Graffiti terminology.

A brief terminology of common terms used by "Taggers".


"Tag" - the most basic form of graffiti, a "taggers" signature with marker or spray paint. It is the writer's logo, personal signature.
"Tagger" - an individual who participates in illegal graffiti ("tags"). Often these individuals refer to themselves as "artists" or "writers".
"Crew" - a small group of taggers who like to tag together.
"Wildstyle" - form of graffiti involving, interlocking letters, arrows, and connecting points. These pieces are usually extremely difficult to read or make sense of.
"Drips" - stylized drips drawn onto letters to add effect. This style originated early on in New York subway graffiti.
"Karak" - a cartoon character. In some pieces, the character takes the place of a letter in the word.
"Props" - respect, comes from "proper respect".
"Throwup" - throwups are either quickly done bubble letters or very simple pieces using only two colors.
"Toy" - an inexperienced or incompetent "tagger".One old definition of "TOYS" is that it stands for "trouble on your system", referring to the New York subway.
"Bomb" - prolific covering of an area or a specific wall. In the case of a single wall it will be entirely covered with graffiti.
"Buff" - any means used to cover or remove graffiti. The most common means are painting,pressure washing/chemical removal,sandblasting or poulticing.
"The Buff" - usually an individual employed (publicly or privately) to remove graffiti. Sometimes a municipal dept or a private contractor will be referred to as "the buff".

DTagr