Coolest Jargon in Your Area of Geekery?

In My Humble Opinion
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Some poker terms, many of which have become generally known in recent years:
Angle-shooter: One who shoots angles, i.e. employs certain tactics which are technically legal but probably unethical and against the spirit of the rules. For example, at the showdown, an angle-shooter might keep his (weak) hand hidden and verbally declare that he has a much stronger hand in the hopes that his opponent will fold his hand face down, thus forfeiting any right to the pot.

Bad beat: To lose despite having a strong hand, especially if your opponent gets lucky to win in spite of poor play.

Broadway: The highest possible straight: 10-J-Q-K-A.

Coffee housing: Talking to mislead or distract opponents during a hand. An accepted practice in the U.S., generally considered rude in Europe.

Dead money: In a tournament, a player who contributes to the prize pool with his entry fee, but who has virtually no chance of recouping any money because he’s a fish (see below).

EV: “Expected value,” actually a math term, referring to the weighted average of all possible outcomes of an action, hand, or tournament. Almost every serious poker player I know works this into his daily thought and speech patterns, as in: “I don’t know, if you tell your girlfriend you want to have a threesome she might actually go for it, but she’s so touchy that it’s gotta be negative EV.”

Fish: A weak player, a sucker, a donater. Everyone takes bites out of the fish. Lately being replaced by the more offensive Donkey.

Grinder: A professional who puts in a lot of hours, usually with a fairly conservative style.

The Nuts: The best possible hand.

Rabbit hunt: When a hand has ended before all possible cards have been dealt, to deal out the remaining card or cards to see what would have come.

Semi-bluff: To bluff with a weak hand that nonetheless has a good chance of improving to the best hand if called, such as a flush draw.

Stop & Go: When you are in first position, to close one round of betting by calling, with the intention of opening the following round by betting.

On tilt: Being frustrated by past results to the point that one begins to play poorly (usually too loose and/or aggressive).

Wheel: The lowest possible straight: A-2-3-4-5.

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That reminded me about another tern that I heard:
**
target-indicator black** - the same color as “tactical black”, but applied extensively in situations where it’s not only unnecessary, but actually counter -productive. Like wearing black gear in generally brown desert conditions (or well-lit urban landscape), where moving black spot indicate that there is indeed a target to shoot at.

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From the world of the United Methodist Church–which isn’t really an area of Geekery, but does have some jargon which I understand not everyone understands. Some of my definitions may be innaccurate.

SPRC–Staff Parish Relations Committee–a group of people from the congregation whose job is to interface between the Staff and the Parish.

Parish–the people living in the community and attending that church.

Staff–people like the Choir director, the organist, the Administrative Assistant, the janitor, . . . anyone other than the Clergy who is paid out of the church budget to perform a job. Some of these jobs could be volunteer, depending on the size of the congregation.

PPRC– Pastor Parish Relations Committee–similar to the SPRC, but specifically intended to interface between the Pastor/s and the congregation.

Conference a group of churches in a region who are geographically convenient to each other and administratively linked.

Annual Conference– an annual meeting between the clergy and delegates from various congregations within one Conference. At Annual Conference, new clergy are ordained, clergy are reassigned to different congregations, and various other administrative tasks are officially handled. (It is common these days for clergy to know whether they will be reassigned and where before Annual Conference).

General Conference–every four years equal numbers of Clergy and Laity (not-clergy)gather to discuss the future of the church. This sometimes makes the news–not least because the issue of whether or not practicing homosexuals should be permitted to be clergy is a contentious and divisive one. Most issues are far less interesting. But over time, changes are made.

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Why does a pastor need a whole committee to “interface” with the congregation for him? Isn’t that kind of the point of being a pastor? What, exactly, does this committee do?

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What exactly does this committee do? I’m not really sure.

But I think it’s a way for the congregation to be able to communicate with the pastor stuff like "Would you knock it off with the Fire and Brimstone sermons? We’re not really all that keen on it. " Or for the pastor to get a feedback about his choice to not wear a robe during hot summer months. Or whether people prefer taking communion by Intinction or at the Altar rail.

Not stuff like “Hey, my family member is sick, and I wish you’d pray for him with me” or to replace pastoral counseling.

Also, the PPRC or a similar group can be helpful when a new pastor is assigned to the church. The pastor can say something like “Gee, it would be nice if all these silly administrative meetings I’m supposed to show up at would be on Mondays, so that I don’t have to come to the church to attend meetings every night.” And the group can say “Um, ok, we can move the Evangelism Committee meeting, and the Vacation Bible School planning meeting, but if we try to move the Trustees off Tuesday, there will be rebellion”. Plus, the PPRC might be in charge of planning a “meet the new pastor” reception or other stuff.

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Ah, thanks. Being non-religious, the “business” mechanics of running a large congregation totally escaped me :wink: