Slang
Table of Contents
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Here are some commonly used slang in the 23rd Century, drawing from a variety of sources.
People
- Bang men, boots
- Unification Forces
- Chromes, chrome-jobs
- Transhumanists
- Cowboys, dusties
- Ranger Corps
- Crunchers
- Tech Doctrine adherents. (From 'number cruncher')
- GNomes
- The Office of Games and Numbers, United Earth's internal intelligence organization. Individuals from the Office are a 'gnome'. (From abbreviation G&N)
- Grey Market
- The pervasive semi-tolerated underground trade in rationed or rare goods on Earth
- Huey, Hueys
- Someone who works for the United Earth Authority (from 'U.E.')
- Lowrate
- Utopian
- Lowdoc
- An unlicensed doctor operating outside of the official United Earth system, often in Black Sectors or the Administered Zones.
- MacGyver, Joat
- A "jack of all trades" who most frequently is associated with scavenging and jury-rigging in the extreme.
- Meat Job, Trog
- Transhumanist terms for non-transhumanists (Trog from Troglodyte)
- Outlander
- Someone who lives or grew up in the desperate communities in the Administered Zones
- Pennysams
- Triad Corp contractors. (from 'penny samurai')
- Shields
- Enforcers
- Singers
- Singaporeans. Usually Triad.
- Triples, Trips
- Triad Corporation contractors.
- Walkers, Blankies
- A person or persons who have undergone the "corrective" memory-wipe process. A walker is left with the muscle memory and basic ability to function without personal experiences to back it, hence the "walker" term.
Places
- Badlands, Wastes
- The Administered Zones, outside of the urban hives of the Primary Zones
- Black Sector
- Rundown and abandoned sections of the Primary Zones
Activities
- The Brain Game
- The struggle to keep your memetic fitness high enough
- Playing Chess
- Trying tricks to confuse or foil Games and Numbers analysis. In most circles, has the connotation of chasing a wild goose or hunting a snark - impossible and foolish waste of time.
Things
- Algahol
- A particularly strong and nasty form of cheap alcohol, often for sale in the lower sectors of the urban hives
Singaporean Standard English
Singaporean Standard English is the lingua franca of the 23rd century, formed from English but incorporating elements of Chinese, Japanese and Malay.
- Corright
- "Correct and right." A firm yes. Also, a 'right on' or affirmation.
- Gabra
- SNAFU, confused and disorganized, fucked up. "This entire operation is gabra!"
- Goondu
- Idiot. "Stop being a goondu."
- Lah
- This word is ubiquitous and used constantly. It is appended to the end of sentences as an exclamation point, or an ellipse. So, it can be used to both emphasize or soften a statement, depending on tone. 'Ah' is used in the same way, but to denote a question. "We already went to the other site, lah!" "I really can't, lah…" "What were you trying to do, ah?"
- Masak-masak
- Easy as pie. Child's play. "Fixing this should be masak-masak."
- Or?
- Rhetorical statement that asks for opinion or input, "Where should we go, or?"
- Suku
- Silly, foolish. "Knock it off with that suku bullshit."
- Zhun Bo?
- Is this true? "There's water over that ridge, zhun bo?"
- Zhun
- That is true, usually in response to Zhun Bo. "Zhun, right past that rock."
Martian English
Martian English is the main language used on the Martian Colony. It is formed from American English with some British pronunciation, and incorporating Dutch/Afrikaans, German, and French loanwords and slang.
- Gek
- (Gehk) Crazy, gone off, usually mild or used as a swear: “He’s gek!” or “Have you gone gek!?”
- Connard
- (CON-ard) Generic insult, very impolite, and usually responded to as such.
- Vikser
- (VICK-sir) Similar in meaning and common usage to the British “wanker”.
- Grasgirn
- (GRAHS-geern) Someone who has become completely obsessed with a project, to the detriment of others.
- Nuskergeid
- (NOOS-ker-gaid) A curiosity, knick-knack, or bauble. An inherent tone of pretty, but not really useful for anything meaningful.
- Onse calma!
- (ON-say Cal-ma) General command to calm down/chill out/settle down/etc.
- Lieudeleau
- (LOO-deh-low). Meaning "Earth", with some specific connotations of both great distance and slight derision.
- Stof
- (Shtoff) A particularly fine and blowy dust, common on Mars, but found elsewhere. Finer than sand, not quite talc.
- Stofsaut
- (SHTOFF-zaut) A dust storm. On Mars, it refers to the planet-wide storms that happen every six years or so. Elsewhere, it's just a dust storm or sandstorm.
- Bonfall
- (BON-fahll)A failure or dead end that still produces something useful or worthwhile, even if it wasn't the original intent or goal.
Synthetic
Synthetics are classified as something between possession and being, garnering varied uses of terms to describe them. Some amount of synthetic slang is endorsed by the average, well-adjusted biological android, or even constructed by them.
- Beeper, Pager
- [BEE-purr, PAY-jurr] A synthetic that provides reminders or memos. A note-taker, a recordkeeper. "Heard you needed a beeper." or "I'd trust a beeper over announcement boards."
- Milk, Milker
- [Mill-K(-ur)] Milk describes a synthetic's creamy "blood", which is a lubricant for the inner androidic workings. A milker describes a damaged synthetic which leaks the substance as a human would bleed.
- Synth
- [SIN-th] An average catch-all for referring to a synthetic. Depending on the tone used, this can be hurtful or merely descriptive. "Sorry, you're just a synth." or "Not too shabby, synth!"