Chin check: To punch another inmate in the jaw to see if he'll fight back.

Cowboy: A new correctional officer. Cowboy spelled backwards, is yobwoc, or a "young, obnoxious, bastard we often con."

Dance on the blacktop: To get stabbed.

Diesel therapy: A lengthy bus trip or transfer to a far away facility, or even an incorrect destination, used as punishment or to get rid of troublesome inmates.

Ding wing: A prison's psychiatric unit.

Dipping in the Kool-Aid: Attempting to enter a conversation the person has no place in or is not welcome in.

Doing the Dutch: To commit suicide.

Dry snitching: To inform on another inmate indirectly by talking loudly about their actions or behaving suspiciously in front of correctional officers; supply general information to officers without naming names.

Duck: A correctional officer who reveals information about other officers or prison staff to inmates.

Fire on the line: A warning -- "correctional officer in the area."

Ghetto penthouse: The top tier of a cell block.

Four piece or four-piece suit: A full set of restraints, composed of handcuffs, leg irons and waist chain, and security boxes to cover the restraints' key holes.

Grandma's: Or Grandma's House, a prison gang's headquarters or meeting place, or the cell of the gang leader.

Heat wave: The attention brought to a group of inmates by the action of one or a few, as in "Joe and John got caught with contraband, and now the whole tier is going through a heat wave."

Hold your mud: To resist informing or snitching even under threat of punishment or violence.

I got jigs: To keep look out or watch for officers, as in "I got jigs while you make that shank."

In the car: In on a deal or a plan.

Jacket: 1. An inmate's information file or rap sheet. 2. An inmate's reputation among other prisoners.

Jack Mack: Canned mackerel or other fish available from the prison commissary. Can be used as currency with other inmates or placed in a sock and used as a weapon.

Jackrabbit parole: To escape from a facility.

Juice card: An inmate's influence with guards or other prisoners. "He should have gone to the hole for that, but he's got a juice card with one of the guards."

Keister: To hide contraband in one's rectum. Also known as "taking it to the hoop," "putting it in the safe"and "packing the rabbit."

Kite: A contraband letter.

Monkey mouth: A prisoner who goes on and on about nothing.

Monster: HIV. Also known as "the ninja."

Ninja Turtles: Guards dressed in full riot gear. Also known as "hats and bats."

No smoke: To follow staff's orders without resisting or causing any problems, as in "He let the guards search his cell, no smoke."

On the bumper: Trying to get "in the car."

On the river: Time spent at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, which is surrounded on three sides by the Mississippi River. As in, "He did 20 years on the river."