Lexicon, Slang, and Common Phrases

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Artemis
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Lexicon, Slang, and Common Phrases

Post by Artemis »

DNArt: Any kind of genetic modification without an obviously practical reason. Often these are simple aesthetic changes - eyes that change color during REM sleep, or a voicebox that can mimic the voices of celebrities - though some DNArt is done to make a statement of some kind - the addition or removal of sexual organs, mimicking the traits of an extinct ethnic group, or engineering an unborn child with traits similar to the mother's spouse of another race.

Geneering: A portmanteau of genetic engineering. A Geneer is an engineer who splices, overwrites, or creates from scratch, genetic code for the modification of existing life forms or the creation of new ones. While geneering is, for the most part, viewed as a benevolent science, it is highly regulated in much of the galaxy, and despite its benefits, there are many hardline groups in every superpower calling for an end to all but the most necessary types of geneering. Examples of geneering include strengthening a colonists bones and muscles for life on a high-g planet, removing a toxin to make an otherwise useful food edible, and a whole host of medicinal practices, both preventative and therapeutic. There are also military applications, though the exact nature of what these might be are highly classified.

Tekks are inarguably the result of geneering based on the Terran genome, but if this was done by a Terran, they were centuries ahead of their time - not even the most advanced Commonwealth or Imperial geneering can match the complexity or functionality of the Tekk sub-genome. To this day, more than two centuries after their first appearance during the Blunderbuss Wars, who geneered the Tekks is unknown.

Geneering is, while technically the same practice, differentiated from DNArt in that geneering is done for purely practical reasons, while DNArt is focused on aesthetic or philosophical value.

Jacks: A catch-all term for spaceborne pirates, kidnappers, illegal bounty hunters, and other such criminals. The term “Jack” could come from the English word “hijacker,” or from “jackal,” an opportunistic and predatory Terran animal, but despite its Terran origins the term is used across the galaxy to refer to this type of starman. Some would lump Space Gypsies into this category, though just as many would argue against it.

Lightware: Quantum computer networks with little to no physical parts used in the actual computation process, instead existing entirely as programmable energy patterns. Lightware computers are essential for navigating Second Space, a task so complex that whole Lightware servers are dedicated to it.

Mobicon: A portmanteau of Mobilization Condition, the operational status of UNCAF, UNCSF, and ICECOM. There are three levels, dictating integration of command structure and unit mobilization. Mobicon WHITE indicates minimal integration, with UN militaries working independently and answering only to their home governments. Mobicon GREY indicates an immediate threat to the UN as a whole, and to begin the command and unit integration process. Mobicon BLACK is reserved for wartime, and combines all UN militaries into UNCAF and UNCSF, and integrates all intelligence services into ICECOM. Mobicon BLACK has only been implemented once, during the T-K War, and has remained at Mobicon GREY ever since.

Second Space: Existing both alongside and within “normal” four-dimensional space-time, Second Space can be accessed by manipulating local quantum waveforms, and opening up a stable singularity into the realm. From there, theoretically any point in the universe can accessed in the same way – however, due to Lightware technology limits, most Second Space drives only travel relatively short distances called skips.

Shiganai: Originating as the Japanese phrase “Shigata ga nai,” meaning “it cannot be helped,” “Shiganai” is now commonly used by Terrans and Tekks across the United Nations and beyond. It is usually an expression of defeat, though it can also express a healthy objectivity and emotional distance from a problem. Equivalent phrases “oh, well,” “c'est la vie,” “shit happens.”

Skips, Skipping and Skipways: A skip, as a unit of distance measurement, is the maximum safe distance a vessel can travel within Second Space, typically measured from 7.72 to 9.4 light years, depending on the sophistication of a ship's lightware computer.

Skipping is the term used for a ship traveling through Second Space, an evolution of the older Terran term “jump.” “Skip” was thought to be more accurate because it consisted of a rapid series of short transits, rather than one long one, and it allowed ships and passengers to “skip” the time and space it would normally take to travel.

Skipways are pit-stops along the more commonly-traveled routes, way stations and service platforms varying in size, population and capability, depending on how often the skipway is visited by travelers. Skipways are often located in orbit around some celestial body, whether that be a star, a planet, or a long-orbit comet, though this is less and less true the farther between star systems skipways are located.

Space Gypsies: The term "Gypsy" comes from an old Terran word for nomadic cultures, specifically the Romany or Roma people, but it also applied to Bedouins, tinkers, beatniks, and other groups. Space Gypsies, then, are people who live nearly their entire life on spaceships, traveling from one place to another, working odd-jobs as couriers, smugglers, security, bounty hunters, scouts... really anything that will keep them and their ship going. Most Space Gypsies are, if not necessarily criminals, active participants in the gray and black market, well-versed in con artistry and "creative" gambling, and no officer of the law worth their badge or sash would trust them.

That said, Space Gypsies are one of the most common vectors for spreading art, culture and technology through the galaxy - many are learned linguists, gifted artists, musicians and storytellers, master mechanics and brilliant inventors. Space Gypsies "faires" pop up, often without warning, like mushrooms on any and every planet, moon, space station complex, sendworld and good-sized asteroid, attracting anywhere from a few dozen to tens of thousands of Space Gypsies. Such events never leave their hosts unchanged - though, it must be said, such hosts often find themselves without spare change by the end of them as well.

There are Space Gypsies of every race, national allegiance, and gender. If it could be said that Space Gypsies as a whole were a single society, they would easily be the most diverse group ever known in galactic history.

Starman: Anyone who serves as crew on board a Second Space-capable vessel, in the tradition of seaman and airman.

UNCAF, UNCSF, ICECOM: Acronyms standing for United Nations Combined Armed Forces, United Nations Combined Space Forces, and Intelligence Covert-ops, and Espionage Command, respectively. While the various member nations of the UN still maintain their independent militaries, during wartime and other emergencies all such forces are brought together under the umbrella of these three command structures, combining their forces, ranking systems, and resources – however, complete mobilization is only undertaken during a Mobicon BLACK situation.

Xenophile: 1) An individual who expresses interest in the culture, language, and technology of a race and civilization different from the one they were born into.

2) An individual who is sexually attracted to members of other races. This meaning is accompanied by a vast array of slang terms, many of them offensive in nature, the most common of these being “zeepee,” or “zeep,” which is used both by opponents of the practice as a term of contempt, and by members of the xenophile community who use the term as a point of pride.
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Re: Lexicon, Slang, and Common Phrases

Post by Mobius 1 »

I have to say Mobicon WHITE/GREY/BLACK is one of the sleekest terms I've heard all week. All of the diction here is great and flavorful, but Mobicon really stands out as subconscoiusly cool.
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Re: Lexicon, Slang, and Common Phrases

Post by Shroom Man 777 »

That's because it sounds like your name. :P

But I agree. I'd love to see what kind of cool futuristic military lingo and jargon Growing Pains (:P) would have. That revised NATO/UN phonetic alphabet Arty was working on is a great example of such a thing. The military is just full of jargon and TLAs that do sound cool while being so utilitarian and functional, and their future versions would probably still be the same. And, I love how Arty incorporates some sort of background to how the term evolved and came to be. Again, Growing Pains (:P) is just so cultural that way - it's lovely how Arty weaves it into something that's so... naturalistic and harmonious. There's no "trying hard" badass mcgruff grimdark realistic grittygrim attempt. He doesn't aim at he verse from the viewpoint of big guns and big guvmint beating shit and smashing faces, Universal Constants is instead about... universal constants! It's about the little mang, the little people, who're down there all over the galaxy living their lives - and that focus is also what makes Growing Constants so vibrant and, yes, alive.

Oh Arty! :)
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Re: Lexicon, Slang, and Common Phrases

Post by Booted Vulture »

ICECOM! Now that's a badass name.
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Re: Lexicon, Slang, and Common Phrases

Post by Magister Militum »

You keep making passing references to space gypsies and now I'm intrigued. Precisely who are they?
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Re: Lexicon, Slang, and Common Phrases

Post by Artemis »

Well, I'll tell you!

...

In the Lexicon :p just added it! Might parse it down a bit later - this is meant to be a quick reference, rather than a collection of articles, so when I get around to doing the actual Space Gypsy page, I'll slim this one down a bit.

Also added DNArt and Geneering, two related, but slightly different, terms.
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Re: Lexicon, Slang, and Common Phrases

Post by Siege »

Cool as was to be expected; I do wonder though... 9.4 AU is not a very far FTL jump at all. In fact, it's 'only' 78 light minutes, or about 1.15 light hours. Of course when I say 'not very far' I mean that it's still a pretty long distance to instantly traverse but if you run the numbers it turns out you'll need 33,197 such jumps to cross the 4.37 light years between our solar system and Alpha Centauri (4.37 light years = 38,176 light hours / 1.15 light hours per skip, all numbers rounded up for convenience).

At this rate I'm afraid you'll have to do an awful lot of skipping to get anywhere fast...
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Re: Lexicon, Slang, and Common Phrases

Post by Artemis »

Oh. Oh dear. That simply won't do at all.

I think I'll bump that up to, say, 7 light years or so. That still keeps ships from jumping across the galaxy at will, and requires multiples skips to get places.

Thanks for the number-crunching, Siege!
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