Is “gang banging” a common phrase? Does it generally refer to whatever gang is doing?
Yes, in the context of gangs, it refers to partaking in gang activity with members of the gang.
40-50 years ago, anyway, this term had a specifically sexual meaning. Would the context of the term where you read it allow or demand such?
@Aybee77
Umm, so if someone said: “Aybee got gang-banged last night”, that would mean that you were just hanging out with the gang…??
(Like Ernie, I would have thought it meant something a little bit different to this…)
If you call someone a “gang banger” then it would be similar to aybee77’s definition, but it does, as the guys say, have another explicitly sexual meaning, especially when used as a verb.
I believe it solely has a sexual connotation (even today) as a verb. Someone who is of a seedy sort can be called a “gangbanger,” but he isn’t going around gangbanging (well, I suppose he could be, but that’d be a different story altogether).
Fun Fact: At some McDonald’s restaurants here in Texas (Waco and College Station I know for sure), you can ask for a McGangBang or McGB* and they’ll give you a double quarter pounder with a chicken sandwich mashed in the middle.
Yes, I know of the sexual connotation, but within the context that didn’t apply.
I got gang banged - yes, sexual. I gang bang - not necessarily sexual. Yes, you can use gang bang or gang banging as a verb without it being sexual, I’ve heard it used NUMEROUS times by my gang banging schoolmates when I was younger. Yes, the sexual connotation is more widely known, but there is another meaning.
Wiz Khalifa - Gang Bang (Feat Big Sean) [Lyrics] - YouTube (look at the lyrics, especially the chorus)
Do a search on youtube or google on gang banging.
Those lyrics are…interesting…! :-0
I must say, I was COMPLETELY unfamiliar with the non-sexual usage of the term! Though mind you, it’s not an expression I hear an awful lot in any case…
Every time I hear this gang related usage, I must say that I cringe.
I would warn that if you are going to suggest to people that they do a Google Search for Gang Banging that you preface that they not do it on their work machines.
Interesting to see that degree of disagreement between native speakers. Also, the context wasn’t clear to me either from the opening question.
Where I live you can call someone who is a member of a gang a “gang banger” without eliciting the sexual connotation, but if you use the verb “gang bang” in any sort of a sentence, the sexual connotation will be assumed.
Would it be safe to assume, though, that ‘gang banger’ is not considered proper English? It’s slang right? And slang is always different in different places…
Yes, you’re right, Peter. It is slang.
I can only agree with Vonk, Odiernod, Chris, Z33Dubya, Alex and Ernie.
The noun “gangbanger” could (depending on context) have a non-violent sense. But personally I don’t see how the VERB “gang-bang” could possibly describe anything other than a gang-rape - or, at the very least, some kind of rough group-sexual activity!?
It’s kind of unpleasant to discuss such things - but there you go, I’ve said it! :-0
I agree with aybee. The word is slang and so its meaning isn’t fixed.
@Rank You don’t see how it could possibly be used as a non-sexual verb? You were shown a video from a popular rapper (Wiz Khalifa) that featured the word in the chorus as a verb. It is used this way commonly in rap songs in the US. Whether this means it is well known or if it is used this way much in general, I don’t know, but it’s clear that it exists in some contexts.
When Too Short says Gangbang Music he’s talking about music to listen to while you gangbang. As often as he is explicit about sexual topics, he means only the non-sexual word. When I hear it, there isn’t a default meaning; it depends completely on context.
To add more fuel I suppose, there is a another, related meaning that I’ve heard a number of times. If someone says, “Let’s gangbang this,” it can mean, “Let’s collaborate on this in order to get it done quickly.”
I am pretty sure in the UK that term has a 100% sexual meaning. At least among the general population. Though I have heard the other meaning many times in American shows and movies.
I hear what you say. However you should note that this it isn’t merely my opinion - I was basically agreeing with what several other posters have said before me.
I would have to disagree that a slang-word’s meaning is “not fixed”. If this were the case, then any given piece of slang could potentially mean anything to anybody - and it would thus have no clear meaning at all. (Of course, meanings can change over time, and they can be different in geographically or socially diverse contexts - but these are slightly different arguments.)
As regards the word in question, “gang bang”, I will concede that you may be absolutely right about its use within the context of rap music. (To be honest I know very little about rap culture - it is really not to my taste.)
@Rank And I would say that any piece of slang could potentially mean anything to anybody. But that doesn’t mean it has no clear meaning (consensus in a particular group of people at a particular time and in a particular context). Anyway, that is a little beside the point. In some places this word has one meaning as a verb and in others it has multiple meanings.