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What's the meaning of hood in this comment? Is it neighbourhood, or it's a slang for something else?

Cutler Ridge (they renamed it to Cutler Bay now wtf) has been hood for a long time. We used to street race out at Black Point when I was a dumb ass teenager. But Saga Bay and the immediate coast areas were pretty nice back then.

Edit:

This poster made his comment in response to the following remark that's made from another poster:

My dad's SUV got jacked when I was living in Saga Bay. Don't live in FL anymore. Too much f-king crime and grime.

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    This could also be a typo. Has been good for a long time? – MetaEd Jan 8 '13 at 19:45
  • Cultural reference: "Boyz n the Hood" imdb.com/title/tt0101507/?ref_=sr_1 – Zoot Jan 8 '13 at 22:01
  • Contrast with a 1964 Frank Sinatra film "Robin and the 7 Hoods", where a hood is a gangster imdb.com/title/tt0058529 'Hood' comes from 'hoodlum' here, rather than 'neighbourhood'. – Mynamite Jan 8 '13 at 23:02
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    What's the source of this quotation? That would help. – Mitch Jan 9 '13 at 0:38
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    @Theo It is always helpful to include context in the question when asking about a word or sentence. If possible quote two or three sentences preceding the one you are asking about. And this is best done by editing the question, not in comment. – MetaEd Jan 9 '13 at 5:08
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Here, hood is being used in contrast to nice. It is, indeed, short for "neighborhood," but specifically refers to a ghetto neighborhood. I've normally only heard it in nominal form, and urban dictionary seems to use it this way, too, but here it's an adjective referring to the impoverished/ghetto-like state of Cutler Ridge/Cutler Bay.

Urban dictionary shows the following definitions

  1. The ghetto.
  2. Someone who is from the ghetto.
  3. Someone who acts like they are from the ghetto. Other Slang: Hoodlum, Gangsta, Thug, Nigga, Pimp, Street-rat, Street Urchin, etc.
  4. The foreskin of a penis.
  5. Covering of the clitoris.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=hood

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  • How can 'hood' be contrasted with 'nice'? 'hood' is a noun not an adjective. If it were said 'a hood', then it would mean a gangster. If it said 'the hood', then yes it would probably mean 'neighborhood'. Also, Urban Dictionary is not a very reliable reference (excellent for motivation or ideas, but of questionable authority). – Mitch Jan 9 '13 at 0:43
  • Actually, the point of my response is that the speaker is using "hood" as an adjective meaning something contrary to "nice." I also don't say that it means "neighborhood" in the cited context. Re: Urban Dictionary I am not positing that urban dictionary is an authority on the English language, but it would stand to reason that in the question of slang, the most important question is what words mean to the people who use them--which is exactly what you get at urban dictionary. I clearly don't cite it as a final authority, but as a reference; it in fact does not mention "hood" as an adjective. – vidget Jan 29 '13 at 20:17
  • On reflection and looking at all the actual instances of 'hood', it does seem like it is being used here as an adjective, almost identically to the way 'ghetto' can be used: "They didn't clean the microwave after they exploded their pizza in it? That's so ghetto." – Mitch Jan 29 '13 at 20:47
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As a noun, hood is slang for a ghetto or impoverished area. It is shortened from neighborhood.

As an adjective, hood is often used to culturally identify a person or object with the state of being from such an area.

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I suspect — because of the word But — that Cutler Ridge has not been "pretty nice" for some time, although I have no idea about the relationship between Cutler Ridge and Saga Bay.

Urban Dictionary is usually a reasonably reliable resource for slang, although a level of caution has to be exercised and it's not for the faint-hearted or easily-offended. A number of contributions for hood indicate it's slang for ghetto; and that it is a shortened form of neighbourhood in gangster culture. This seems reasonable if it's not "pretty nice".

The contributors to Urban Dictionary don't mention a construction like "has been hood", though. I surmise that ghetto-like might be a reasonable translation.

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