Sci-Fi jargon for everyday
POSTED BY: ZoeWashburn
UPDATED: Tuesday, September 30, 2008 08:16
VIEWED: 11595
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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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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?"]).
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We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.
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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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I commonly use: Gorram, ruttin', dong ma, 'Verse, frak, and felgercarb.
Bilingual Chrisisall
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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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Smeg, and all its synonyms. Droids, Mechs, atmo.
Smeg is from Red Dwarf.
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Browncoat for LIFE!
If you can't walk, crawl. If you can't crawl, find someone to carry you.
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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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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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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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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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