Date: Mon, 22 Jan 1996 16:47:45 -0800

From: Mary Bucholtz bucholtz[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]GARNET.BERKELEY.EDU

Subject: street slang



I'm doing some pro bono work for a public defender, and I'd like to know

what the expression "break yourself" can mean, especially in its

use among African American urban youth (but other groups' use of it is

also important). I'd appreciate any citations anyone might have, including

music or pop culture attestations, as well as anything scholarly that may

have been written about it.



Thanks very much.



Mary Bucholtz

Department of Linguistics

University of California, Berkeley

bucholtz[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]garnet.berkeley.edu