There is a core of words and familiar expressions that cross boundaries of age, gender and social class in African America. Some of these have been in use for decades; others have been coined in more recent years. While these words and familiar expressions may not be in the everyday speech of all Blacks, they are heard and used, at some point today, throughout African America. We may think of this linguistic core as “Black Semantics.” Like other aspects of African American Culture, many of the words and expressions in Black Semantics have now become the linguistic property of all Americans.