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Currently reading "Slang for the ages. It's swag. bae," by Kory Stamper from International New York Times (October 6, 2014), I came across this acronym O.G.

"It[swag]'s generally taken to be a shortened form of the verb "swagger," which was used to denote a certain insolent cockiness by William Shakespeare, O.G."

Definitions of O.G. I have found so far are the following two:

  1. officer of the guard.
  2. original gum: the gum on the back of a stamp when it is issued to the public.

I think it is the second one (only because the first one doesn't seem fit) but what does original gum really mean? I am still confused.

Maybe some explanation with the context will be greatly appreciated.

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3
  • Just for clarification on your original gum - In the world of philately (Stamp collecting), original gum means that the stamp was never attached to anything, either by licking the adhesive and sticking it to a letter, or the lick and stick "hinges" that they used for mounting stamps in an album for a period. If a stamp still has the original gum that it started with, it is potentially worth much more than a stamp that has been stuck to something.
    – JohnP
    Oct 7, 2014 at 19:07
  • Amongst the Hmong population, OG doesn't have a meaning, although it is typically used when speaking of the older people, such as grandparents, uncles and aunts, friends' parents etc.
    – user150530
    Dec 7, 2015 at 18:14
  • To some people in my generation, "OG" would mean "Oh God!"
    – Hot Licks
    Jan 25, 2016 at 21:29

4 Answers 4

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It's slang for (and an abbreviation of) Original Gangster.

  1. someone who has been around, old school gangster

Urban Dictionary

Commonly used to refer to someone who is not a gangster, but is considered highly skilled in a particular area.

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5
  • WOW to you! This is great! I love how it fits with the whole article! PERFECT! Thanks a lot! :-) I will have to wait 6 more mins. to check your answer.. argh- ;-)
    – N.R. in Seoul
    Oct 7, 2014 at 0:34
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    @N.R.inSeoul It's polite to wait a little while to give time for people to write more complete answers, but in any case the term was popularized by O.G. Original Gangsta, a 1991 song and album by Ice-T, about an experienced, accomplished, and authentic rapper and street thug.
    – choster
    Oct 7, 2014 at 0:45
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    @choster - There's a system-enforced 12-minute wait before the OP can accept an answer (2 days if its their own answer) - Which should be enough. Not to mention that if someone else posts an even better answer, the OP can change the accept at any point.
    – Robotnik
    Oct 7, 2014 at 7:24
  • And triple OG is the ultimate. As I've never heard quadruple OG used.
    – AbraCadaver
    Oct 7, 2014 at 18:25
  • "Opera Ghost" just got a lot more context.
    – Robin Goodfellow
    Oct 7, 2014 at 22:26
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OG also refers to "ocean grown", in reference to marijuana. Which likely contributed to it becoming synonymous with 'original'.

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  • That's debatable, but with the word swag in the text (crappy weed), we'd be remiss if no one mentioned marijuana. Which that article fails to incorporate entirely. They're obviously not up to par on the modern slang usage of OG and swag.
    – Mazura
    Jan 26, 2016 at 0:27
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I think it means "original gangster" or "other girl"

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  • Since the context (which he poster supplies in the body of the question) is a sentence that ends with "William Shakespeare, OG," and since the highest-voted answer already accounts for the "original gangster" part of your answer, your answer will be on point (and nonrepetitive) only if you can explain why "William Shakespeare, other girl" is a plausible option. On the other hand, if we treat the poster's header as the (broader) question to be answered, your answer might pass muster if you added an explanation of where and under what circumstances people use "OG" to mean "other girl."
    – Sven Yargs
    Mar 7, 2016 at 0:56
-4

Other Girl. That's what most people say, "I'm at the house w/ my og".

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