Arkian Streetslang

Cyberpunks live in cynical times. The influence of internationalism and the perversion of technology is all facets of everyday life have created new expressions of new ideas. Foreign words, technical jargon and general callousness are the earmarks of Cyberpunk's slang.

## Common Jargon

### #

* **2020 Hindsight:** The wise act of watching your back.

### A

* **Alien:** Derogatory Earthside term for someone who lives in space.

### B

* **Beaver** or **Beav:** A derogatory streetslang for suburbanite form corporate-controlled neighbourhoods, based on the 1950s series *Leave It to Beaver*.
* **Bennie:** An out-of-towner.
* **Black Lace** or **Lace:** A designer drug that is a more powerful version of *'Dorph*.
* **Boga:** *(Spanish)* Vogue, that which is in-fashion.
* **Booster** or **Boostergang:** Any member of a gang that effects cyberware, leather clothing, and random violence.
* **Bourgie** or **Bourgy:** Common, low class (adj. from bourgeoisie)
* **Braindance:** Virtual reality. A new form of interactive electronic entertainment.
* **Brain Potato:** A Braindance addict.
* '**Borg:** A full-body cyborg conversion.
* **Bridge & Tunnel Crowd:** Commuters

### C

* **Chilled:** To be cool; to be together.
* **Chippin' In:** To buy cyberware for the first time. To cast your lot with a group. To connect with a machine.
* **Chombatta (Choomba):** Neo-Afro-American slang for a friend or a family member.
* **CHOOH2 ("choo"):** Streetslang for alcohol, as used in vehicle power plants. (see *Hydro*)
* **Chop:** A credchip.
* **Chopping:** The process of cracking a stolen credchip.
* **Chunking:** Eating on the run, eating as a secondary activity.
* **Chromer:** 21st century heavy metal rock fan.
* **Chromatic Rock:** A type of heavy metal characterized by heavy electronics, simple rhythms, and violent lyrics.
* **Corpse:** A corporate worker, an executive, a corporate. Sleaziness Expert.
* **Culture-Vulture:** A media.
* **C-YA:** Used as, and sounds like, "See ya," stands for "Cover Your Ass".
* **Cybered Up:** To get as much cyberware implanted as possible before you go over the Edge.
* **Cylon:** Corporate security officer.

### D

* **Deckhead:** A Netrunner.
* **Delta**: to leave; to depart
* **Detes**: details
* **Dirty:** Derogatory term for anything low-tech; as in pencils, paper, walking, etc.
* '**Dorph:** Synthetic endorphins, a designer drug that increases healing powers, limits fatigue, and produces a "rush" similar to a second wind.
* **Dorphhead** or **Dorpher:** A drug addict; A type of gang made up of junkies.
* **Downtime:** Free time, time off the job.
* **Doughboy/girl:** Someone who is wearing too much armour.
* **Draga:** *(Hungarian)* Expensive.

### E

* **Edge:** The fringe of society, where many engage in illegal or semi-legal acts or life-styles.
* **Edgerunner:** Someone who lives on the edge.
* **Edgezone:** A strip, a grey area, an area of potential coolness; Dinford's Edgezone Hypothesis defines an Edgezone as the area between two other areas that touch.
* **Exotics:** A human biosculpted with non-human elements; fur, long ears, fangs, etc.

### F

* **Face:** The Interface. Jacking into the 'Net.
* **Faceman:** A sub-fixer in the employ of a boss-fixer, supporting the boss' network.
* **Flatline:** To kill. A dead person or thing.
* **Fodder:** Derogatory fixer term for solos.

### G

* **Guardians:** A self-defence gang; generally peaceful and often cooperative with the police.
* **Gaijin:** *(from Japanese)* Derogatory term for outsider. (see *Bennie*)
* **Gato:** (Spanish) A smooth operator; a cool person — also a fixer.
* **Gewalt:** *(from German)* Violence.
* **Gibson:** Strong foresight. A prophet; someone who tells the future. A psychic.
* **Gimp:** Derogatory term for costumed metahumans.
* **Giri:** *(Japanese)* Closest translation is debt or obligation, but the concept entails much more. Often used by Yakuza to describe the basis for their 'honorable' traditions; honor, duty, obligation.
* **Gomi:** *(Japanese)* Trash, junk, or garbage.
* **Gonk:** An idiot, fool, schmuck.

### H

* **Handle:** A nickname; a working name you are known by on the street.
* **Hard:** A flattering term, like cool, hip, tough, etc.
* **Hexed:** Having cyberpsychosis — also, being obsessed with the 'Net.
* **Highrider:** Earthside term for anyone born, or spend most of their time working, in space. (see *Alien*)
* **Hound-Tipping:** Popular street practice of ambushing and reprogramming police robohounds.
* **Hydro:** Streetslang for hydrogen fuel, used to power a sizable number of vehicles in the 2000s. (see *CHOOH2*)

### I

* **Indie:** Independent, self-employed, underground.
* **Info Bro:** An information broker.
* **Input:** Boyfriend. (see Output)
* **Iron**: a gun.

### J

* **Jack:** Money. (see *Scratch*)
* **Joytoy**: A sex worker.

### K

* **Kibble:** Cheaply produced food product resembling dry dog or cat food, hence the name.
* **Kleptoid:** A thief or prowler.

### M

* **Metalhead:** Someone whose whole body is mechanical, a full 'Borg; derogatory term for a 'borg. (see *'Borg*)
* **Metro:** The underground. (see *The Street*)
* **Mob:** An organized crime; any crime syndicate.
* **Mr. Who:** Also "The Who", a name for an employer, or someone in higher authority.
* **Mushi:** *(Japanese)* Computer glitch or bug.

### N

* **Netrun:** To interface with the 'Net and use it to hack into Data Fortresses.
* **Neh?:** *(Japanese)* Expression meaning, "Right?", tacked onto the end of a sentence.
* **Organiskaya:** *(Russian)* The Russian Mafia.
* **Paranoid:** Someone who has all the facts.
* **Porky:** Someone who loves or collects weapons (from *porcupine*).
* **Polymer One-shot:** Any cheap, plastic pistol, usually in the five to six millimeter range.
* **Posergang:** Any group whose members affect a specific look, or bodysculpt job.
* **Preem**: Cool, awesome, dope. Comes from the word premium.
* **Proles:** The lower class, streetscum (from proletariat).
* **Puppet:** Any gang or gang member who hires themselves out to a corporation or criminal organization; A sellout.
* **Ripperdoc:** Surgeon specializing in implanting cyberware.
* **Ram:** Personality (from computer jargon, RAM).
* **Recycling:** Environmentally friendly act of killing someone and taking their corpse to a body bank.
* **Reality Junkie:** Addicts of virtual reality, braindance, the Net, or video games. (see *Vidiot*)
* **Rimbo:** A gun-toting sex kitten (a rambo/bimbo).
* **Ronin:** *(Japanese)* A freelance assassin or mercenary. Usually considered untrustworthy. (a type of solo)
* **Rockerboy/girl:** A musician or performer who uses his or her art to make political or social statements. Rockerboys are not the same as "Rockstars", who are usually "owned" by recording mediacorps and are apolitical.
* **Sardine:** A powered armor trooper.
* **Samurai:** *(Japanese)* A corporate assassin or mercenary, hired to protect corporation property make trikes against other Corporate holdings. (a type of solo)
* **Scratch:** Money. (see *Jack*)
* **Skeleton:** All the collected electronic records kept on a person; their electronic identity.
* **Slammit On:** To get violent; to attack someone without reason.
* **Smash:** A potent form of alcohol made from *CHOOH2*.
* **Stim:** Any type of stimulant narcotic.
* **Straphangers:** Commuters. (see *Bridge & Tunnel Crowd*)
* **The Street:** Wherever you live, late at night. The subculture, the underground. (see *The Metro*)
* **Stuffit:** To have sex. Also; to forget something.
* **Svoluch:** *(Russian)* Someone without honor, without *Giri*, a bastard.
* **SynthCoke or Synth:** Synthetic cocaine.
* **Terminal:** A computer interface deck with manual keys. A keyboard.
* **Tip:** A token credchip.
* **Tin Can:** A suit of powered armor.
* **Throwbacks:** Exotics.
* **Yono:** *(Korean)* A person who is scum, lowlife (from *Yonomoseki*).
* **Vidiot:** A virtual reality or video game addict. (see *Reality Junkie*)
* **VRcade:** Virtual reality, braindance, and vid-game arcade or parlor.
* **Zero**: to kill.
* **Zombie:** A member of a nihilistic movement dedicated to ending their lives in the most violent and spectacular way possible.