La Raza
Chicano Slang in Old-School Hip-Hop: The Words Kid Frost, Cypress Hill and Mellow Man Ace Put on the Radio
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Add a word/Sounds like "PLAH" (as in "plan") + "kah" (as in "car")/
Meaning
A Chicano slang word for "the cops," coming from the metal badge (placa) officers wear on their chest. "La placa" refers to the police as an institution, and hearing "ahí viene la placa" in a Chicano neighborhood is the universal signal to wrap up whatever you're doing. It is street-level language that carries the full weight of the complicated relationship between the Raza and law enforcement in the United States.
Examples
“Watch out, the cops are coming.”
“The cops drove by the corner three times tonight.”
Community
Your word isn't here yet
Join Hablaaa and add the expression no one else has documented.
/Sounds like "PLAH" (as in "plan") + "kah" (as in "car")/
Meaning
A Chicano slang word for "the cops," coming from the metal badge (placa) officers wear on their chest. "La placa" refers to the police as an institution, and hearing "ahí viene la placa" in a Chicano neighborhood is the universal signal to wrap up whatever you're doing. It is street-level language that carries the full weight of the complicated relationship between the Raza and law enforcement in the United States.
Examples
“Watch out, the cops are coming.”
“The cops drove by the corner three times tonight.”
Articles featuring this word
Calato
Exposed, unprotected, or left completely vulnerable in Peru. To be "calato" figuratively means to be caught with nothing to back you up.