Spacer lexicon and glossary

General discussion for players of Oolite.

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Captain Hesperus
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Spacer lexicon and glossary

Post by Captain Hesperus »

I've been jotting down ideas about the collected Goat Soup-fuelled (mis)adventures of Captain Hesperus and I've been thinking. Most groups have a language of their own, the armies, navies and airforces of the world have their own phrases and words that they use, as do civilian groups such as bikers, truck drivers and the Chavs on the streets (innit?). So why not the traders, grifters and heroes of Oolite/Elite?

Here's a few nicknames and words I've thought up, feel free to laugh at/add to/randomly ignore them:

SHIPS

Annie - Anaconda
Airplane - Adder, due to it's atmospheric flight function
B squared - Boa Class Cruiser (B2)
Cobbie 1 or 3 - Cobra Mark I or Mark III respectively
Flying Fish - Moray Starboat
Potbelly - Python
Space Tree - Fer-de-Lance, due to the large amount of wood panels used in it's interior
Trader Trailers - Sidewinders, due to their common use as trader escorts.
V's - Vipers, due in part to their shape, but also for the formation that squadrons fly in.

OTHER TERMS
Bird/Eagle - An Elite-rated pilot, due to the winged Pip on their flight attire. The former term is generally an insult, the latter a compliment.
Blackside - Space, as in the phrase 'See you (on the) Blackside'.
Black Trader - an individual who only trades in illegal goods.
Box - Passenger Cabin or crew quarters.
Brick - A well-shielded/armoured ship.
Bug - Thargoid, see also 'Goid.
Bugbaiter- A pilot who purposely misjumps into Witchspace to fight Thargoids for bounty or Elite rating.
Bugfood - An unsuccessful Bugbaiter.
Cow - A ship which is slow to manoeuvre.
Crap shovel - Fuel scoops, most specifically when used to scoop cargo or other materials.
Credit-crammer - A derogatory term for a trader who puts his profits before crew and ship.
Deathtrap - A ship that is decrepit to the point of being dangerous to her own crew.
Glammer - Anyone guilty of Glamour.
Glamour - Any object added to a ship for no apparent use other than extravagance or appearances. Also the term for a ship so modified, i.e. 'I'm docked next to a real Glamour. What an eyesore!".
'Goid - See Bug.
Goidson - General insult, i.e. 'That 'Goidson shot my partner. Before I got the chance!' (attrib. to Drew Wagar)
Money-bunny - A bounty hunter, especially those who only go after criminals with large bounties on their heads.
Pipper - General term for any pilot rated between Mostly Harmless and Deadly.
Pips - Elite Rating badges, made of 24kt gold and issued to pilots by the FEP, and worn by habit on the breast or collar of flight attire by any self-respecting Spacer
Plant Room - Engineering section/Engine room.
Prang - An accidental impact with another space-bound object.
Rub - An intentional impact with another space-bound object.
Shell/Skin - Outer hull plating.
Stard - Derogatory term, the caller casts doubt upon the legitimacy of the subject's parents' marital status.
Sun-running - Witchspacing to a system and going directly to the sun to re-fuel and then Witchspacing out, ignoring the station completely.

Captain Hesperus - a well-known credit-cramming Black Trader stard who flies a deathtrap Potbelly.
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Post by reills »

Me Like!

Reills - a pipper who tends to prang most docking manoeuvres in his B2, but is good at making use of his crap shovel.
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Post by Captain Hesperus »

Oh yes, that reminds me:

Hotslotting - The practice of docking at high speed to prevent Viper patrol ships from accurately scanning a ship's cargo.

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Re: Spacer lexicon and glossary

Post by JensAyton »

Captain Hesperus wrote:
Airplane - Adder, due to it's atmospheric flight function
Given the British origins of the game, this should clearly be Aeroplane.
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Post by reills »

Hardhead - ECM hardened missile

Puter Shooter - one who strictly employs docking computers

Beemmers - lasers

Keep your shields cool - be careful

Injecters - impatient pilots who speed from WS beacon to the station using witchdrive fuel injection

Fluff Box - Empty scooped cargo pod

Stoner - Rock Hermit
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Post by reills »

Donut and Double donut - toroid stations

Copter - Transhab station
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Post by Captain Hesperus »

<EDIT>Furball - A confused ship-to-ship combat involving many combatants.

Dustbuster - Rock Hermit scavenger ship.

Relic/Grandpa - Transporter.

Skin-hugging - performing repairs to the hull using EVA suits.

God-pods - any vessel used and operated by members of religous groups.

The Snout - Hognose Tugship, or the local GalCop Magistrate (not a complementary term!)

Bangsticks - Non-hardened missiles. It's not known whether they are called this for the effect they cause or the fact they tend to be ECM'd easily...

Brain bucket - EVA helmet.

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Last edited by Captain Hesperus on Wed Mar 14, 2007 8:54 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by JensAyton »

Captain Hesperus wrote:
Furball - ship-to-ship combat.
Surely a furball specifically implies more than two participants?
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Post by reills »

Ship-to-ship-to-ship-to-ship-to-ship-to-ship combat???
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Post by Captain Hesperus »

Turtles - GalCop station security officers, due to the fact they wear rigid armour breast-and back-plates.

Pish - A degrogatory term to indicate someone is of a lower standard that the user. (attrib. Drew Wagar)

Crawler - a slow moving ship.

Light-speed - Term to indicate recklessness, i.e. 'That boy's so light-speed, he'll end up as bugfood one day.'

Go-juice - Simplistic term for Quirium fuel or hi-caffeine beverages used by long-haul pilots. There's often some implication that one is made from the other (totally preposterous!).

Brass knobs - Navy pilots/personnel, due to the brass-coloured knots on their uniform epaullettes and cuffs.

Hex - Asp Mark II from it's hexagonal shape.

Bug crap - Thargon

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Post by Arexack_Heretic »

fertiliser = slaves
(strictly only when inna broken crate, but also used as slang for live ones)

shouldn't it be furrball?

poot (or proot) = verb, sound made by trumble

truble = escaped trumble

trumbles is false, trumble is the multiple of trumble. ;)
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Post by Star Gazer »

I always thought that 'trouble' was the correct collective noun for trumble - as in 'a trouble of trumble' - (like 'a gaggle of geese')....?

and...
'sleeping beauty' - pilot who always uses full automated docking procedure
Last edited by Star Gazer on Wed Mar 14, 2007 12:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by lolwhites »

Albatross = a ship on the edge of your radar, travelling in the same direction as you, that mass locks your jump drive all the way to the station (only ever appears after your witchdrive fuel runs out).
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Post by TGHC »

The good old Fer de lance, has always been called a ferdie, so on that basis I do like annie for Annaconda. Of course it now means that I'm riding a soopie.
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Post by JensAyton »

Arexack_Heretic wrote:
shouldn't it be furrball?
No?
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