If You Don’t Know What "Cuh" Means Then You Probably Can’t Rock With Vince Staples

There's no shortage of crotchety folks who grumble about whatever new bits of slang and shorthand lingo "the kids" are constantly coming up with. As a grumbly curmudgeon myself, I'm wont to agree that some of the phrases make no sense. Like "cap" as a replacement for lie, which began as a misinterpretation from a song lyric and has the same number of syllables as the word "lie." Do better.

And since TikTok is a social media platform dominated by younger users, there are lots of words — like "cuh" — that have folks wondering: What does that mean?

Context is everything. If I'm standing in the middle of a Nebraska flatland with not a cloud, nor pretty much anything else, in the sky and I say, "that's a nice plane," then I'm probably not talking about an aircraft.

The same could be applied to conversing with folks online. If you just had a rousing match of Street Fighter V and your opponent messages you "ggs," they're telling you that you just enjoyed some good games, not that they're "gonna go smoke."

In the case of "cuh," however, there really isn't a situational usage for this particular phrase, as it will more than likely mean the same thing regardless of when/where you're employing it.

The word is basically an abbreviation for the term "cousin," which could be used as a short-form term of endearment, kind of like "bro" is to "brother."

It can be used to express closeness with a particular individual or address someone within your group you consider a part of your inner circle.

Similarly, you could say "cuz," but "cuh" seems to have become more popular online.

It's believed that these two shorthand ways of saying "cousin" were started by members of the Crips organization. It's even said that there are some Crips who refrain from using words that start with the letter "b" as a means of distancing themselves from the Bloods.

Some will say that Bloods also refrain from using the term "cousin," or any shortened form of the word too, for the same reason the Crips will stay away from the letter "b," going so far as to cross the letter out in writing or replacing words that end with "ck" to "cc," as "ck" is perceived as a shortened way of saying "Crip Killer."

But if you go online, you'll see that the there are tons of people using the word "cuh" who don't have affiliations with the Crips.

There are others, though — even known artists like Vince Staples, who actually was an active member of the Crips while he lived in Long Beach — who use the phrase.

Like when a Twitter user criticized the rapper for not using "they/them" when he made a joke about leaving someone's house if she/he didn't have a full kitchen.

Vince responded by saying, "What about Cuh/Cuz?"

I'd like to think after he sent that tweet out, he said "Norf side, Long Beach" and went about his day.