Sci-Fi jargon for everyday by ZoeWashburn

OTHER SCIENCE FICTION SERIES

Sci-Fi jargon for everyday

POSTED BY: ZOEWASHBURN
UPDATED: Monday, September 29, 2008 22:16
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Saturday, August 16, 2008 9:52 PM

What sci-fi jargon do you use in your everyday vocabulary? Not limited to Firefly.

Share some of your favorite words or phrases. Tell us what show/movie they come from and why you love to include them in your everyday vernacular.

"The Status Is Not Quo!" - Dr. Horrible

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Sunday, August 17, 2008 3:56 AM

CYBERSNARK

Frell (from Farscape).
Frack (from BSG).
Slag (from Transformers).
Prophets (or "Prophets help us") from DS9.
Sithspit (from Star Wars)
I've recently picked up "fierfek" from the Republic Commando novels.

I'm particular in drawing distinctions between "spaceships" (which travel in space) and "starships" (which can cover interstellar distances).

I occasionally refer to robots as "droids," and large piloted machines as "mecha."

I identify solar systems as "the (name of primary star) System," and ours as the Sol System.

In general though, a lot of the "sci-fi" jargon I use is basically real-world science jargon.

Fantasy, OTOH, is where I'll drop inobscure terms that I learned from my studies (the English language is remarkably useless when it comes to describing supernatural or paranormal phenomena [it's the Church's influence; "a demon is a demon is a demon is a demon --why would anyone need to distinguish between different types?"]).

-----
We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

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Monday, August 18, 2008 5:46 AM

BLUESUNCOMPANYMAN

If something goes wrong, a common phrase where I'm from would be to say: "Shaka. When the walls fell."

To add effect, it can be uttered with a morose demeanor and a far away look.

Do not fear me. Our's is a peaceful race and we must live in harmony.

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Monday, August 18, 2008 5:58 AM

CHRISISALL

I commonly use: Gorram, ruttin', dong ma, 'Verse, frak, and felgercarb.

Bilingual Chrisisall

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Monday, August 18, 2008 6:19 AM

PIZMOBEACH

... fully loaded, safety off...

Quote:
Originally posted by bluesuncompanyman:
If something goes wrong, a common phrase where I'm from would be to say: "Shaka. When the walls fell."

To add effect, it can be uttered with a morose demeanor and a far away look.

Hilarious! Loved that ep, "Mirab, his sails unfurled!" ie., "let's bounce." Heh...

Not so much scifi as fantasy... also used when something fails utterly we quote Aragorn from LOTR, "Not this Day!" Delivery is key here as well - if you try and approximate Vigo's somewhat shrill, higher-than-kingly pitch it adds a nice touch of irony.

Scifi movie music + Firefly dialogue clips, 24 hours a day - http://www.scifiradio.com

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Monday, August 18, 2008 12:23 PM

REDDRAGON

Smeg, and all its synonyms. Droids, Mechs, atmo.

Smeg is from Red Dwarf.

____________________________________________________
Browncoat for LIFE!

If you can't walk, crawl. If you can't crawl, find someone to carry you.

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Monday, August 18, 2008 1:13 PM

ARTCAT81

I use shiny more often than anything else, though, i have picked up the habit of cussing in chinese (firefly quotes), I also say gorram, dong ma, mei mei, its invaded my everyday speach

Browncoats are the shiniest folks in the 'verse
www.texasartcat.com/bluesun.html <--my bluesunshop

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Monday, August 18, 2008 3:30 PM

MRBLUESUN

Quote:
Originally posted by bluesuncompanyman:
If something goes wrong, a common phrase where I'm from would be to say: "Shaka. When the walls fell."

To add effect, it can be uttered with a morose demeanor and a far away look.

Quote:
Originally posted by pizmobeach: Hilarious! Loved that ep, "Mirab, his sails unfurled!" ie., "let's bounce." Heh...

Please forgive my ignorance, but what is this a reference to? I'm sure i've heard it somewhere before and its bugging the hell out me that i can't place it....

Personally i find you cant go wrong with a good old 'reversing the polarity of the neutron flow' as a way to stop people from asking what you're doing.
Also, refering to seconds as 'rels' has a similar effect.
And of course i use shiny on a daily basis

I may wear brown, but theres a little purple mixed in there too.

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Monday, August 18, 2008 6:48 PM

JEWELSTAITEFAN

Waterbed. From Heinlien's Stranger in a Strange World.

Let's bounce wiould be from Dark Angel, Max Guevera or Original Sindee.

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Monday, August 18, 2008 6:59 PM

JEWELSTAITEFAN

Quote:
Originally posted by RedDragon:
Smeg, and all its synonyms. Droids, Mechs, atmo.

Smeg is from Red Dwarf.

Smeg, and the full version Smegma, are fairly common for the past 4 decades of our time. Just because some SciFi works might use "sh!t" does not mean it's of the SciFi domain.

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Monday, August 18, 2008 7:23 PM

FREMDFIRMA

Not a lot, I did teach one of my cats (I kid you not) to say "mei-mei", however - caused a friends daughter to nearly drop a plate when she first heard that, heh heh.

Although, I must add one to the vocabulary here, and then explain it.

(Always uttered in a triumphant tone)
BEEEEERRRR-CANNNNN!!!

My friends and I used to play a lot of Mech based games, and landing a picture perfect death-from-above, 4xLRM20, ERPPC to the face, or other prettymuch instant kill maneuver does in fact render what remains quite remeniscent of an empty can of Strohs on friday night, doesn't it ?

It's come to mean utterly crushing victory in general, and is especially applicable to most sci-fi (I mean, come on, the USS Reliant got totally Beercanned, yes ?)

Just one more for the pile

-F

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Tuesday, August 19, 2008 3:58 AM

JONGSSTRAW

A phrase I use in business all the time is from Star Trek, but not necessarily sci-fi jargon. I say "It would seem un-likely Jim" whenever I'm asked on the feasibility of a project when I know it's a loser.

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Tuesday, August 19, 2008 4:03 AM

REDDRAGON

Quote:
Originally posted by jewelstaitefan:
Quote:
Originally posted by RedDragon:
Smeg, and all its synonyms. Droids, Mechs, atmo.

Smeg is from Red Dwarf.

Smeg, and the full version Smegma, are fairly common for the past 4 decades of our time. Just because some SciFi works might use "sh!t" does not mean it's of the SciFi domain.

That's as may be, but I first heard the term on RD. Never heard it anywhere else before, maybe I've had my head in the sand for the last 30 years of my life, could be.

____________________________________________________
Browncoat for LIFE!

If you can't walk, crawl. If you can't crawl, find someone to carry you.

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Tuesday, August 19, 2008 11:50 PM

IMNOTHERE

Quote:
Originally posted by RedDragon:
That's as may be, but I first heard the term on RD. Never heard it anywhere else before, maybe I've had my head in the sand for the last 30 years of my life, could be.

I think its a regional variation thing - lots of people (probably including the suits at the BBC) assumed it was a made-up SciFi swear word until informed otherwise...

Personally, when it becomes necessary to fully vent frustration and anger I'd go with the good old Hitchhiker's Guide and use:
(Spoiler tags to protect the innocent from the ultimate profanity)

Select to view spoiler:

belgium!

Actually, I suspect that my favorite expression - "we'll burn that bridge when we come to it" - came from a Robert Heinlein book, even though it isn't very sciffy.

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Wednesday, August 20, 2008 11:08 AM

BLUESUNCOMPANYMAN

Quote:

Please forgive my ignorance, but what is this a reference to? I'm sure i've heard it somewhere before and its bugging the hell out me that i can't place it....

It comes from Star Trek TNG season 5 episode 2 called "Darmok" Refer to it's article at the offical star trek Wiki called Memory Alpha.

http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Darmok_%28episode%29

There is also a Darmok Dictionary that translates all the metaphoric phrases from the episode:

http://rec.horus.at/trek/lists/darmok.html

Before there was a dictonary like this, I knew 3 people who loved this episode so much they made it a point to integrate Darmok phrases into common english. I never joined in with that effort but I will still occasionally use "Shaka. When the walls fell". The last time was during a get together of friends and we were playing board games. When something I had planned went south in the game I uttered the phrase to the amusement of most there. The key is a morose demeanor as I mentioned eariler.

Do not fear me. Our's is a peaceful race and we must live in harmony.

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Wednesday, August 20, 2008 11:11 AM

CHRISISALL

Hey....wait a minute...this is a GEEK THREAD!!!

(must be why it feels so homey)

Chrisisall, his geek full-on!

isall

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Wednesday, August 20, 2008 11:48 AM

RALLEM

From the Last Starfighter, "It's time to die."

http://swyzzlestyx.com/index.html

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Wednesday, August 20, 2008 12:12 PM

GREENBROWNCOAT

I've gotten so Firefly-ish that I yelled at my brother during an argument: "This is how it's going to be, dong ma?"

He looked at me, absolutely astonished, and then we both broke into giggles (although he's not a huge fan, he has seen Firefly and knows of my obsession).

Also a fan of TANSTAAFL (There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch) from Heinlein, and "I'm a doctor, not a bricklayer" from Star Trek.

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Friday, August 22, 2008 1:12 PM

TRAVELER

Smeg exists today. Don't look it up. You don't want to know.

http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=28764731
Traveler

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Saturday, August 23, 2008 6:07 AM

IMNOTHERE

Quote:
Originally posted by traveler:
Smeg exists today. Don't look it up. You don't want to know.

Unless you want a new fridge or dishwasher: http://www.smeguk.com/ (link is quite safe, apart from an annoying graphical menu!)

Now there's a company who really should have done a bit of research before choosing their name!

Oh how we laugh when we pass lorries on the motorway* with SMEG in large friendly letters on the side...

(*Sorry, that's "Trucks on the freeway" for our American viewers).

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Saturday, August 23, 2008 6:32 AM

TRAVELER

I am surprised a United States company did not come up with Smeg first. We do the damnest things at times.

Well the United Kingdom beat us to the punch this time.

Happy Smegalicious to you all;
traveler

http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=28764731
Traveler

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Saturday, August 23, 2008 6:47 AM

CRUITHNE3753

I quite like the idea of giving everyday things a techy-jargon sound so:-

I was experiencing a gastric deficit, so I extracted a portion of nutritional biomass from cryostasis and placed it in the electromagnetic thermal induction chamber.

or

I was feeling hungry so I took some food out of the freezer and put it in the microwave.

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Monday, September 1, 2008 5:35 AM

ZOEWASHBURN

Thanks to everyone for all your fantastic contributions! It's good to geek out! Who knows, maybe we spark interest in others and expand the fandom.

I figured it was about time to answer my own question. So here goes.

- "frack" (Battlestar Galactica)
- "frell," "yotz" (Farscape)
- "smeg" (Red Dwarf - sorry, I also have never heard smeg outside of the Dwarf)
- "Stoke me a clipper, I'll be back before Christmas or whatever." (Red Dwarf)

And finally my favorite additions from Firefly/Serenity:
- "shiny," "dong ma," "wuh de ma," "ta ma de," "kwong-juh de," "go se," "sheh-sheh," "dear and fluffy Lord"
- "Someone ever tries to kill you, you try to kill 'em right back."
- "No power in the verse can stop me"
- "I aim to misbehave"
- "You're going to burn in a very special level of hell-a level they reserve for child molesters and people who talk at the theatre."
- "I think you have a problem with your brain being missing."
- "You know what the chain of command is? It's the chain I go get and beat you with till you understand who's in rutting command here."
- "Well, my days of taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle."
- "...starting to damage my calm"
- "I'm a leaf on the wind...watch how I soar."

I absolutely LOVE the idea of making everday statements sound like sci-fi jargon!!!!!!!!!

Quote:
Originally posted by Cruithne3753:
I quite like the idea of giving everyday things a techy-jargon sound so:-

I was experiencing a gastric deficit, so I extracted a portion of nutritional biomass from cryostasis and placed it in the electromagnetic thermal induction chamber.

or

I was feeling hungry so I took some food out of the freezer and put it in the microwave.

"The Status Is Not Quo!" - Dr. Horrible

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Monday, September 15, 2008 1:04 PM

AIRPOTBORKER

you'll hear frack, ruttin', smeg, gorram and the occasional shiny from me.

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Wednesday, September 17, 2008 5:52 AM

DIGIFICWRITER

I use 'Frak' a whole lot, and 'Shiny' occasionally. I also use 'bloody hell' and 'bugger' a whole lot, but I don't know if you can necessarily count them as 'sci-fi jargon' since they're real words (which just so happen to have been popularized by BtVS/ANGEL, which do somewhat fall into the 'sci-fi' category).

Check out the continuing adventures of the Big Damn Heroes of Joss Whedon's Firefly in [url= http://www.stillflying.net]Virtual Firefly: Here's How It Might Have Been[/url]

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Wednesday, September 17, 2008 10:47 AM

WULFENSTAR

http://youtu.be/VUnGTXRxGHg

Its usually "frak" for me....a great alternative when in polite company...

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Thursday, September 18, 2008 10:17 AM

IMNOTHERE

Quote:
Originally posted by DigificWriter:
I also use 'bloody hell' and 'bugger' a whole lot

You think those are Sci-Fi jargon !?

Will someone please tell Mr Wheedon (and his sidekicks messers Marsters and Head) to stop looting the British English language and illegally exporting our pottymouth to the states. His efforts to smuggle "wanker" across the Atlantic have not gone unnoticed, either.

If left unchecked this will make it increasingly hard for us Brits to foul-mouth our American cousins without them cottoning on. Before we know it, they'll be pronouncing "arse" correctly and work out why we keep sniggering when they say "fanny".

Fortunately, I don't think they've found out about

yet. Dickheads

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Thursday, September 18, 2008 10:37 AM

CRUITHNE3753

Heh, exactly. Just how do you expect a mortgage associate to fare when it sounds like it has been named after a girl's undersmile?

Anyway, seems like people have got the wrong idea here... jargon should mean technical sounding stuff. Like variable diameter tension loops.

Select to view spoiler:

rubber bands

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Thursday, September 18, 2008 11:06 AM

IMNOTHERE

Quote:
Originally posted by Cruithne3753:
Like variable diameter tension loops.
Select to view spoiler:
rubber bands

Oh, sorry, you mean gratuitously obfuscated taxonomy... yes, I suppose you could call it "jargon".

Like graphite writing stick (pencil) - from Blake's Seven if I recall correctly.

Personally, I think people should call a manual excavation implement a manual excavation implement.

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Wednesday, September 24, 2008 8:57 PM

JEWELSTAITEFAN

The other day I had another word in my head that I couldn't rememberfy if it was a really word or a makey believe word. And I tried to recall where I had heard it, what origin it had for me.

The word was religiosity.
Still haven't looked it up.

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Wednesday, September 24, 2008 10:02 PM

FIREFLY151

Shiny!

---
Keep Writing, Keep Flying

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Thursday, September 25, 2008 9:06 AM

CRUITHNE3753

Entropic document processor

Select to view spoiler:

Shredder

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