Word: This Site’s All That. Peace!

Ever been chillin’ (relaxing) with your homies (friends) when one of them blurts out: “Ay yo trip, that punk ain’t got no phat pocket.” Unless you’re down (familiar) with the rap scene (a highly energetic musical subculture relying heavily upon bass and baggy clothes), you’d probably wonder what the heck he was saying.

But if you’re close to a computer, you could quickly translate the sentence by visiting a rap Web site at https://www.sci.kun.nl/thalia/rapdict. According to this 100-page-plus Internet tome, your homie probably means: “Attention please, that stupid, annoying person doesn’t possess a plenitude of money.”

The Unofficial Rap Dictionary, as it calls itself, gives definitions and word origins to essential rap terms and phrases. It can help you avoid embarrassing social faux pas such as confusing “hooptie” (an old car in bad shape) with a “hooptie ride” (a drive-by murder).

The dictionary, however, is a few words short of comprehensive, which is hard to believe since it was compiled at rap’s ground zero. The lexicographers, two students from the University of Nijmegen in the Netherlands, are asking rappers to please help them define “227,” “diggity” and “ironing sweaters.” They request e-mail at nielsj@sci.kun.nl.