After leaving In-N-Out burger in Daly City on a cold October evening, Maxine Vistan, Johanna Reyes, and two friends were on their way to Twin Peaks in San Francisco in Garduque’s beige 1997 Honda Accord when they hit a red light on 19th Avenue and Sloat Boulevard. Guilenondo, an SF State freshman from Los Angeles, suggests an activity they could do while they waited for the green light.

“I dare one of you guys to, what is it called? ‘Ghost ride the whip?’” asks the 18-year-old Guilenondo.
Reyes yells jokingly, “But the car isn’t even moving!”

Apparently, Guilenondo doesn’t know too much about Bay Area street slang.

With so many people using Bay Area vernaculars improperly and not getting the correct schooling on how to use them, Yay Area slang can be hella confusing.

One of the most overly used words in the area is “hella.” According to Urbandictionary.com, a hip-hop version of Wikipedia, hella is derived from the phrase “a hell of a lot” and is commonly used in place of “really” and “very.” Some examples of how hella is implemented are: ‘You are hella sweet’ or ‘there’s gonna be hella people at the party.’

While there are those who can’t stand the word, many love to use it in their everyday vocabulary. “I say ‘hella’ hella much. When I first moved out here [to the Bay Area] from Virginia, I thought it was the stupidest word of all time,” says Ryan Thayer, a 22-year-old urban studies major at SF State. “But a few years later, I just couldn’t resist [saying hella] because ‘hella’ is hella dope. You can use it in any situation.”

But you can’t mention Bay Area colloquialisms without mentioning the rapper E-40. E-40 is considered king of slang because of his unique method of creating words and phrases on the spot.

Two slang words E-40 has created are “broccoli” and “gouda.” Broccoli is not the green vegetable that mommy used to make you eat for dinner. Broccoli is the plant of life that you don’t eat with salad. You smoke it. If it isn’t obvious, it’s marijuana.

Many argue that the person who contributes the most money within a family is considered the bread winner. However, for E-40, using the term “bread” doesn’t cut it. Instead of bread, people make Gouda. In hip hop, “cheese” is a term describing money. Since Gouda is a type of cheese, E-40 switched cheese for Gouda.

In recent years, the flamboyant lifestyle of “thizz” and “hyphy” has been added to Bay slang.

The Hyphy movement started in the early ‘90s and began to emerge in the early 2000s as a response from Bay Area rappers against commercial hip hop for ignoring the Bay’s influence on the hip hop industry.

Krishtine De Leon, a former SF State student and hip-hop journalist, explains that hyphy and thizz mean different things. De Leon says hyphy, a term invented by Bay rapper Keak Da Sneak, refers to an energy, while thizzin’ coined by the late Mac Dre refers to a movement. Additionally, hyphy is a permutation of “hyper” and “fly” and involves a collection of hyperactive movements of the head and arms. Conversely, thizz is often associated with the club drug ecstasy. Disregarding the differences, hyphy and thizz have contributed to Bay Area dialect.

A popular action that involves facial expressions is the “thizz face.” According to Urbandictionary.com, a “thizz face” is the result of someone experiencing the effects of the drug ecstasy. Persistently, the person appears to look like they have just smelled something pungent like urine.

Two notable hyphy terms are going “stupid” or “dumb.” Going dumb is losing control of your actions and involves energetic dancing. You can even go dumb while ghost ridin’.

The phrase “ghost ride the whip,” also coined by rapper E-40, is when the driver puts a car in neutral and steps out of the car and dances beside it while the car’s still rolling.

The break down:

1. “A whip” refers to a vehicle or car.

2. The term ghost comes from the absence of a driver. It’s also the reason why E-40 talks about it in his song because he’s relating to Ghost Town, a tough Eastside Oakland neighborhood.

3. Ghost riding is also known as “going Patrick Swayze,” or just “going Swayze,” referring to Patrick Swayze’s lead role in the movie Ghost.

4. This spontaneous act of fun can have some serious repercussions. Over the past year, this stunt has sparked controversy because eight people have died while doing it.
Whether you’re from Southern California, the Mid-West, East Coast, or even a deserted island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, if you weren’t a fan of the unique style of Yay Area verbiage, eventually, if you’re here in the Bay, it will become part of your everyday dialect.

Bay Area terms:

Hyphy: "getting stupid" or "going dumb.”

Cuddie: a term originated from “cousin.” It’s a close friend or relative.

Fo shizzle: a declaration; to be sure of.

Off the chain: a phrase describing an event as exciting, cool or fun.

Sideshow: an illegal gathering of cars in the streets; people gather to do doughnuts, play loud music or converse with others.

Yay Area (pl.): another version of Bay Area; heard in the 1996 E-40 song "Rapper's Ball."

Bling: shiny jewelry

Scraper: a Buick

Holla: 1. a greeting or farewell 2. to pick up on a member of the opposite sex

Ballin: 1. a state of wealth and affluence 2. doing what you’re doing, and doing it well

Ma Boo: a significant other

Scrilla: monetary units