Every now and then someone coins a new word and I think it deserves to spread. I’d like to introduce you to the wonderfully descriptive term “slatin”, which comes courtesy of virtuoso percussionist João Bosco de Oliveira.

Bosco will sometimes tell a little tale about one particular gig when he’d only recently arrived from Brasil in the ’80s and started scuffling around in London. The sax player called the next tune and Bosco asked him: “what style do you want?” The leader exchanged a few casual shrugs and blank looks with the bassist and drummer, then replied: “well … s’Latin innit.” A pejorative was born.

slat·in (slt’n) n

A crude, lazy way of approximating musical styles from Latin America and the Caribbean employed by jazz musicians who don’t know any better (cf. slut, slattern, sloppy).