members of a multi-ethnic, multi-class Washington,DC, community deploy language to legitimize themselves as communitymembers while discrediting others.Discusses such issues as public toilets and public urination,the "morality" of co-ops and condos, and characterizations of"good" girls and "bad" boys.Draws on linguistic anthropology and discourse analysis toprovide insight into the ways that local activity shapes largerurban social processes.Draws also on cultural geography and urban anthropology.

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