Classic OtherSpace Spacer Slang
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[edit] High-Octane Jargon for a New Era
It's the 31st century and space travel is common. This means space travellers are a dime a dozen, and their unique environment leads to some unique phraseology. Spacer parlance usually contains a slough of in-jokes, either references to obscure astrophysics, cynical takes on engineering and engineering principles, urban legends and space lore, or using daily tasks aboard ship as the basis for parable and allegory. Due to the spacefaring nature of Ungstiri, Ungstiri colloquialisms are also common among interstellar travellers. Please add to the list as your spacefaring characters invent new parlance.
[edit] Phrases
Dump bilge before you burn insystem - Usually, spacefarers will leave their starship's waste in a decaying orbit towards a sun or on the fringe of a system where nobody sees or cares what they see. This phrase can be a reference to getting rid of unnecessary baggage or a command to "cut the crap." "Dump bilge" can also mean to back down from a rediculous position, or serve as a warning about talking too much or about the wrong thing.
Switch stars - Although each star is unique, after enough journeys across time and space, star systems become more or less interchangeable. To switch stars is simply to switch systems, placed in the unadventurous context which is the curse of the starfarer.
Take a long walk out a short airlock - What many captains wish obnoxious passengers would do.
Traffic controller - Anyone who controls access to something, or manages a flow of people. This can refer to anyone from actual space traffic controllers to bartenders to pimps.
Push particles - Most stardrives operate on the principle of making matter flow in a specific direction. To push particles is to leave, to get out of there, or otherwise vacate the premises.
Space (verb) - To space is to eject into space, as in the final activity involved in forcing a long walk out a short airlock.
Maza's empty universe - Derived from the Timonese, Maza's empty universe references a fact spacefarers know all too well: By and large, there's nothing out there but void. Maza is of course part of the duality that forms the core of Timonae religion. Example: "What in Maza's empty universe was that?" This phrase can also be modified, "Maza's fucking universe," "Maza's cursed universe," and so on.
[edit] People
Startripper - One of a cult of starship captains and crew who take hallucinogens before FTL flights. Startrippers believe that the coruscating light observed during faster-than-light travel offers a view into the fabric of the cosmos, or the plans of gods, or other similar religious experiences.
Breathing cargo - Passenger.
Throttle Whalloper - Term for a fighter pilot, can be extended to include anyone who likes to fly very fast.
