the.com/gang
a group bound tighter by loyalty than logic, for better or much worse
means a group of people who associate together, often for criminal or troublemaking purposes, though it can simply mean any band working or moving as one.
from From Old English 'gang,' meaning a going, a journey, or a way of walking — related to the verb 'to gang' (to go), still alive in Scots ('gang aft agley'). It shares roots with Old Norse 'gangr' and German 'Gang.' The sense drifted from 'a going together' to 'people who go together,' first innocently (a gang of workers, a gang of tools), then darkening over time into the gang we lock our doors against.
- old norse
- gangr meant simply a journey or way of walking
- gang of four
- named China's purge faction and a post-punk band
- penguin crew
- a group of penguins on land is literally a gang
- work crews
- railroad gangs once laid track across entire continents
- semantic drift
- once neutral, now criminal in most ears
crips — los angeles street gang founded in 1969, primarily identified by blue colors
bloods — los angeles street gang founded in 1972, primarily identified by red colors
ms-13 — transnational gang originating in los angeles in the 1980s, active across central america and north america
yakuza — japanese organized crime syndicates with documented history dating back centuries, hierarchical structure with initiation rituals