Dude is running his mouth too much. He needs to get X’d out.”
- “I’m gonna go and hit the yard and see what’s up.”
- “I can’t wait till I hit the pound and get me some zoo-zoos and wham-whams.”
Bottom Line
In conclusion, prison slang refers to the slang that is popular or used in a correctional facility by incarcerated people. This dictionary guide only provides a glimpse of the complex and secretive world of prison slang. It should be noted that the meaning of terms may be different from one institution to another and from one region to another. Make sure to understand everything to understand the prison environment.
AUTHOR BIO
On my daily job, I am a software engineer, programmer & computer technician. My passion is assembling PC hardware, studying Operating System and all things related to computers technology. I also love to make short films for YouTube as a producer. More at about me…