[0xcde4c3db]

My memory of this long ago is fuzzy, but I believe the word itself is originally from LA gang subculture and was spread more broadly via gangsta rap in the late '80s/early '90s or so (cf. the trend of people spelling certain words with "ck" changed to "cc", which was a feature of Crips tagging). The earliest documented use I could find referred to someone selling fake drugs, but I seem to recall that as it spread it turned into a generic placeholder for just about any offense from petty theft to cold-blooded murder.

[hattmall]

Yeah it's just slang for some kind of nefarious action. It's in a lot of rap songs, west coast origin seems possible for sure but been around a long time. East coast version is juug.

[ericbarrett]

In the early 90s in NorCal, we used gank to mean "steal" or "snatch", and you can still find this definition online. I don't think it ever meant murder until it got used in PvP games.

[hattmall]

Aren't these murders for stealing though, like don't you kill the people and they drop stuff. I don't remember the game but I know people used to sell in-game items of high value on eBay then stalk people for a bit and kill them to steal it back. One guy got mad about it and went and killed the people in real life.