youth gang | Search Online Etymology Dictionary

134 entries found.

late 14c., "make a deep, heavy, continuous sound," also "move with a rolling, thundering sound," also "create disorder and confusion," probably related to Middle Dutch rommelen "to rumble," Middle High German rummeln, Old Norse rymja "to shout, roar," all of imitative origin. Slang sense of "engage in a gang-fight" is by 1959. Related: Rumbled; rumbling.

misspend (v.)

also mis-spend, "to spend amiss or wastefully, use improperly, make a bad or useless expenditure of," late 14c.; see mis- (1) + spend. Related: Misspent (as an adjective, "badly or uselessly employed," since mid-15c. frequently modifying youth); misspending.

girlfriend (n.)

also girl-friend, by 1859 as "a woman's female friend in youth," from girl + friend (n.). As a man's sweetheart, by 1922. She-friend was used 17c. in the same set of senses, of the mistress of a man and of a woman who is a close friend of another.

gank (v.)

by 2000 as the verb that indicates the situation of many players or NPCs simultaneously attacking one; gamer slang, perhaps borrowed from hip-hop and drug-abuse slang (where it is attested by 1995 in the sense of "to rob, to rip off"); perhaps by 1990 in sports jargon. Of unknown origin; perhaps ultimately based on gang (v.). Related: Ganked; ganking.

chav (n.)

"antisocial youth," British slang, by 2004, apparently from earlier charver "loutish young person wearing designer-style sportswear," Northern British slang (1997) of uncertain origin. Earlier it was a verb in homosexual slang for "have sex." Perhaps ultimately from Romany (Gypsy).

hip-hop

also hiphop, music style, 1982. Reduplication with vowel variation (as in tip-top, sing-song); OED reports use of hip hop (adv.) with a sense of "successive hopping motion" dating back to 1670s. The term in its modern sense comes from its use in the early rap lyrics of the genre, notably Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five and The Sugarhill Gang in "Rapper's Delight."

driver (n.)

"one who or that which drives" in various senses, late 14c. (late 13c. as a surname); agent noun from drive (v.). Earliest sense is "herdsman, drover, one who drives livestock." From mid-15c. as "one who drives a vehicle." In U.S., "overseer of a gang of slaves," by 1796. Meaning "golf club for hitting great distances" is by 1892. Driver's seat is attested by 1867; figurative use by 1954.

Cholo

"Indian or mixed-race person of Latin America" (fem. Chola), 1851, from American Spanish (c. 1600), said to be from Nahuatl (Aztecan) xolotl "dog, mutt." Proposed derivation from Mexican city of Cholula seems too late, if this is the same word. In U.S., used of lower-class Mexican immigrants, but by 1970s the word began to be embraced in Latino gang slang in a positive sense.

defecation (n.)

1640s, "purification of the mind or soul" (figurative); 1650s, "act or process of separating from lees or dregs, a cleansing from impurities," from Late Latin defecationem (nominative deficatio), noun of action from past-participle stem of Latin defaecare "cleanse from dregs, purify," from the phrase de faece "from dregs" (see de- + feces). Meaning "act of evacuating the bowels" is from 1830. An Old English word for "bowel movement" was arse-gang literally "arse-going."

racketeer (n.)

"member of a criminal gang practicing extortion, 'protection,' intimidation, etc.," 1927, a word from Prohibition, from racket (n.1) in the "dishonest activity" sense + -eer. Earlier (1926) in reference to organizers of fraudulent bankruptcies. By 1928 as a verb. Related: Racketeering, verbal noun (1927).

[A] racketeer is nothing more nor less than a gangster who has organized thuggery along business lines. ["What is a Racketeer?" Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Oct. 7, 1928]

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