Scott Schmeltzer, Tanks for Listening

I hate when people that do not belong to a certain subculture try to use the slang of that subculture.

A quick example would be if I started to say, &8220;Man, I got the 411 on him and that baller is all that and a bag of chips.&8221;

First of all, my wife would send me in for a medical check up, and secondly I do not think the local Rotarians would allow me in to the club anymore.

It is not that this talk is bad. It is just not the subculture I belong to or was brought up with.

I recently picked up a book called &8220;Talk the Talk&8221; by Luc Reid, and in this book it covers 65 different subcultures in America and the slang they each use.

I think some of the slang was very entertaining, and so I will share my recent new words with you, along with their meaning.

Hip-hop subculture: This is the young rap or hip-hop generation that has been pretty popular due to MTV. This subculture tends to be under 24 years of age and is more prevalent in the larger cities.

411: Pronounced the four-one-one, not four-eleven. It means information.

All that: Very good or high quality.

Baller: A man who has money, respect and attention from women.

Bomb: Very good, something very fine.

Bounce: To leave.

Cold: Dangerous, intense, very cool.

Crew or posse: The associates a person spends time with.

Dog: A friend or a member of your crew.

Scrub: Worthless or lazy person.

Carnival worker subculture: This subculture is made up of people who work at carnivals and travel throughout the country doing so.

Agent: A person who works a carnival game.

Bozo: An irritating clown at a dunk tank who insults patrons in order to goad them into paying

money to dunk him/her.

Carny: A person who works at a carnival. This name is considered derogatory to the actual carnival worker as they would rather be called an agent or operator.

Doniker: Restroom

Lot lice: Customers who are at carnival to look but don&8217;t spend any money

Ride jock: A carnival worker who operates a ride.

Shill: A person who pretends to be a regular patron while working at any kind of deception that may encourage a real carnival patron to spend more money.

Townie: a carnival patron.

Gambling subculture:

Growing subculture that spans many generations and age groups.

Ante: The chips a player must put in the pot in order to participate in a hand of poker.

Call: In poker, to match the current bet amount without increasing it.

Case money: Emergency or reserve money for betting.

Cowboy: A king in card games

Down to the felt: Out of money.

House: The casino or other establishment you are gambling at.

Lady: The queen in card games.

Mark: A player likely to lose money (also known as a fish or an apple).

Mechanic: A cheater.

Rounder: A person who makes a living at cards.

Tom: Any gambler who doesn&8217;t tip well.

Whale: A person who bets enormous amounts of money, making even high rollers look timid.

Gothic subculture: This is a subculture of people who wear black Victorian age clothing and are obsessed with death and listening to goth-style music while wearing heavy white makeup and punk-style haircuts.

Baby goth: A young or novice goth.

Corp goth: A person who works a day job that is not compatible with a gothic lifestyle.

Doom cookie: A derogatory term for a girl or woman who looks goth, but is not goth.

Ninny: A goth person who like the band Nine Inch Nails.

Perky goth: An upbeat goth.

Political subculture: Subculture of politics and politicians.

Amen corner: Any group of politicians that are consistent and predictable in their support of an issue or political figure.

Astroturf: A political movement that is orchestrated by political players but intended to look like a spontaneous action by a large group of citizens.

Bafflegab: Speech or statement without clear meaning.

Barking head: A loud, opinionated political commentator.

Bleeding heart: A derogatory term for a person interested in social causes.

Bubba factor: The impact of blue collar, white, Southern males on a given political issue.

Sheeple: An easily manipulated group of citizens.

Tattoo artist subculture: Subculture of tattoo artists and people who like body art.

Canvas: The skin of a person getting a tattoo.

Ink slinger: A tattoo artist.

Piece: A custom tattoo.

Scratcher: A person who applies tattoos without training.

Sleeve: A tattoo that covers most or all of one arm.

Now that you know some of the subcultures and the words that make up those subcultures, I would like to introduce you to the subculture that I was brought up with and have slowly reduced to not using at all.

I was raised in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and our subculture was called Yooperanese and it came from many Finnish-speaking people or Finlanders occupying the Upper Peninsula for many years.

Yoopers:

Eh, dere: Hey, there

Doo Hickey: Anything mechanical that we can&8217;t seem to explain.

Dat: That.

Der: There or their.

Dis: This.

Da: The.

Mont: Month.

Pasty: Meat pie that is filled with potatoes, onions, carrots, and rutabagas. Heat it up and cover with ketchup, have a pickle on side (the food of Yoopers).

Mudder: Mom.

Fadder: Dad.

Cripe: Cripe.

Tanks: Thanks.

So dat explains why sumdimes dat I talk like dis der after visiting my relatives back in da good old UP eh.

Tanks for listening.

(Tribune Publisher Scott Schmeltzer&8217;s column appears every Thursday.)