Glossary of Graffiti Terms

Bite: To copy another writer’s style.
Bomb: Prolific painting or marking with ink.
Buff: Any means employed by the authorities to remove graffiti from trains or walls. To buff is to erase.
Burn: To beat the competition.
Cap: Interchangeable spray can nozzles (fat or skinny) fitted to vary width of spray.
Crew: Loosely organized group of writers, as known as clique.
Fade: To blend colors.
Going Over: One writer covering another writer’s name with his own.
Hit: To tag up any surface with paint or ink.
Kill: To hit or bomb excessively.
King: True Master (whether quantity or quality) Also ‘Rad’.
Piece: A painting, short for masterpiece. To piece is to paint a masterpiece.
Rack: To steal (also known as ‘Nick’).
Tag: A writer’s signature with marker of spray paint.
Tagging Up: Writing signature with marker or spray paint.
Throw-up: A name painted quickly with one layer of spray paint and an outline.
Toy: An experienced or incompetent writer.
Up: Describes a writer whose work appears regularly.
Wack: Substandard or incorrect.
Wildstyle: A complicated construction of interlocking letters.
Writer: Practitioner of the art of graffiti.

Thanks to DC Graffiti writer – PrezSTM for compiling this list