How does prison population impact word growth?
Nearly 2.3 million individuals are incarcerated in the United States and roughly 5,400 new words are created each year. So how does our prison population impact word growth? Perhaps you are familiar with the term ear-hustle. Ear-hustle is a slang term coined by the prison community meaning to 'eavesdrop' and is commonly used in prison by those who are incarcerated. The idiom is used as a verb or noun, compounding the words 'ear' and 'hustle;' also pronounced ear-hustling or ear-hustl'n. Ear-hustling is sometimes written and recognized as one word (earhustling). The idiom's stem words, ear and hustle, carry symbolic semantics. Ear is used as a symbolical or metaphorical representation for the action of 'listening.' The word Hustle, commonly used today as a slang term for trying to make ends meet in an illegal fashion, provides the idiom ear-hustle with a negative connotation of 'sticking your nose where it doesn't belong' and 'listening on the down-low.' The term also defines that the person doing the ear-hustling enjoys gossiping in addition to eavesdropping. The association to eavesdrop is a quick and quiet practice. Urban Dictionary places the earliest trace of this word around the early 2000's. The term ear-hustling does derive from social restrictions. If you are not familiar with prison slang, you most likely have not heard of this word. However, ear-hustle is gaining exposure through the media. A popular podcast titled Ear Hustle, is led by Antwan Williams, Nigel Poor, and Earlonne Woods. Ear Hustle exploits various aspects of prison life within the San Quentin State Prison. Antwan Williams and Earlonne Woods were former residents inside the San Quentin State Prison, and Nigel Poor is a visual artist and volunteer. Together they have brought awareness and fame to the San Quentin State Prison by sharing what life is like for those who are incarcerated.
Antwan Williams is the co-founder and sound designer of Ear Hustle. He was previously incarcerated and was released in October of 2016.
Nigel Poor is a visual artist and volunteer at San Quentin Prison. She began volunteering at the prison in 2011.
Earlonne Woods served twenty-one years in prison before his release in November of 2018.
The podcast Ear Hustle has been featured on many prominent media platforms including PBS News Hour, NPR, NBC News, The Marshall Project, The New Yorker, The Guardian, and the Atlantic. As the podcast continues to gain credibility and exposure, so does the term ear-hustle. I was not exposed to this idiom until I took a prison writing course at the University of Arizona, instructed by Dr. Klotz. Once I learned about the podcast Ear Hustle and of the positive awareness it was bringing to the public on mass incarceration, I decided to share the podcast with my friends and family. We had conversations on what ear-hustling meant and the cleaver language coined from prison.
Examples of ear-hustle in a conversation:
'Be careful around that guy he is always trying to ear hustle on the conversation'
'Be quiet! I'm trying to ear-hustle.'
'Don't say that here because you never know who is ear-hustling'
Below is a poem I recently created for my prison class using the term ear-hustle.