The Ultimate Guide to Staten Island Slang

Andrew Schillaci
3 min readNov 3, 2015

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http://theodysseyonline.com/lehigh/the-ultimate-guide-to-staten-island-slang/204967

“You’re Shot”

A way of telling somebody that there is a zero percent chance of an event happening, as well as to note that someone is not using their brain properly. For example, my brother asked me if I wanted to go to Roller Jam next Friday, and I said “You’re shot.”

‘’She thinks who she is”

A negative term used to express that another person is conceited or full of herself.

“Come scoop”

A term used to tell a friend to come pick you up in their car.

“That’s dope”

A term used to express an item or piece of clothing that is really cool.

“Bro”

A term of endearment used for close friends and polite pleasantries. “Yo, what’s up bro.”

“What are you burnt?”

Used to describe someone who is acting like they are high on drugs.

“Mint”

A term used to describe a piece of clothing or object as high-quality. For example, “that 72 El Dorado on the corner of Hylan Boulevard is mint.”

“Scheeve”

A term used to describe a person who is dirty or unclean.

“Mad”

Another word for “very.” For example, “Those shoes are mad nice” or “that girl is mad hot.”

“Not for nothing”

A phrase that is traditionally used to begin an aggravated thought. For example, something my aunt might say would be “Not for nothing, but she had the nerve to come over my house on Thanksgiving and let her kids run around all night with nobody watching them.”

“At the end of the day…”

A phrase used to conclude or summarize a particular idea into a smaller thought. A friend might tell me, “At the end of the day, who really cares if your sneakers go out of style.”

“Brick”

A term used to describe cold weather.

“Dead ass”

A way of expressing seriousness. For example, my friend told me that they came out with a new movie on Netflix called “Staten Island Summer” and that it was filmed in Great Kills. So I said “Dead ass?”

“You’re my boy”

A term of endearment used between friends. “Yo bro, have you been reading my articles? Of course, you are my boy.”

“Take it there”

When somebody somebody gets out of line. Someone might say, “Why did you have to take it there?”

“Sick”

An expression used to describe something as cool or extraordinary. For example, last year my brother asked me if I was watching football because JJ Watt was having a “sick” year.

“Good Shit”

Another way of saying you’re proud of somebody. My friend told me that he put up three plates in the gym yesterday, so I told him “Good shit, bro.”

“Throw hands”

The final words before a fight. “Yo, are you trying to throw hands?”

“Tight”

Another word for saying “pissed off.” For instance, “I’m tight that the Jets lost to the Patriots last week.”

“Spazzin/Buggin/Trippin”

Somebody who is agitated or bothered. For example, “Mr. Verde was bugging last week because nobody did his homework.”

“Kicks”

Another way to describe a pair of sneakers.

“We out”

A way of letting your crew know that it is time to leave.

“Real Talk”

A way for people to express a level of seriousness, very similar to dead ass.

“Fire”

A way of describing something that is really cool. For instance, “the new 11’s are fire.”

“Chill”

Another way of telling someone to take a step back. For example, you listen to that new Adele song? “Yo chill bro!”

“I’m Fit”

Committed. My brother asked me if I wanted to go to the mall Friday to buy some new kicks, and I said “I’m fit.”

“Banging”

A word to describe good taste. For example, “Have you tried the new sonic on Page Avenue?” “Yeah, it’s banging.”

“Good looks”

A way of showing appreciation,-very similar to “thank you.”

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