Last week, I wrote an article detailing five New York terms and phrases that I learned in my time so far at college. Immediately following the publication of my article, I realized that I left out quite a few NYC terms, and many other out-of-state college students additionally reached out to me with slang that they learned in their time as a New Yorker. Alas, here is an extension of my previous article.
#1. "That guy is mad sus."
Urban Dictionary's definition of sus: "meant to suggest that someone is believed to be shady or false. They are hiding something or are believed to have a serious character flaw which makes them undesirable as a friend or acquaintance. It is derived from its root word suspect."
This word is quite common around campus - commonly used by individuals referring to their friend or significant other as acting shady or suspicious.
#2. "That move is so valid!"
Urban Dictionary's definition of valid: "something that is very cool, exciting or of a high standard."
I've heard this word in a few different contexts - sometimes referring to a person, but more often than not it refers to objects - i.e. a valid move, valid movie, valid food item.
#3. "Dude, you're the G.O.A.T!"
Urban Dictionary's definition of G.O.A.T: "greatest of all time".
Never heard of this one until coming to school. Pronounced just as one would its animal homonym of the same name.
#4. "It's mad brick outside."
Urban Dictionary's definition of brick: "very cold. When something is cold and frozen it's as hard as a brick." (to be clear: the more popular definition of brick refers to drugs, but the definition I'm using is for NY purposes)
Hadn't heard this term until the cold weather hit, but often used in replacement of the word "freezing". Refers to the notion of going outside and feeling like you've been hit (with a brick) in the face by the cold wind.
#5. "Damn, I just took an L."
Urban Dictionary's definition of L: "catching a loss. In this sense, you catch an L if you say something stupid or, if you try to sound intelligent but are proved wrong."
Weird one. New Yorkers tend to say this in reference to doing something at which they failed, i.e. losing an argument, falling down the stairs. I most recently heard it used after struggling through a test - "just took an L on that chem exam".
#6. "I'm definitely gonna have to flame him."
Urban Dictionary's definition of flame: "to insult someone electronically, or otherwise. Sometimes to be a group insult."
Synonym of "roast", more commonly used in other parts of New England. Not exactly sure why New Yorkers had to create an extra word for roasting someone, but it does sound more intense.
#7. "I worked every day this week to get this guap!"
Urban Dictionary's definition of guap: "referenced to any high amount of dollars, basically a general word for mad dough."
Despite the definition referring to guap as "mad dough", I've also heard individuals refer to something as "mad guap". The boundaries seem to be permeable here.
#8. Noun form: "We're leaving, the party is a dub." Verb form: "I don't want a relationship, so I had to dub him."
Urban Dictionary's definition of dub (noun form): "something you say when expressing how much you don't want to do something. like, you say, "I really don't want to do this thing," and instead you say, "That's a dub." It's just fewer words."
Urban Dictionary's definition of dub (verb form): "to talk to someone heavy one day and then completely ignore them the next, making them question their existence."
In its noun form, I've most commonly heard this term used in reference to parties or events, hoping that they won't be a dub. In its verb form, the word is most often used as a harsh replacement for the word "reject". In my last article on NY slang, I brought up the term "to dead". One could see "to dead" as synonymous with "to dub."
Congrats! In conjunction with my last article, you now officially have all you need to speak like a college student in NYC. To look and act like us too, you'll need a raincoat, a metro card, and a coffee at all times.