I use some shadowrun slang, but not too much. Frag, drek, jam, and chiptruth, are standard. I use slang terms for "archtypes" when I can, like wizworm, cutter, razorchic, tank, cowboy, etc. Haven't been able to use input / output for sexes. I find slang goes a long way to setting the atmosphere. I don't use cuss words. I find that they are most often used by the unintelligent to not say what they really want to say.

Really?

You think so?

You REALLY think so?

You have just happened upon my biggest pet peeve in the entire WORLD.

Profanity is for illiterate mother fuckers.

Ricky ("Trailer Park Boys", Canada's answer to "The Sopranos") trying not to swear in front of a judge is hilarious.

Thanks for reminding me.

About The Sopranos.

It reminded me of the best example ever.

I've gotta agree with Neurosis - while there's plenty of unintelligent folks using foul language as alternate punctuation, there's real power in swears. Diction and word choice are pretty much my favorite things ever (which says something very sad about me, I suppose) and my working vocabulary is larger than pretty much anyone I know (not a boast, as it gets me in trouble as much as it helps) yet I find cursing to be a valuable and useful skill. If I want to explain that I find a guy smug and supercilious and don't want to talk to him again, and I'm describing him to a close friend, am I going to explain that like I just did here? Maybe.

But i'll probably just call him a "douche canoe." Or a "cunt rug." Perhaps a "cocknaut." Why? Because it conveys the same thing, but with my emotional undertone intact beyond the connotations of the word itself. Plus it gets a laugh. Is it the default mode of expression? No. Is it professional? Hell no. (see that? Emphasis!) But people do it, all the time. You don't have to, but don't pretend it makes you smarter to ignore a segment of the language you speak.

If you were David Milch, creator of Deadwood, the greatest show ever broadcast on television, you might call him a "smug, supercilious cunt rag". Because that is how he writes. Shakespearean sophistication, diction and syntax combined with the most vile profanity known to man. Like, one sentence was triple inverted and used the word cocksucker four times. <3

"God rest the souls of that poor family... and pussy's half price for the next 15 minutes."

I'm so pleased you mentioned Deadwood.

I think I'd use profanity more for lower classes/street level characters.
It's an easy way to distinguish upper income NPCs and Johnsons from everybody in the gutter.

That's a good idea.

It is not that Johnson WON'T curse, it's just that if the Johnson curses (as opposed to Chris R, your friendly neighborhood ork street dealer) you know you're probably in trouble.

Whether you agree or not, what I said is true. It is most often used by the unintelligent in place of expressing what they really want to express.

Using $50 words to debase someone is much more effective than swearing at someone. You have the added bonus of making them feel stupid because they don't know what you are talking about.

Swearing does have its place. I agree. I used to swear when I really wanted to point out that I was angry. Sometimes it's funny to mix in cussing to add humour. Yet again, most of the time it is used as filler, or in place of meaningful language. /derail thread

Mreh. The trouble with a $10 word for a $1 situation is that more often than not you're going to have to explain your insult and that tends to soften the metaphorical blow.

Or lead you to actual blows, which could be cathartic but lead to a doctor's bill - or a fine ribeye if that happens to be more affordable. Plus, you can eat the bandage after the swelling goes down!

...

Y'know what, I think that going to blows is ging to be the situation that brings the most benefit.

There's also the fact that the more complex the word, the more likely you're the one to use or say it wrong.

Case in point: Punctilious troglodyte. >.>

You know being around kids all day and working in a very public place in evenings, cussing is frowned upon. I probably use FRAG at least once a day just to satisfy a need to let it out.

You'd be surprised the looks you can get using Frag with the right tone and inflection. "Frag Me!"
They stand there for a minute blankly wondering if there finer sensibilities should be offended or not.

Agreed Stephen Fry summed it up nicely by calling all of that point of view fucking morons.

Profanity is a perfect means to get points and views across.

While long winded insults are fun. Profanity works on a different level. You can't angrily user flowery language and not look like an uptight dickwad.


Wait what? troglodyte works as an insult but punctilious. If some one called me that I'd laugh. Meticulous a meticulous cave dweller? Yeah sure that stings.

Ah, but this is where the shades of meaning come in. "punctilious" has a connotation of obsession, or excessive attention to unimportant details, not simple meticulousness. A "meticulous primitive" or "attentive atavist" would make no sense as an insult, but "punctilious troglodyte" says you're rearranging the furniture in your cave because it's off by an inch, while outside the modern world passes you by. As stated, the effectiveness diminishes when people don't get the words, or at least the connotations. The point of insulting or colorful language is to *communicate* something, not simply to vocab-wank yourself. Personally, if I insult someone, they may or may not understand *all* the words, but they'll know they've been fucking *told*.

In an attempt to link back to the original topic: The cyberpunk lingo generally works only when it's used in context. If your players have to constantly look up words in a glossary or give each other translations of the slang they're using, you're being similarly ineffective. Which is why swearing is one of the easier ways to put in slang, since from context it's easily understood. I like to have certain NPCs whose nearly impenetrable jargon makes them understandable solely from context and cadence, but not too many of them, as it can get old fast (and is tough to roleplay on the fly!) most of the time, though, even getting my players to *speak* in character is an accomplishment, so who cares what words they use?

I got the other layers but that insult I just it find it funny, unoffencive and weak. It the kind of thing your stick up arse better than thou person would say when mildly peeved. I don't know if being British effects my insults and how I view them that much but it seams to.

As for the lingo Slot is easy to fit in. It dosen't need explaining in game it just works if you say it right. YOu can get it ca mean sex or muder or just loading a chip/blt from context Frag is weak now manly due to the gaming conertaions it seams quite out there. Drek works as a cuss its not a replacement for shit but it can substitute it in places. The more setting specific slang also works quite well. From 'link and jack to more out there but still sensable stuff like razor(pronoun) ect.

I love using lingo but I know some players who hate it, specifically "chummer". For me it confers the culture of shadowrun, and using it with NPCs gives the signal that crime has its own tribal speech. I don't force my players to talk in slang but I give a bonus karma to those who give it a go, because they contributing to the texture of the story.

As for expanding the lexicon, I like Tolkien's philosophy. Its fine to have an etymology for your slang but the most important part is that it sounds natural.

Some favs: vid, wiz, nova, geek, drek, omae, so-ka, frag, fuck, feck, flip, burn, slot, skag, meat, meatbag

I like to add new words in that the players might not know, just as long as they can inference the meaning. Even if the players don't know what it means, using if you use the lingo well it can still make them feel like there is a complex vibrant world in your story.

oh yeah, I am stealing "douche canoe" (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

Great post vladthebad ^^



How often do your players have to look up terms, let alone re-look up? It's not like they are constantly encountering new terms. You explain once to them and move on. Most of the time they grab the meaning from context and won't have to explain. Half the time you can use "blah", in place of a word and they'll still understand what you mean.

I don't think anyone really cares what words they use as long as it helps with the setting. Personally I find the slang more effective than just plain swearing. Plain swearing kind of sets a post-punk genre that shadowrun is now instead of the retro slang that has the gritty cyberpunk association.

Specifically I'm trying to give each group of NPCs unique identifying language.
It's more important that I plan out conversations and stick to it.

Normally, I just make up dialog on the fly, which is probably a mistake.

Yeah I write out my scene dialog as much as I can, as I am not as adept at using the slang on the fly. For NPCs I also make up a catch phrase or two, just like the old contacts write-ups in 1st ed.

WOWY. I wish we had you on some other forums I frequent.

Anyway, I will agree to /derail.

Chummer/omae (how the fuck do you pronounce omae?) is very hard to use consistently. Words like bro, dude, pal, nigga, etc. really want to come off the tongue more.

oh-may is how I always used it.

We waffle between oh-may and oh-meye.

I use the second one. I think that each syllable tends to get pronounced equally even when it's two vowel fragments strung together. Full disclosure though, I know next to nothing about Japanese (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)