FoG Euphemism & Acronym Shortage

madaxeman · Post by **madaxeman** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 6:09 pm

Recently I've become quite concerned over the lack of development of a comprehensive set of acronyms and/or euphemistic phraseology building up around FoG.

Other rulesets enjoy a healthy ecosystem of linguistic creativity surrounding the core rules, with slang and alternative ways of describing core rule components, tactics, strategems and army compositions.

But with FoG having been out for I guess a year or so now, we have developed the paltry additional vocabulary of just 2 phrases - the "Dom Rom Swarm", "Shooty Cavalry", and (arguably) "The Santa, Herm and Doo-dah Thingy".

I'm rather dissappointed with this, and worry thats its a sign of lack of vibrancy in the FoG community - maybe we are all at risk of becoming a slavish cult accepting everything the rules and list authors spoon feed us unquestioningly... and we all know where that leads to in gaming terms, don't we...?

Personally I'd like to think we, working together in an international brotherhood of solidarity, creativity and alcohol fuelled irreverence, could fight back against this looming dark and threatening monoculture, and start creating, sharing, and actively encouraging (firstly in our own small local groups, then onto competitions, and hey, maybe some day, at international competitions as well..) a grass roots movement to make up new silly ways of expressing concepts, tactics and army names in FoG.

To lead this charge towards a more expansive vocabulary I'd like to offer my starting point. This developed quite organically this weekend at the Badcon doubles in Burton when our Classical Greek Spartan army was engaged in many, many combats, and quite accidentally we started to refer to the POA for "spearmen" as being

"+1, men with sticks"

This did start to spread, and several of our opponents started saying (of their POA for 4 ranks of pikemen)

"+1 for men with bigger sticks, and +1 for more men with bigger sticks"

Now, its not much, its not big, and its not clever. But it was an addition to the linguistic tapestry of FoG.

And I for one do not want to see it wither and die for want of care and encouragement.

So, I encourage you all to take this up, take it to your clubs and competitions, and spread the word.

And if you have any more words to spread - please add them to this thread and we can all start the good work !

nikgaukroger · Post by **nikgaukroger** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 6:46 pm

A bit dull but "shooty cavalry" has been around a bit and there was an attempt to call Complex Moves "cunning stunts" I believe, but it failed for some reason ...

rtaylor · Post by **rtaylor** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 6:51 pm

nikgaukroger wrote:...there was an attempt to call Complex Moves "cunning stunts" I believe, but it failed for some reason ...

HA! I'm willing to keep it alive...

...and hope I'm not prone to spoonerisms.

Phaze_of_the_Moon · Post by **Phaze_of_the_Moon** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 8:52 pm

madaxeman wrote:Recently I've become quite concerned over the lack of development of a comprehensive set of acronyms and/or euphemistic phraseology building up around FoG.

Other rulesets enjoy a healthy ecosystem of linguistic creativity surrounding the core rules, with slang and alternative ways of describing core rule components, tactics, strategems and army compositions.

So, you are complaining that the game is simple, clear, and intuitive, thus you want to erect a barrier to entry?

Jargon arises so that domain experts can more easily discuss complex topics. FoG's lack of jargon suggests that it closely maps reality, so is discussed with existing language.

nikgaukroger · Post by **nikgaukroger** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 8:54 pm

I think you've missed the humour here

madaxeman · Post by **madaxeman** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 8:58 pm

nikgaukroger wrote:A bit dull but "shooty cavalry" has been around a bit and there was an attempt to call Complex Moves "cunning stunts" I believe, but it failed for some reason ...

I thought I mentioned Shooty Cavalry ?

vingthorr · Post by **vingthorr** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 9:17 pm

slightly different train of thought here . . .

but man, if I had a dime for every time I've heard "Calvary", instead of "cavalry", and "mealy", instead of "melee" over the years!!!

paulcummins · Post by **paulcummins** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 9:24 pm

hmm, i think you are right

where is the KMDT
where is the light horse lottery

how about

do something cunning/clever

for cmt

but that is dead boring

I like BHP - Benny Hill Phase ((C) Madaxeman) for the 'oh god ive broken every thing i can catch' phase

DFF - dont fight fair - the cardinal rule of FOG if you want to win ((C) Bruce Brown )

oh, you cant resist

DDD Double Drob Dailami - good troops getting dodgy di

vingthorr · Post by **vingthorr** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 9:29 pm

when your best BG, lets you down at a critical moment and drops to fragmented = fraggots

Scrumpy · Post by **Scrumpy** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 9:31 pm

rtaylor wrote:
nikgaukroger wrote:...there was an attempt to call Complex Moves "cunning stunts" I believe, but it failed for some reason ...
HA! I'm willing to keep it alive...

...and hope I'm not prone to spoonerisms.

On a related theme, I believe Mr Taylor has patented the " I hate it when I f*** myself' comment when he makes a game losing error.

Personally I just wait till I get home and kick the neighbours cat when that happens.

DaiSho · Post by **DaiSho** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 9:46 pm

nikgaukroger wrote:A bit dull but "shooty cavalry" has been around a bit and there was an attempt to call Complex Moves "cunning stunts" I believe, but it failed for some reason ...

"Cunning Stunts" could of course be cut down some-what, but I would be careful to use it only in limited company.

Ian

davem · Post by **davem** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 11:07 pm

Might I offer "IC umbrella" for their effect on shooting?

philqw78 · Post by **philqw78** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 11:14 pm

There's the obvious Terrible Commander
Spambush/Spambush marker - He's put the markers out but can't possibly have an ambush 'cos of the BG count, like an Hambush but poor quality

SirGarnet · Post by **SirGarnet** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 11:15 pm

We have BG, CMT, CT , IC, FC, TC, IF, OS, DS, and of course the LF, LH etc. . . .

Perhaps "I have a cunning plan" to announce you are rolling a CMT?

Following which the other player has to come up with some Blackadderish response if the CMT fails?

gozerius · Post by **gozerius** » Sat Feb 14, 2009 2:02 am

"IC umbrella"

That's an "ICU".

OldenTired · Post by **OldenTired** » Sat Feb 14, 2009 6:26 am

nikgaukroger wrote:I think you've missed the humour here

oooh. i didn't. i've seen LH double wheels that definitely move the emphasis to stunning...

Saurocet · Post by **Saurocet** » Sat Feb 14, 2009 12:22 pm

Whenever I lead with 3 BGs, I call them Barry, Robin, and Maurice.

madaxeman · Post by **madaxeman** » Sat Feb 14, 2009 1:42 pm

These are all pretty good so far.

Especially the one's I've sed myself but didn;t notice (the "Benny Hill Phase" !)

Now, someone out there surely must have phrases for :

"the accidental use of old WRG/DBx terminology to describe FoG troop types"

and

"rolling a bucket of 3's with your elite (or superior + general) troops"

Kweep 'em coming!

babyshark · Post by **babyshark** » Sat Feb 14, 2009 2:01 pm

Some horrid soul once told me that CMT stood for "Country Music Test" and now I can't get it out of my head. No matter how hard I pound it on the wall.

Marc

dave_r · Post by **dave_r** » Sat Feb 14, 2009 4:20 pm

Terrible Commander
Forgotten Commander
Insipid Commander

FoG Euphemism & Acronym Shortage

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