Traveller slang

[Commander Truestar]

These come from the various CJ Cherryh Alliance-Union-Pell-Earth series regarding work shifts aboard a working ship:
Mainday and Alterday: The 12-hour "normal" work shifts which also governed crew rank.

Mainday crew were always senior to Alterday, so the Captain ran Mainday while the XO ran alterday.
Bridge "first crew" were always senior to their second crew (IE: their back ups.)
So, the Mainday First Navigator was senior to Alterday Nav, who was then senior to Mainday Second Nav, followed by Alterday Second Nav

After the seconds, there were the rest of the departments, ranked along the same lines, followed by the rest of the crew in descending rank

of course, when the fertilizer hits the rotating arboreal oscillator , the command "Flash" calls everyone from their beds to man stations because something's gone wrong.

 

[TamsinP]

I seem to recall that on the larger family ships (Finity's End, Dublin Again) that for each ship, each post (apart from Captain) of the bridge crew there would be more than one person on duty - I think Finity's End was described as a 4/4 command (4 shifts of 4 per post) so you'd have Helm 1, Helm 1/2, Helm 1/3 and Helm 1/4, with the xxx y/4 usually being a trainee shadowing what the seniors were doing.

 

[Condottiere]

Depends on whether the equipment, and/or surrounding space, needs attention.

Currently, in transition, the only thing that's running is life support, and the fusion reactor.

 

[Condottiere]

electronician - electronics/zero

 

[Condottiere]

mig - migrant (worker)

 

[aramis]

GROPOS: Sounds like a sexual offender.

Been used in Babylon 5 for the EFMC.
Given some of their on-screen station-liberty behaviors, sexual offenders is only partially erroneous.

 

[aramis]

mig - migrant (worker)

Sten Series, by Cole & Bunch. Possibly real world prior, but I'd not heard it prior to reading the book.

 

[Condottiere]

Currently listening to it.

Mick, if you can trace (or, someone else does) your ancestry back to the Emerald Isle.

Miguel, south of the border.

But it could have Dumarest vibes, if you're stuck on a planet.

 

[aramis]

Mick, if you can trace (or, someone else does) your ancestry back to the Emerald Isle.

Several US states, that's a "fighting word." Alaska, it qualifies for the hate crimes sentence enhancement. Derogatory of the Irish and Scots.

 

[Condottiere]

When I heard it, I thought it was wonderfully non specific.

So, it would depend on inflection.

 

[aramis]

When I heard it, I thought it was wonderfully non specific.

So, it would depend on inflection.

Nope. It's a hate speech term. Originating as such in the late 19th and early 20th C in New York and New Jersey. Pretty much equal to the N. word.

 

[Condottiere]

I was referring to mig.

 

[Enoki]

All (or Nothing but) brine and vinegar: Derogatory / insulting. Implies you are Vilani or refers to something as Vilani like food.

This steak tastes like brine and vinegar. It's disgusting!

 

[Black Vulmea]

There are a number of widely-used nicknames for sophonts originating from the different worlds of Ley Sector IMTU; many of them are obvious, but a few are subtle.

Bridger . . . Starbridger
Cheapjack . . . Tawdrian
Cliffhanger . . . Upsikeran; Upsikeria City is built into the edge of a massive plateau on the planet's only significant landmass
Deeper . . . Deepwaran; a local media effort to brand the rockhoppers of Deepwar Belt as "abyssals" never took hold
Drifter . . . anyone from a star system along the Guadix Drift jump-one main
Duster . . . Aldernisan
Enkidu . . . Delgaliehan; the nickname is believed to originate with Solomani after the fall of the First Imperium and is related to the elaborate male hair and facial hair styling on Delgalieh
Granjero . . Selenan
Hammer . . . Sledgetoweran
Julie . . . Jullanaran
Junker (pronounced with a hard j) . . . Passager; Passage is home to a large starship breaking yard
Junker (pronounced with a y) . . . Arnitagan
Khan . . . Kerimite; the culture on Kerim reflects a melding of original Vilani colonists and later Solomani settlers with origins in Central Asia - "khan" is also used as an offensive term for a sharp or dishonest trader
Molly . . . Reaginworlder; believed to originate as a Solomani term for miners
Pensioner . . . Valisan; Valisa's main industries are tourism and retirement communities for whitestars and junkers
Plainser . . . Sabaothisan; covered in vast steppes, Sabaothis is home to the K'kree diplomatic enclave for Ley Sector
Pobre . . . Almiran
Rifter . . . a general term for a sophont from any of the worlds in the Lesser Rift
Squat . . . Shanidaran Solomani; also Geonee from Upsikeria
Stilt . . . Sydymites (2.4 m tall minor humans) generally, but also Shanidaran Sydymites more specifically
Vilans . . . Nathalian; derived from a fairy of Solomani origin
Warlock . . . Warlocker; "wizard" and "witch" are derogatory for a trained psion and should never be used for a warlock unless you want to start a fight
Whitestar . . . Helenan; also called "helens," whitestar reflects the F-class star around which Helena orbits and the seal of the Helanan starfleet, which is a white starburst with a small disk and long rays, an inverse of the Imperial starburst
Wyrm . . . Dragonmister and Camsterisan; Camsterisan's are also known as "cammies"
Yardie . . . Towermornan; Towermorn is an important shipyard in the sector - also, starship builder generally

I have a few pages of these in my notes; this is a representative sample.

 

[Condottiere]

skipjack - starship sailor

fetch - nice, fresh, desirable, cool

 

[Grav_Moped]

fetch - nice, fresh, desirable, coo

Stop trying to make "fetch" happen.