Hovering in the shadows at her teen-age son's party, Carline Moore overhears this snatch of conversation:
"There it is. This jam is thick. Plenty of mad honeys, dope system."
"We phat. But I gotta flex. I'll be maxin' at the crib."
"I'm easin' here. Later."
"Later."
Come again?
For the uninitiated, it's the language of the hip-hop generation, and it can be heard in malls, on the street and in classrooms -- even prep-school classrooms.
Hoopty, hotty, hoochie. Slang is colorful, descriptive patter that eases communication among young folks while keeping parents and teachers at bay. If you talk to teens, you'd best be savvy because slanguage is always changing, always confounding. Just when you think you got it, you don't.
'Cause what unsuspecting adult would think that "juice" means power, that "skinz" is a well-built woman, and that "grip" is money?
Of course, teens are simply doing what adolescents through the ages have done, says Doctor Dre, producer, actor and host of "Yo! MTV Raps."
"They're just distinguishing themselves from older folks," he says.
Slang springs from a need to express, with new words continually passing through the language, and staying only as long as they are useful.
"By the time Webster's catches up with a word, people have stopped using it. One thing about slang, it's always changing," Doctor Dre says.
There is no question that inner-city kids are responsible for some of the most popular slang today. Words such as "yo," "dis" and "bad" have made their way from the streets to the suburbs, becoming a part of mainstream culture.
And that's not unusual, considering that "hip" and "cool" were invented by young African-American jazz musicians during the '40s and are now permanent fixtures in the American lexicon.
A perception that slang is created and heard only within the inner city, however, is misleading. According to Random House's "Thesaurus of Slang," it's created by all social classes as a more convenient, more private or more entertaining form of communication.
"Groups create their own language within a language," write Esther and Albert Lewin in the preface of the thesaurus. "Peers recognize each other through its use. It's a way of belonging."
Doctor Dre agrees that slang knows no color, class or boundary.
"Don't put color into it. Slang crosses all lines," says the good Doctor, who stays au courant by shootin' the gift with his 12-year-old nephew in New York. "Whether you do it for fun, or to communicate with your immediate group at work or home, everybody does it."
Some teens, however, say class and culture do influence the creation of slang. One Florida high school student, who goes by the nickname 'Lil Greedy, says he likes to use slang because it identifies him as a young black man and creates a distance between his world and what he sees as an oppressive Eurocentric culture.
"I don't always want to use the white man's language. Sometimes I want to use my own," he says. "We make it up, it makes sense to us, it's ours."
But even Florida prep school students have their own way of getting their message across.
They chill, blaze and rag with the best of 'em.
"To put it simply, slang says it better," says Josh Reed, a summer camp counselor at a prep school. "Slang is more intense."
Sure, verbal graffiti can entertain and enlighten. But Doctor Dre reminds that communication works only if those you're speaking to understand what you're saying. "It can hold you back if you step out and no one knows what you are talkin' about."
Chafirs, a 16-year-old high school student, says he knows when to use it and when not to.
"I don't talk this way if I'm finnin' to go on a job interview. Then I talk proper. But when I'm with my friends and tryin' to make a point, usin' our words is the best way to do it," he says.
Playing with language is a biological phenomenon, says Lynn Berk, a linguist at Florida International University in Miami. "People just love to play word games," she says. "Jargon is created to set groups apart. Professionals and politicians do the same thing. It makes you sound important, special."
Some words are so unconventional, though, that adults are clueless to their meaning. "But parents shouldn't get upset. 'Cool' was considered bad at some point, now everyone uses it," Ms. Berk says.
Parent Libby Snyder agrees, saying the best part about slang is that it is harmless.
"I don't always know what they are talking about, but that's OK," says Ms. Snyder, who has three children, including a 15-year-old son.
"I know it's not out of defiance, just searching for a language of their own. I just hope when they go out to look for a job, they revert to standard English."
But Ms. Snyder is hipper than she gives herself credit for being. She knows when she hears Mom Duke, the kids are talking about her. She knows a "mad jam" is a party worth attending.
"There's nothing like riding down the road with three teen-agers in the car. You hear it all," says Ms. Snyder, who lives in Coral Springs, Fla.
High school student Desman Ford says the charm of the language is that it's not taught in school.
"It takes teachers about three weeks to figure out what we're saying. Then they try to say it. We laugh when they do, because it takes a certain flavor to get it right," says the 18-year-old senior.
That flavor, he says, is what makes it more fun to say "mad honeys" than to say pretty girls. "But when everyone starts saying it, that's when it changes. It gets played."
But some words have demonstrated longevity, sticking around through the generations. Cool is still cool, a car is still a ride, and shoes are still kicks. "They last 'cause they are good," Mr. Ford says. "They worked then, and they work now."
A guide to teen slang
Here are some of the "sweetest" slang expressions circulating in prep schools and suburban neighborhoods:
Blaze: To leave -- as in, "Let's blaze."
Cheesy: Tacky
Demoto: Someone who is not motivated, not doing well in school
Hane: Heinous, or gross
Hittin' on: Flirting
Ho: A slut
Hoochie: Good-looking girl with a great body
Hotty: A good-looking guy with a great body
Jag: A loner, a nerd
Knockin' boots: Making love
Later: Goodbye
Maxin': Relaxing
Moto: Someone who is motivated and doing well in school
To rack, crash: To sleep
Rag, raggin' on: Make fun of
Random: Completely off the wall
Shady: Someone who's lying
Shine: To make fun of someone, to disrespect
Sick: Good; "It was a sick party."
Sloshy, loopy: Drunk
Stylin': Someone who dresses well
Sweet: Cool, hip, good
Sweet hookup: A good deal
Toss chow: To eat quickly
Here is some commonly used hip-hop speak:
Chopped: Physically unattractive or obnoxious
Creep, lamo: Weird person
Crib: Home
Dibs: Residence
Diesel: A guy with a great body
Dip, flex, bus one: To leave
Dis: To show disrespect; this term has made its way into mainstream speech; prep-school students and yuppies also use it
Dope: Something good
Duggy: Stylishly dressed; "I'll be lookin' duggy on the first day of school."
Easin', lampin': Relaxing
Five-O: Police officers
Frontin': Lying, a phony person
Grip: Money
Honey dip: Good-looking woman
Hoopty: Car
Jam: Party
J.O.: Job
Joints: Any popular brand of sneakers
Juice: Power, influence, respect
Mackin': Well dressed. "I was definitely mackin'. "
Mad: Good
Mom duke, old girl: Mother
My peeps: My parents
Phat (pronounced fat): Something good; "That's a phat hoopty."
Phat flavor: Good music
Pop duke, old boy: Father
Props: Respect
Shoot the gift: Have a conversation
Skinz: Good-looking, voluptuous woman; "There are some dope skinz in the house."
System: Loud car audio system
Thick, straight: Good; "The jam was thick."
Think it ain't: I agree with you
To the curb: Dumped by one's girlfriend or boyfriend
Word up: The truth