By C1 Staff
Our last foray into correctional slang revolved around how officers talk about themselves and the inmates. This time, we’re going to let the offenders have their say – yes, you veteran readers may have heard these on the daily (everyday) but for the rookies (new officers), it’s good to learn what kind of slang offenders might use around you in order to slip one past you.
If you see something missing from the list, add it in the comments.
Fire on the line
Inmates use this phrase to warn each other that a correctional officer has entered the area. This could be a good way to note that the inmates could be up to something, at least in that particular moment.
Hold your mud
Don’t be a narc, a stool pigeon, or any other form of snitch. This phrase holds the threat of violence or punishment, so if you hear this, stay alert.
Dipping in the Kool Aid
This is used toward someone who’s attempting to enter a conversation they haven’t been invited to. Of course, it could also mean that someone’s cellmate dipped into their hoard of Kool Aide packets.
Wolf Tickets
Corrections officers might know these inmates as “blanket warriors” or “cell warriors;” you know, those inmates who talk tough but never act on their threats. A phrase using this term might go, “He’s just selling wolf tickets.”
Stainless Steel Ride
An inmate who booked a ticket on the stainless steel ride is someone who’s headed to death row, generally to be executed by lethal injection.
Ninja Turtles
This is an inmate descriptor for correctional officers in full riot gear; it’s pretty easy to see the comparison. Another phrase use for CERT is “hats and bats.”
Juice Card
An inmate’s juice card implies their amount of influence among other inmates, or even with correctional officers. This term might be used in a phrase such as, “he should have gone to the hole for that, but he’s got a juice card with one of the guards.”
Bug Juice
This kind of juice refers to intoxicants or depressant drugs; hearing this phrase could imply the movement or sale of contraband drugs inside a facility.
Catch a Ride
In the same vein as the above phrase, if an inmate asks to ‘catch a ride’ from another inmate, he’s asking to get high.
Dance on the Blacktop
This phrase means to be stabbed; if you hear another inmate say that someone is about to dance on the blacktop, a fight could be brewing.