Issues in Applied Linguistics

In this article I analyze various apparently synonymous words for 'friend' (e.g. 'homes,' 'bro,' 'homeboy,' ese,' and 'rolldog') as they are used by one former gangmember , Mario, to persuade two current gang-members to stop "gangbanging." While giving advice to the two current gangsters, Mario uses a variety of words in order to refer to "so-called friends" and to index the fact that he is, though no longer a gangster, part of the same community as his addressees. This analysis also shows how the meanings of these disparate reference terms are made and re-made through talk as conversationalists use these words to put forward their contrasting points of view.