dict
Konstantin Danilov
------------------------------------------------------------------------
An effort has been made to keep to some of the history of each word, its
origins
and its current application to graffiti culture.
ALL CITY
What a writer is considered to be when he/she is "up", but this term implies mo
re status than being just "up". Many people can be "up", but only a select few
could be considered "all city". Can also refer to a crew instead of just one
writer.
BACK IN THE DAY
Refers to the "old days", old school, or when a writer first started writing.
Also a hip-hop/rap term.
BACKGROUND
Originated on the subways out of neccessity. Backgrounds were used to make the
piece stand out from all the tags and assorted scribbling on a subway car that
make the piece hard to discern; the color or design painted behind the piece to
make it stand out from the wall or train.
BACK TO BACK
A wall that is pieced from end to end all the way across. Also can refer to
throwups that are one after another.
BATTLE
This is done when two writers or two crews have some sort of disagreement. The
battle can take two forms: skills battle or getting up - essentially quality vs
. quantity. A skills battle is when two writers piece a wall within a certain t
ime period (usually a day or a few hours) and whoever does the best piece is th
e winner. A getting-up battle is when the writers take a certain area of a city
and whichever crew can get up the most in that area within a certain amount of
time (say a week to a month), wins. For both kinds of battle, an outside crew o
r writer judges who is the winner. The terms of losing and winning are usually
negotiated by the crews involved and can be payment in paint, pot, a sock in
the
jaw, the losing crew has to stop writing their name, etc., etc.
BITE
To copy another writer's style. This is considered a no-no and is looked down
upon, even though writers often borrow imagery from cartoons and comics.
BLOCKBUSTER
Big, square letters, often tilted back and forth and in (usually) two colors. M
ainly invented to cover over other people and to paint whole trains easily, but
they are effective on smaller walls for maximum coverage. Blade and Comet claim
to have invented these.
BMT
Train line in NY that had only ridgys and ding-dongs (except for the As and
Cs.)
BOMB
Prolific painting or marking with ink. To cover an area with your tag,
throwups,
etc.
BOMBING
To go out writing.
BUBBLE LETTERS
A type of graffiti letters, usually considered to be an older (and sometimes ou
tmoded) style. Often used for throwup letters because of their rounded shape,
which allows for quick formation. Phase2 originally created this style.
BUFF
Any means employed by the transit authority to remove graffiti from trains. The
more modern usage is when any graffiti is gone over or removed from any
surface,
not necessarily just from trains.
TO BUFF, BUFFED
to erase, erased.
BURN
To beat the competition with your style. Also refers to a really good piece, as
in one that "burns".
BURNER
Originally a well-done wildstyle window-down whole car, a burner is a very good
piece. Obviously, the reference to a window-down car is not applicable for piec
es that are not on trains. A burner is any piece that has good bright colors,
good style (often in wildstyle) and seems to "burn" off of the wall.
CALTRANS
The part of the government in charge of freeways in Southern California.
CAP, FAT or SKINNY (tips)
Interchangable spray-can nozzles fitted to the can to vary the width of spray.
These are usually racked off of commercial products, such as K-Mart's Bug and T
ar, various cleaning products or starches. Many stores and graffiti fanzines se
ll caps nowadays. Also referred to as "tips" (as in "flare tips" and "thin tips
".) The really big fat caps are sometimes called "softballs" because of the wid
e and soft-looking spray they produce. Tips are sometimes referred to by a cert
ain number of fingers, corresponding to the width of the spray (for example, a
"four-finger spray" would be about as wide as your hand. The number on the
front
of a tip is the catalog number for that model.
CHARACTER
A cartoon figure (usually, but not necessarily) taken from comic books, TV or p
opular culture to add humor or emphasis to a piece. In some pieces, the
character takes the place of a letter in the word.
CHINA MARKER
A type of grease pencil used by artists to mark up contact sheets of photos or
the photos themselves for cropping. They come in red and blue, and were adopted
by writers for tagging because of the grease base. China markers are not very
big, only as big as a crayon, but will write on almost anything.
CLOUD
Stylistic form applied to pieces. The use of clouds is not as freqent now as it
was in the early days of subway car painting. See "background".
COMPUTER STYLE
A certain style of wildstyle that looks digital or bitmapped, as if it came out
of a computer.
CRAZY
It means crazy in the dictionary definition but can also mean "really" as in
"crazy big".
CREW
A loosely organized group of writers who also tag the crew initials along with
their name. Crew names are usually three letters, many times ending with "K", w
hich stands for "kings" or "kills" in most cases. Some crew names are just two
letters, some are four, it all depends.
CTA
Chicago Transit Authority.
CUTTING TIPS
A way to cut standard tips, thus modifying them into fat caps or flare tips.
CUTTING LINES
A painting technique used on inside fills of letters and characters to get thin
lines, thinner than thin tips.
DIS
To insult. Comes from "disrespect". Originally it was just a hip-hop/rap term b
ut has found its way into the culture at large. Hey, even my mom says it! See
"front".
DEF
Really good, (derived from "death"). In its day it had as much use in the hip-h
op scene as in the graffiti scene. Not in use as much anymore, in some circles
its use is considered downright cheesy. I'm all for bringing it back.
DING-DONG
Relatively new stainless type of subway car, so named for the bell that rings j
ust before the doors close. Ding-dongs were preferred because they were so flat
. They were a quick buff so no one did any full-scale pieces on ding-dongs.
DOPE
Originally a rap/hip-hop term that means "cool".
DOWN
To be in with, part of the group or action (as in "he's down with us"). Part of
your connection, if you are down with someone.
DRIPS
Stylized drips drawn onto letters to add effect. Although inept paint applicati
on causing unintentional drips is considered the mark of a toy and is wack, sty
lized drips drawn on letters are acceptable. This style originated early on in
New York subway graffiti.
FADE
To blend/blended colors.
FAME
What a writer gets when he/she is constantly and consistently getting up. One o
f the goals of writers is to have fame within the subculture of writers, and so
me, like Chaka, aim to have fame (or at least be recognized) outside of the
subculture.
FANZINE
A fan magazine devoted to a narrow interest. In the graff scene, fanzines would
obviously be devoted to writing, featuring photos of pieces, etc. The first gra
ffiti fanzine was "International Graffiti Times" started by Phase 2. Nowadays t
here are many fanzines such as Can Control, Skills, Crazy Kings, and many
others.
FAN SPRAY
A newer type of stock tip on spraypaint cans (used to be only on cheaper brands
but almost every company, including Krylon, now sport these on at least one lin
e of their paint) which sprays in a fan pattern that can be adjusted from verti
cal to horizontal, but is useless for tagging because it looks wack. May be use
d for fills but the cheezy tips prevent any kind of detailed can control. The
tip is not removable for insertion of fat caps.
FAT
Can refer to something being thick, as a "fat line", or can be a general term
of
good, like "yo, that's fat!" Often spelled "phat".
FEMALE TIPS
A new type of tip that is called "female" because the can has a "male" counterp
art. Traditional cans are vice versa. These female tipped cans are no good for
writers, except maybe for fills, but even that's questionable.
FILL
The solid interior color of letters on a piece or throwup.
FLAT
Older slab-sided type of subway car; the most suitable surface for painting. Th
is term refers mainly to subways, although it could refer to certain types of
freight cars as well.
FLICKS
Prints of photos of graffiti. Also "flick" (singular) and "flix" (plural).
FLY
Cool, same as "fresh". Early hip-hop term.
FRESH
New, cool, good. An early hip-hop term.
TO FRONT
To hassle someone, to want to fight. For example, "You frontin' on me?" Also a
hip-hop/rap term. Probably comes from "confront".
GETTING UP
Originally, "getting up" meant to sucessfully hit a train. Now it means to hit
up anything, anywhere, with any form of graffiti, from a tag all the way up to
a
wildstyle burner -- although the term implies the process of tagging repeated
ly
to spread your name. Tagging something once would be getting up, but would not
make you an "up" writer.
GOING OVER
One writer covering another writer's name with his/her own. Also known as "X-in
g out" or "crossing out". "Crossing out" is usually just that, painting an X ov
er another writers tag or piece. In the early days of New York graffiti, Cap wa
s the master of doing black and white throwups to go over people. There was eve
n a crew called TCO (the cross outs), whose main goal was to cross everyone
out.
See also "blockbuster letters".
GREASE PENCIL
See "china marker".
GRIFFIN
A type of shoe dye used in homemade markers.
GROCERY STORE INK
A kind of purple ink used by grocery stores in their marking guns. Writers took
this ink to put in their homemades and refillable markers. Writers from back in
the day swear by it because of its permanence.
HIP HOP
The culture in the late 70s and early 80s that spawned the graffiti culture as
we know it now, breakdancing and hip-hop music, which has since turned into
modern rap music.
HIT
To tag up any surface with paint or ink.
HIT UP
When something is covered with tags.
HOMEMADE
A type of homemade marker made out of old deodorant containers stuffed with soc
ks or felt chalkboard erasers and filled with ink. Homemades have been made out
of many things, including (most commonly) various deodorant containers all the
way up to VHS videotapes. (!) Homemades have also been called "mean streaks,"
although this has no relation to the paint stick made by Sanford corporation.
HOMEMADE INK
A kind of homemade ink made for your homemade marker. The basic recipe involves
shredding carbon paper and mixing it with alcohol and/or lighter fluid. Said to
be almost as good as grocery store ink.
ICY GRAPE
An old, discontinued Krylon color that is prized by writers when the odd can
turns up.
INSIDES
Originally referred to tagging the insides of subway trains. Now refers to the
insides of any mass transit vehicle. For example, "He's the king of insides"
would mean he's really up on the insides.
IRT
A train line in NY that had many burners because its cars were all flats.
JUNGLE GREEN
Another old, now discontinued Krylon color that writers go crazy over.
KARAK
Same as "character".
KILL
To hit or bomb excessively. To really get up in a major way.
KING
The best with the most. Some people refer to different writers as kings of
different areas. King of throwups, king of style, king of a certain line, etc.
ڑ cya. freezed / rLg
... Radio Ga Ga is on the air!
* Origin: pOdONKi pLACe .fatal down o:oo-6:oo rLg
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Msg : 100 of 102
From : dmitry poliansky 2:5020/621.5 ش× 21 يءت 98 19:53
To : All َصآ 23 يءت 98 00:33
Subj : سجد×ءزط (2/2)
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.p h e ar, All.
KRYLON
A brand of spraypaint, easily recognized by the distinctive 5-spot logo. Most
favored by writers because of its large color selection and cheap price.
LAYUP
Side tracks where trains are parked overnight and on weekends. Initally used to
refer to subway layups, but now can refer to freight-train layups.
MAD
Crazy, lots.
MAGNUM
A type of fat marker used by writers, not refillable.
MARKS-A-LOT
Standard black magic marker with a tip about a quarter-inch wide. Had its place
in the early days of writing (early to mid 70s) but has been discarded in favor
of bigger, better markers and spraypaint.
MARRIED COUPLE
Two cars permanently attached, identified by their consecutive numbers. This is
an older subway term from New York.
MEAN STREAK
A type of paint stick made by the Sanford corporation. Writers like it because
it is opaque, waterproof, and is generally a bitch to buff because the base sol
vent is ethyl glycol. Comes in white, blue, red and yellow. I've never seen
black or green.
MTA
Metropolitan Transit Authority.
MURAL
A large-scale type of piecing, done top to bottom on a wall; usually a large
production involving one or two pieces and usually some form of characters.
OLD SCHOOL
General term used to refer to the early days of writing, more specifically, the
mid 70s to '82 or '83. Also may refer to hip-hop music of this period. Old-scho
ol writers are given respect for being there when it all started, and specific
writers are remembered for creating specific styles. For example, Blade and Com
et created blockbusters, Phase 2 created bubble letters, clouds, Skeme's "S",
and so on.
OUTLINE
The drawing done in a piecebook in preparation for doing the actual piece. Also
called a sketch. Can also refer to the outline put on the wall and then filled,
or the final outline done around the piece to finish it.
PANEL PIECE
A painting below the windows and between the doors of a subway car.
PIECE
A graffiti painting, short for masterpiece. It's generally agreed that a
painting must have at least three colors to be considered a piece.
TO PIECE
To paint graffiti, creating a piece, not just go out tagging.
PIECEBOOK
A writer's sketchbook where outlines and ideas to be executed are kept and
worked out. Also referred to as a "black book" or a "writer's bible".
PILOT
A type of fat marker. Prized because it writes wider than a Marks-A-Lot and is
made to be refilled.
PROPS
Respect, comes from "proper respect". From hip-hop/rap.
RACK
To steal, usually paints or markers. In the past, most writers stole all materi
als used for painting. Due to paint lockups in California and other areas, this
is no longer possible, so most paint is now bought.
RIDGY
Subway car with corrugated, stainless steel sides, unsuitable for graffiti. Wri
ters did mainly two-color throwups and some top-to-bottom throwups (one color a
nd silver because silver was hard to buff) on these types of cars. Ridgys ran
in
Brooklyn.
ROLL CALL
Tagging everyone's name in a crew, or the list of people who helped create it t
o the side of the piece. Not done very often - tagbangers seem to like doing
this.
RED DEVIL
A favorite brand of spraypaint that was quite popular back in the day, but now
has wack fan spray for tips.
RUSTOLEUM
A brand of spraypaint, generally more expensive than Krylon.
SCRIBER
A tagging instrument, usually made out of a diamond drillbit, used to physicall
y engrave one's name on buses and mass transit vehicles. Considered by some wri
ters to be more destructive than is needed. Sandpaper is sometimes used to tag
buses in the same manner--it too is considered mass destruction. Tagbangers and
hardcore taggers seem to prefer these tools.
SCRUB
A certain type of throwup (usually two colors) that is filled very quickly with
back-and-forth lines, rather than filled in solid.
SG-7
A type of big marker made by Sakura which is a little bigger than a Pilot, and
it too is easily refillable, although it does not state that on the outside. Sa
kura makes a model the same size called "Pentouch" which is a huge paint
marker,
complete with a mixing ball inside of it.
SHOE DYE
Shoe dye kits are used sometimes for tagging, especially those that consist of
a
bottle with a brush/sponge device attached. They usually come in black and
white. See "Griffin".
STICKERS
A form of tagging, most commonly saying "Hello, my name is". Can be anything fr
om computer-generated, clear, generic blank stickers that have the writer's nam
e on them to elaborate stickers with little pieces and characters. Some writers
consider stickers to be for people who are "afraid" to use markers/paint, while
other writers use a combination of stickers with markers and paint.
SUCKER TIPS
The stock tip that comes with a can of spraypaint. So named because only
suckers
would piece or tag with said tip.
TAG
The most basic form of graffiti, a writer's signature with marker or spray pain
t. It is the writer's logo, his/her stylized personal signature. If a tag is lo
ng it is sometimes abbreviated to the first two letters or the first and last l
etter of the tag. Also may be ended with the suffixes "one", "ski", "rock",
"em"
and "er".
TAGGING UP
The act of writing a signature with marker or spraypaint.
TAGBANGER
Combination of the words "tagger" and "gangbanger". A new subculture that has d
eveloped mainly in southern California. Not really considered writers, they tag
, never piece, and almost never do throwups. Often they carry guns and bear mor
e than slight resemblance to gangs. Not really considered to be true writers by
writers, but are mostly considered a hinderance and a negative influence on a
creative writing and piecing scene.
TAGGER
As opposed to "writer"; this term is usually used to refer to those who only do
tags and throwups and who never piece. Some taggers seem to like more destructi
ve methods such as scribers and sandpaper in addition to markers and paint. Som
e taggers do get interested in piecing, some don't. Taggers who never piece are
sometimes called "scribblers" by more experienced, piecing writers.
THIRD RAIL
On New York subway lines, this is the extra rail that supplies the power for
the
trains. If you touch the 3rd rail, you will most likely die.
3D
A three-dimensional style of letters, used for added effect on basic letters, s
ometimes applied to wildstyle for an extra level of complexity. This style was
invented by Phase 2.
THROWUP
Over time, this term has been applied to many different types of graffiti. Subw
ay art says it is "a name painted quickly with one layer of spray paint and an
outline", although some consider a throwup to be bubble letters of any sort, no
t necessarily filled. Throwups can be from one or two letters to a whole word o
r a whole roll call of names. Often times throwups incorporate an exclamation m
ark after the word or letter. Throwups are generally only one or two colors, no
more. Throwups are either quickly done bubble letters or very simple pieces
using only two colors.
TOP TO BOTTOM
A piece that extends from the top of the car to the bottom, completely covering
it. Can also refer to a wall or building that has been pieced from top to botto
m. The first top-to-bottom car was done in 1975 by Hondo. Dead Leg did the firs
t top to bottom with a cloud. Others who started rocking the style, and were
known for the "T2B's" were Lee, Chain, the Fab5, and later, Newave crew.
TOY
An inexperienced or incompetent writer. Someone whose writing is either wack, w
ho uses sucker tips, or whose style is just plain cheesy. One old definition of
"TOYS" is that it stands for "trouble on your system".
ULTRA-WIDE
A type of marker that is extra wide (about an inch and a half), intended for ma
king posters, etc. It too is easily refillable. Often called "Uni-Wide", which
is a brand name.
UP
Describes a writer whose work appears regularly everywhere and who is currently
writing.
UPS
Refers to people's tags, for example, "So and so's crew has mad ups on main
street"
ULTRA-FLAT
A paint preferred by taggers because it sticks to things better than glossy
paints.
WACK
Substandard or incorrect (derived from "out of whack"). Anything that looks
cheesy or weak. Badly formed letters, incompetent fills, dumb tags, etc.
WET LOOK
No, it's not Jheri Curl, it's an old-school brand of spraypaint. No longer in
production to my knowledge.
WILDSTYLE
A complicated construction of interlocking letters. A hard style that consists
of lots of arrows and connections. Wildstyle is considered one of the hardest s
tyles to master and pieces done in wildstyle are often completely
undecipherable
to non-writers.
WINDOW DOWN
A piece done below the windows of a subway car.
WHITE TRAINS
In '83 they started running the white trains on the 6's. Writers loved these
cars because they were like canvas all primed and ready to paint.
WHOLE CAR
Obviously a piece covering a whole car. See "top to bottom". This one's by
futura 2000.
WHOLE TRAIN
The masterful feat of covering a whole train with pieces. Two whole trains were
done in 1976 by Caine I and two more were done by The Fabulous Five soon after.
WRITER
Practitioner of the art of graffiti.
Peace 4 ya,Konstantin Danilov ë.نءخةجد× لëل ZmogK.
گ‘’[Team ÷يë يçُ] [BreakDance] [Graffiti] ’‘گ
My LocatioN: /1430.9@FidoNet ICQ: 5710377 URL: http://zmogkd.hypermart.net---
... oooh watcha gonna do... UNREG