I was talking to a friend of mine a few weeks ago about NBA basketball and in passing I made the comment that "chippy" must be the Whitest word in the English language. For those of you who have better things to do than watch basketball all day, "chippy" is an expression used by announcers when the players look like they may fight. A few weeks after this conversation with my friend, he asked me, "well, if 'chippy' is 'White' then what is the 'Black' version of this word." I had no immediate answer. I offered "heated" and "testy" but neither seemed to be a perfect fit. The conversation amused me because I grew up in the suburbs, what do I really know about the "hood" and what is "street".

Afterwards, I got to thinking about White words and Black words because clearly there are some differences. I don't know a single Black guy who refers to his friends as Bro, as in"Hey Bro, how's it going?". That one definitely goes on the chippy side. By the same token, there is no explaining the collective dyslexia of Blacks who say "aks" instead of "ask". That one may result more from class and education than race though. On the colorblind level, I love to hear people on court shows "proceeding", as in "then I proceeded to go to the laundromat, your honor" Who in their daily life uses the word proceeded? It's one of those words that is so specific, like you only use the word reputed when referring to mobsters. Anyway, I'd love to know if anyone can think of any more "White" words or "Black" words. Hit the comment button and let me know if you come up with any?