The crab got a biscuit and is drinking the bumble bee’s milk.
Translation: a Crip gang member has a gun and is looking to kill a Latin King rival.
New York gangs aren’t just a frightening menace driving up crime in the city. They operate in a shadowy underworld with their own signs, signals and terminology.
But a forthcoming book by gang expert Lou Savelli pulls back the veil, revealing thousands of insider terms for everything that makes up gangster life: guns, drugs, money and murder.
“Gangs have their own language to represent who they are and to show their camaraderie,” says Savelli, a leading consultant who founded the NYPD’s gang unit and is now deputy director of the nonprofit East Coast Gang Investigators Association.
“The slang they develop helps protect them from law enforcement. They also don’t want other criminals ripping them off.”
Savelli says the emergence of small youth crews and the rising power of outlaw motorcycle gangs (OMGs) pose significant threats.
“There’s more sex-trafficking and prostitution from last year,” he said.
He noted that a federal gang-intelligence report on Oct. 12 noted that 48 percent of the crime nationwide is committed by gangs.
No wonder Police Commissioner Ray Kelly recently called for doubling the size of the NYPD’s gang unit.
Some of the 5,000-plus words and phrases in Savelli’s book, “Gang Related: Signs, Signals and Slang of Modern Gangs and Organized Crime” — a work in progress intended both for cops and general readers — have already made it into everyday use: bling, chilling and po-po, for example.
Others, like bumble bee, a name the Latin Kings got in the 1990s when they wore puffy goose-down jackets in black and gold, are limited to the criminal community.
Here, an A to Z guide of some of the terms Savelli highlights:
Adidas: “All Day I Destroy a Slob.” This from the Crips, a gang of about 3,200 in New York who have taken to wearing T-shirts from the sports apparel company instead of identifying themselves with their signature blue hats and bandanas. The phrase is a boast aimed at their main rivals, the Bloods, a gang of 7,000 whom they derisively call “slobs.”
Biscuit: A gun. “Ya gotta biscuit?” is used by street and motorcycle gangs. Other terms for gun: gat, nine (for the 9-mm handgun), puppy (among Jamaicans) and pump (for shotgun).
Crab: The Bloods’ term for Crips. “It’s a way to disrespect them,” says Savelli. Crab is the sexually transmitted variety.
Drinking milk: A Crip term for targeting or killing a rival, stolen from the Bloods in the 1990s, when jailed Blood members devised a way to disrespect others in prison — by stealing food off their tray or drinking their milk. It’s now used widely by various gangs.
Elbow: Used by drug dealers to describe a pound (that is, “lb.”) of drugs.
Fat Boris: A term among Russians organized-crime members for a scammer who will pose as an attractive woman online, seducing his target into accepting delivery on jewelry or other luxury good and sending the item to Europe. This allows the thief to hide his involvement in buying expensive merchandise with a stolen credit card.
Ghetto star: A top street drug dealer, usually in a housing project. Term likely started with Harlem drug lord Nicky Barnes. “Fifty Cent was also a ghetto star,” notes Savelli.
Hotel: Used as a dismissive term for jail by the Israeli Mafia, whose ultra tough, heroin-dealing members have been locked up in many prisons across the globe. “It’s just a place where they’re going to stay for a while,” Savelli says.
Inca: a top leader in the Latin Kings, who have about 3,000 members in New York, predominantly Puerto Ricans concentrated in Brooklyn and The Bronx. There are believed to be five Incas in the city.
Jumped in: An initiation beating. Beatings have fallen out of favor with some gangs but are still used by Bloods, Crips and Mexican crews. “You can cover up but you can’t fight back,” Savelli says. Survive it and you’re in.
Kite: A jailhouse letter in the shape of a miniature kite. “They actually can ‘fly’ from cell to cell,” explains Savelli. “They look like kites on strings. It’s amazing. And the note is written in such small letters that they can write volumes. It’s a way to place your order for drugs or to get someone shanked.”
Lampin’: A term for hanging out under a street-light, usually where drugs are sold. “That’s what kids do — that’s their turf, their territory,” says Savelli. Dates back to the 1960s.
Mug: An Albanian gangster. Originated with Jimmy Cagney films, which referred to prison photos as mug shots. Overseas gangsters get many terms from Hollywood. “Jamaicans call themselves posses because of the spaghetti westerns of the 1970s,” says Savelli.
Nickel: Five years in prison, a badge of honor and commonly used among gangs. “Average drug dealers do six months to two years, so if you’re in for five, there’s a chance you did a murder or a major drug case,” says Savelli.
On point: Getting ready to fight. It’s a generic term but used most commonly by Bloods and Crips. “They’ll say, ‘Be on point,’ Savelli notes. “It also means to get your gun ready.”
Picasso: Both a noun and a verb, it refers to the slicing up of one’s face in prison. “You’ll hear people say, ‘He’s so good with a knife, he’ll do a Picasso on you,’ ” says Savelli. The mark of a serious slashing is also called a “buck fifty.” That means at least 150 stitches.
Queen: a female member of the Latin Kings.
Rack: To steal. “Rack up” means to shoplift.
Stack: Refers to both gang hand signals and speaking only by using them. “Some of these gangs can do the whole alphabet in their own signs or using American sign language,” says Savelli. “They could have a whole conversation without saying a word.”
Terror Dome: Attica prison. A gathering place for hard-core killers, murderers, rapists and major drug dealers. Name comes from its violence and history of riots in 1960s and ’70s.
Uryt: To kill or bury in Russian. “It actually means to bury a body — ‘Bury this guy,’ ” says Savelli. Russian gangsters, notoriously ruthless, do fewer murders today than in the past as they concentrate on ID theft and financial scams.
Ventana: A lookout among Mexican and Latin King gangs. It’s the Spanish word for window.
Wanksta: A wannabe gangster, a pretender. Word is a cross between wanker and gangster.
Xap Sam: A type of poker favored by Chinese gangsters. Played in the back of crime-controlled nail salons and massage parlors in Chinatown and Sunset Park, centers for prostitution and illegal gambling.
Yubitsume: Punishment in the Yakuza Japanese mob in which a pinkie is chopped off. The Yakuza in New York maintain a low profile but are actively engaged in extortion and prostitution. It’s one of the biggest gangs worldwide, with some 200,000 members.
Zoomer: A street gang term for someone who sells fake drugs to unsuspecting druggies. Gang members don’t like zoomers because they are bad for business and bring unwanted heat from law-enforcement.