Prison slang 101: Common words and meanings

December 5, 2011 · Filed under Language in American Prisons

Prison Slang 101: Common Words & Meanings

An Informal Guide

Jennifer Waite

 
 
If you’ve ever sat through an episode of Dateline where suspects are being interrogated, you have undoubtedly noticed some who are obviously not strangers to the system just judging by the way they speak. Perhaps when you watch a documentary on the American prison system, you can overhear inmate’s conversations in the background, but don’t understand what you’re hearing.In this piece, we will examine several common words in the inmate lexicon in American prisons (especially as pertains to the Southwest), as well as their meanings and usage. In my time working as a civilian contractor within the Arizona Department of Corrections, I encountered many new terms. Some words and terms are more regional than others (perhaps Spanish slang is used more widely in areas near the Mexican border, and would not be as relevant in the Mid-West.).However, it is important to point out that all nationalities are scattered throughout prisons in the US, and while some areas have higher concentrations of certain ethnic groups, there are, sadly, representatives of most ‘major’ races within all US prisons.) Here are several I personally observed being used, that I learned the meanings for, and that along with other staff, I myself have often used.

This list is by no means exhaustive, and there are many variations to some of these terms. Some words are more commonly used by different groups, and so forth. Enjoy:

Kite : Small note or letter, used to convey potentially sensitive information or instructions for one person from another.

Wela : Spanish term for “kite”

Weto/Weta: Slang used primarily by Mexicans to describe light-skinned, light-haired people, whether Mexicans, or Caucasians. This term is actually a misproununciation of the Spanish word “guero” (or guera), meaning the same thing. (Visit this link to see the definition of the word “guero” on SpanishDict.com.)

Hustle: A person’s means of making money within the prison, either legal or illegal. (Usually illegal.)

Lame : An inmate who other inmates feel cannot be trusted; a potential liability for any business deals.

Chomo : A child molester. Considered the lowest-rank on the inmate Totem pole. This person is usually housed on, and restricted to, a P.C. yard (see below), with other sensitive needs inmates.

Gen Pop: General population housing. This may be in the form of two-man cells, or dormitory style, complete with bunk beds Inmates who are housed here are not deemed any more of a security threat than any other average inmate.

P.C. : Protective Custody. This refers to a secure area within a prison complex where inmates who are deemed significant security risks can be housed and accommodated without disrupting entire General Population yards.

Cheeto : Term for a gay male inmate, and/or male inmate who appears to be transsexual. This person is voluntarily interested in other men and/or presenting as a female themselves. This individual may have to occasionally fight to prove himself, but is generally accepted.

Flaca/Flaco: This is simply Spanish for the word ‘thin’.

Punk : Term for a man who performs homosexual acts either for profit, or because he is forced to do so. This person faces considerably more threats against his personal safety than a Cheeto, mainly due to a lack of respect.

The Safe or The Trunk : A person’s rear end. The body cavity located just behind a person can be used to store all sorts of neat, illegal stuff. If, however, an inmate is suspected of having placed a deposit in the safe, he will be escorted over to Medical, where brave R.N.’s will, er, get to the bottom of things.

Keister : Term used to describe the act of, um, making a deposit in the safe. Also can be used: “keistering”, or “to have keistered”. To see proof that this is an actual term, visit this page on Urban Dictionary!

Cops or Pigs: Slang term for Correctional Officers.

“I ain’t in here for tellin’…” : a common inmate response when asked a question about the activites of another person or group (usually other inmates), to signify their unwillingness to ‘snitch’ someone out.

Store : Inmate commissary items that they may purchase with the money on their books, which is deposited by family members on the outside, or earned by the inmate while working in the prison.

Running Game : The act of trying to manipulate and ‘play’ a staff member, or another inmate, usually for sexual or monetary reasons. Attempts are routinely made to ‘game’ new fish (unindoctrinated, fresh staff and inmates).

Running Drag : Term used for a bunch of nonsense, or a pack of lies. For example, if an inmate told you that the prison was going to start offering the Playboy channel next month, you could deduce that this person was merely ‘running drag’, either because of misinformation or because he wanted to stir up some commotion or excitement due to boredom.

Snitch : Perhaps the most well-known term next to ‘shank’ (c’mon, people), ‘snitch’ refers to a person who talks to the cops, and potentially tells them about the misdeeds of those around him. This is what is known as ‘running your mouth (or neck)’, and if you do it, you will quickly discover the definition for the word ‘shank’. Either that, or end up on a P.C. yard.

There is but a sampling of common prison terms (common, at least, within the AZ State prison system) for you to mull over the next time you’re watching MSNBC and the prison doc block comes on. I can speak from experience when I tell you its a whole other world in there, and there is an entire language based around the inmates’ needs for privacy. There are codes, symbols, and combinations of words used to convey something entirely different than their apparent meaning.

But honestly, this is perhaps as far as I want to go in revealing any ‘classified’ information; I don’t want to get branded a snitch!

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