Prison Slang – Some Common Terms and Phrases

All Day – Life sentence; “He’s serving all day;”
All Day and a Night – a sentence of life without the possibility of parole (LWOP) – “He’s serving all day and a night;”
Bean Hole / Bean Slot – this is the metal opening in the prison cell door that is used by staff to pass food trays to inmates without having to open up the cell door; inmates can throw urine, feces or other bodily fluids (i.e., semen) through this slot at guards, a practice known as “gassing;”
Bid – prison sentence;
Bonaru – brand new prison clothes;
Boneyard – a conjugal visit without kids;
Brake Fluid – psychiatric medication; “here comes the brake fluid;”
Brownies – inmates who work in the prison kitchen;
Cadillac – coffee with cream and sugar;
Car – a group one associates with in prison, possibly due to gang affiliation, age, religion or sexual orientation;
Cell Warrior – an inmate who acts tough in his cell, but once outside his cell and face to face with others is a coward;
Chow – food; “We’re getting some good chow today;”
Chomo – Child molester, someone in custody serving time for a sex crime involving a person under age 18, or that person has a prior sex offense involving a child; “He’s a chomo;”
Cowboy – a new correctional officer;
Dime – a ten-year prison sentence;
Dinner and a Show – while inmates eat dinner in a common area and a fight breaks out among inmates there, possibly leading to everyone being pepper-sprayed;
Doing the Dutch – committing suicide;
Duck – a gullible or manipulable correctional officer; one who may smuggle in contraband for inmates and who may share sensitive personal information about other officers with inmates;
Dump Truck – a fat, lazy slob;
Fish – newly incarcerated people, also called fresh fish if the person had never been to prison before; “We got some fresh fish coming our way tomorrow;”
Free – when a prison employee retires, “He’s free now;”
Gassing – when an inmate throws urine, feces, spit or semen at a guard, usually in the guard’s face;
Getting Buzzed – receiving a tattoo;
Hoe Check – a group beating given to an inmate to see if he or she will stand up;
House – your cell;
J-Cat – someone with mental issues;
New Batch – a group of newly incarcerated people; “There’s a new batch arriving today;
Ninja Turtles – prison guards dressed in riot gear when responding to an alarm, a reference to the film “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles;” “Here come the ninja turtles;”
On the Count – right before every shift start (this happens every day), an incoming guard shouts this order, which instructs inmates to return to their cells and stand by their beds for a head count;
On the Wall – a phrase a guard will use to tell the inmate to put his palms facing outward above his head on a prison wall, usually so the guard can conduct a pat down search;
Shakedown – a thorough search of a cell by prison guards, most likely looking for illegal drugs, weapons, cellphones, or other items; “Guards and doing a shakedown down there;”
Slashes Are Up / Slashes Are Down – prison staff and inmates use this term to refer to whether stabbings among inmates have increased or decreased; “Slashes are up this month;”
Something’s Going to Pop – a phrase used to signal that there is imminent danger, perhaps when there was a recent fight and inmates may seek retaliation soon; and