# Idiosyncratic game terminology. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 6, 2005, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiosyncratic-game-terminology/302685 "2005-05-06T13:36:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiosyncratic-game-terminology/302685/41 "2005-05-09T20:49:22Z")
To us, that ability was always, creatively enough, “Firebreathing”. The Timmy ability is not prod, it’s ping. You ping Llanowars. And “speed bumps” are “chump blockers”. ---
**Author:** ![Ol\_Gaffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Ol\_Gaffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ol_Gaffer)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiosyncratic-game-terminology/302685/42 "2005-05-09T21:15:52Z")
We always called the Tim the Enchanter power “timming,” as in “I’ll tim your Llanowar Elves” or “Godamnit, I’m being timmed to death!” My RPG gaming group had several (not that we play much anymore, but when we did). First, fireballs were always cast with the sound effec “BRRRRR-NOW-CHICK” as this was the closest approximation to the fireball sound from those old, old D&D computer games “Pool of Radiance” and “Curse of the Azure Bonds.” Another one was the response “Throw caution to the wind” when faced with an impossible situation that will most-assuredly end in death. It also comes from one of those old games. In the game there was a particular door you came to and instead of offering the usual “Yes” or “No” responses when it asked “Do you enter?” the choices were “Flee” or “Throw Caution To The Wind.” Needless to say, one cannot drop a bombshell like that and expect us to just walk away. ---
**Author:** ![Darwins\_Finch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darwins_finch/32/20304_2.png) [@Darwins\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darwins_Finch)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiosyncratic-game-terminology/302685/43 "2005-05-09T21:29:28Z")
> [@ArrMatey!](#): > > Swiftize: To completely and utterly ransack a room / area / corpse for anything of value. We usually refer to that as “map scraping”, especially in computer RPGs. And anyone who rushes to pick up items is simply referred to as “Hoover”. And in Magic, Tims “poke”. ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiosyncratic-game-terminology/302685/44 "2005-05-09T23:30:38Z")
> [@Cliffy](#): > > One more I remembered – in Magic, we referred to the Prodigal Sorcerer card as Tim. Hoping I’m not Sarnath’d here: Lots of Magic cards have nicknames. Samite Healer, for example, is called Al. Why? Because he says “I don’t think so, Tim”. (See above) Tradition in my play group is to sing songs that vaguely resemble card names when you play said card: “I see a **Bad Moon** rising”, for example. In Pictionary, a night cannot pass without someone guessing “Baby Fish Mouth”. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiosyncratic-game-terminology/302685/45 "2005-05-09T23:39:42Z")
A short primer on [Magic Slang](http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/article/3656.html). And, yes, many many cards have nicknames not listed. ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiosyncratic-game-terminology/302685/46 "2005-05-09T23:43:24Z")
OK, got my Carc rules. (Oh yeah, we call it “Carc”, and The Great Dalmuti is “Muti.” Do nicknames for games count?) > [@](#): > > "The player who has a knight in a completerd city scores two points for each segment in the sity (count the number of tiles). Each pennant on city segments in the city earns the player two bonus points. > > **Single Exception** : _when a completed city has just 2 city segments, the player earns just two points (not 4), plus 1 point for each pennent_ – Page 3, Carcassonne rules, Rio Grande Games edition Copyright 2000 Hans im Gluck. ISBN 1-892081-69-5 Anyway… I consider creatures that can gain +1/+0 to be firebreathing and reserve “pumpable” for +1/+1 gainers. But if someone said they were pumping a Shivan Dragon, I’d know what they meant. In Robo Rally, the crablegs are “ethereal crablegs” due to one friend’s apparent inability to notice walls while using them and try to crabwalk through them. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiosyncratic-game-terminology/302685/47 "2005-05-10T00:16:15Z")
**Carcassonne** : We tend to refer to the builder as the “chef”. ---
**Author:** ![Torgo\_ate\_my\_hamster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/71c47a/32.png) [@Torgo\_ate\_my\_hamster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Torgo_ate_my_hamster)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiosyncratic-game-terminology/302685/48 "2005-05-10T01:49:18Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > And the three trade goods are called: > Cloth > Paper > Money We call them (roughly translated): Coin for the ore commodity Book for the timber commodity Fabric for the sheep commodity Although the fabric is sometimes called “the closed book” as opposed to “the open book” because one of my friends kept calling it that way, saying it looked like a closed book to him. ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiosyncratic-game-terminology/302685/49 "2005-05-10T02:39:38Z")
When playing Monopoly, we had lots of colorful things going on for no reason. If you owned Oriental Ave, you had to have a Chinese restaurant. The entrees are reasonably priced at $6, but they just keep jacking up the prices… If something bad happens on the next turn after landing there, it’s Food Poisoning. B&O Railroad was, of course, predicably the “B. O. Railroad!” where it’s always a pleasure to ride. Connecticut Ave was “Connect-a-Cunt Avenue!” If you are the second one in jail, you are the “Bitch” (unless, of course, you’re Just Visiting… in which case, mocking laughter at the inmate is required). If you landed on Community Chest, it means your boobs are up for grabs, so watch out for the sweaty hands of your opponents! The “Second Prize in a Beauty Contest” prize where you win $10 just elicited mocking laughter, since nobody else is competing in the beauty contest, but you still just can’t win. ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiosyncratic-game-terminology/302685/50 "2005-05-10T02:50:37Z")
When playing Acquire, my friends and I have a few things… Firstly, the company “Sackson” is referred to as “Sackson-Buckley-Loda,” referencing a nearby high school. Secondly, “Fusion” is always pronounced “FYOOzzzzhun,” with a big empahsis on the Fyoo. Thirdly, when someone starts the company America, or buys shares in it, that player takes on a mock-patriotic tone in his voice and says, “Because I believe in this land.” ---
**Author:** ![Telperien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Telperien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperien)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiosyncratic-game-terminology/302685/51 "2005-05-10T03:07:06Z")
> [@fluiddruid](#): > > B&O Railroad was, of course, predicably the “B. O. Railroad!” where it’s always a pleasure to ride. My cousins and I always called it the Body Odor Railroad. When someone landed on it, the other players would hold their noses. > [@](#): > > The “Second Prize in a Beauty Contest” prize where you win $10 just elicited mocking laughter, since nobody else is competing in the beauty contest, but you still just can’t win. When someone got this, someone else would yell, “I was first!” and you had to pay them $20. ---
**Author:** ![Sierra\_Indigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiosyncratic-game-terminology/302685/52 "2005-05-10T03:10:16Z")
In **Resident Evil 4** , any time you shoot a villager and the plagas tentacles start thrashing around, then that’s known officially (in my house at least) as “Squidding Out”. Boss battles are often rife with cries of “Shoot him in the squid!” ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiosyncratic-game-terminology/302685/53 "2005-05-10T05:14:29Z")
Can’t Believe that peeps on here actually started with the MTG terms. There are way to many to name. Get Timmy (Not Tim) Johnny and Spike around for a Duel. Spike cant wait to tooth and nail, after he sneak attacks, but not before Johnny strokes the academy. Timmy doesnt care because he has his lucky charms out, and well pop the disc if anything goes wrong. Spike then puts out a chump blocker with flying, and gives it fear, and vigilence. Johnny then makes a comment about how he would like to Channelball Spike, or at the very least wrath. Spike drops a painland, and Timmy comments that he’s never seen that before, but he would have to get a few. Johnny complains that unglued should be played… so he can say “Its comming!”. ((I could continue, but like I said, way too many to name)) Then again, For most peeps here, simply read some Oracle text, and they will get confused from square one. [http://gatherer.wizards.com/gathererlookup.asp?set=Tempest&name=ertai](http://gatherer.wizards.com/gathererlookup.asp?set=Tempest&name=ertai)[s\_meddling [http://gatherer.wizards.com/gathererlookup.asp?set=Legends&name=takklemaggot](http://gatherer.wizards.com/gathererlookup.asp?set=Legends&name=takklemaggot) Again, way too many here. In a game where you can mention one name, and have to basically rattle off 6 or more arbitrary facts (“Fireball” = Red, Sorcery, (X)®, Deal X damage diveded evenly (rounded down) to each target creature or player, paying 1 beyond the first. Basic Card in a nearly every core set. Used in Burn/Sligh/Spedred decks. ) People outside looking in are going to get lost. ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiosyncratic-game-terminology/302685/54 "2005-05-10T20:09:09Z")
The funny thing is, I’ve always looked askance at people who memorize years of trivial baseball statistics. I suspect they feel the same way about me and my encyclopedic knowledge of obscure Magic cards. ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiosyncratic-game-terminology/302685/55 "2005-05-11T06:10:30Z")
Why they dont make Periodic Element Trading Cards, or President Trading cards. or State trading cards. SERIOUSLY!!! I mean its obvious children eat it up. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiosyncratic-game-terminology/302685.md?page=2)