| The people of the Forgotten Realms have their own particular language--slang, regional sayings, and unique curses. Most of these come from published Realms sources; the rest come from the Ed Greenwood thread at Candlekeep.com. May this be your guide to the colloquialisms of the Forgotten Realms. Alae (ah-Lay��Fortunate Meeting� in elvish): greeting and assurance of peaceful intentions among travelers Alavairthae ("May your skill prevail" in old Mulhorandi): Parting often used by Red Wizards of Thay Aluve (drow): I/we leave you Amarast: Farewell until we next meet; frequently used by southern sailors Amathor: Knight; often a ruler of an elven community too small to have a Coronal Aril'tel'quessir: Avariel, or winged elves Axe high, friend. I go: dwarven farewell. Sometimes shortened to the terse, "I go" when speaking to strangers Badaulder (BAH-doll-durr): bullshit!, hogwash! Beard!: all-purpose Lathanderite curse; contraction of the phrase, "By the beard of Omthas" (an early prophet of Lathander) Best Face, sharp thoughts: good luck; be on your guard Bind me (and tar me): a mild all-purpose oath; used in the same way as "fuck me" Black Ones: Nickname that the wild dwarves of Otakungurua Uinta use for the dwarves of the Blacksmith Clan Black Smith: Ancient nickname for Durgeddin, First King of Khundrukar, and the origin of the clan's name Blateroon: idiot Blood of the Lady: an oath of Red Knight followers; generally equivalent to "Jesus Christ!" Braeunk vhos trolkh! ("If you die while I'm gone, do it quietly" in Goblin): hobgoblin farewell; sometimes spoken with the addendum, "because I wouldn't want to miss the fun" Brotherhood: Colloquial reference to the Zhentarim, which has its roots in an organization known as the Brotherhood of Zhentar Dwarfhome: Plane of existence that is the home of the dwarven gods and the final resting place of dwarven souls Civilized (Great Dale): weak, worthless, conniving, deceitful. Clutchcoins: greedy merchant. Codloose Winker: lecher Coronal: Elven king Cut (him dead): killed Darburl (DAR-burl): angry Dark (and empty): wow, shit, jesus Darkblade: mercenary, often lacking in principles or loyalty Dragon: bad-tempered woman; to be feared. Durgreos (dur-GREE-ohz��No Quarrel�): greeting and parting used by orcs. Eilistraee: Drow goddess of song, beauty, dance, swordwork, hunting, and moonlight; patron of good-aligned drow living on the surface Evenfeast: dinner Fangs Awfully: sorry Feldurking: fucking. Following your stars: doing your own thing Forges warm, friend: Gnomish farewell Galad!: I�m astonished or I�m impressed Gidig: crazy Glim: beautiful, flashy Glitterpockets: stupid rich people, usually out to spend a lot of money Gods smile!: traditional halfling farewell. Godsspit!: shit Grakling (Thay): fucking; gnollish expletive that has come into vulgar fashion. Grey Riders: Seasoned rangers that patrol the lands in and around Harrowdale Gulletfire: bad beer or wine Haularake! (HALL-ah-rake, said very quickly): all-faiths, acceptable in polite society equivalent of �God damn it!� Hin: halfling Highcoin Ladies: cortesans Hiresword: mercenary Holy Fist: A Banite curse roughly equivalent to �Jesus Christ!� Inner Sea: Common name for the Sea of Fallen Stars Kathtan: Captain of the Harran Watch Kell: try a tricky or dangerous task; often used cynically or derisively Lalandath: agile, sleek, lithe, and is often said of dancers or women whose beauty is accentuated by their movements Leucrotta!: general-purpose expletive Lord of the Jungle: Title referring to Thard Harr, deity of wild dwarves. Luminous!: brilliant! or awesome! Ly'tel'quessir: Lythari, or shapeshifting elves Marshairs: derivation of "marshall"; the name of the military force protecting Tasseldale My sword is sheathed: traveler�s greeting, used to denote friendly or neutral intent N'Tel'Quess ("Not-People" in elvish): General term for any non-elven race. Often used in a derogatory sense, but it does not necessarily imply anything negative about the subject to which it is applied Olore: Well met or good day; used frequently by travelers in the Inner Sea Lands Osvith!: Scram in Draconic Otakungurua Uinta: "White Tiger" in the wild dwarf dialect; the name of Rog's tribe Redblood: Lathanderite oath used in the same way that the British use "bloody" as an adjective Reverie: Meditative trance in which an elf engages in mental exercises to keep his memory strong; see also the Player's Handbook p. 15 Ride High (the Hoardlands): greeting and parting used by the Tuigan Riders: Short for "Arkhen Riders," the standing army of Archendale; often referred to as Ridesmen Rivvim: lust or lusty Sarking: A particularly crude all-purpose epithet, often used by adherents of Bane Scorchkettle: woman who delivers impressively blistering words to someone in public (usually because she�s quick-tempered) Selune: Toril's moon; named after, naturally enough, the goddess of the moon Spurnarmor: either a woman with a spectacular figure, or a well-endowed man Songhorn: The recorder, popular everywhere, unless someone has a hangover Sonlinnor: Title used to refer to clergy of Moradin Stlarn/Stlarning: fuck (polite); often used for the verb �to fuck up� or the adjective �fucking� Sweet Chum! (Sea of Fallen Stars): holy shit! Sweet water and light laughter until next: polite parting generally used by elves Sy'tel'quessir: wild or sylvan elves Tanarukka: Plural form of tanarukk, a tiefling born of the union between demons and orcs Tantan: The tambourine, popular with halflings and humans south of the Dalelands; disliked by dwarves, who prefer more honest percussion Tel'Quessir ("The People" in elvish): The term used by elves to refer to elvenkind or individual elves Thael: glad, or pleasant, or heart-lifting Throatslake: any drinkable that takes care of thirst and doesn�t cause illness in doing so, but isn�t particularly pleasant to drink Thunder Blessing: A "reforging" of the dwarven soul by Moradin, resulting in a dramatic rise in birth rates and the common occurrence of twins Tiru Tel-Quessir: "Tower of the People" in Elvish; neutral site where all elven subraces come together for council Tocken: A set of carved, oval, open-ended bells, played like a glockenspiel, particularly in underground civilizations and others whose bulidings can maximize its resonant tones Tusker: racial epithet for orc Waves roll in, waves roll out: que seras, seras Well Again: Between business associates or acquaintences, this greeting is usually used; if one is annoyed, curt, or sarcastic, one usually just says "Again" (ie, "we meet again"), or "You again!" Well Met: The most often used greeting, particularly between strangers of a different race or those of whom one is unsure White Tiger: See the entry for Otakungurua Uinta Wyrgrym: Wild dwarf ritual by which the son of a chieftain leaves the tribe on an aimless journey through foreign lands. The son may not take up the mantle of chieftain until he determines the nature of his destiny Wyrmlord: priest of Tiamat Until Next, may your sword be ever wet and your bottom dry: Farewell used by the pirates of the Inner Sea Until Swords Part: warrior's farewell throughout the Realms Uluvathae (Oo-loo-VAW-thay: �[May your] fortune bring you joy�)�a friendly, informal greeting and parting used by elves and half-elves to others (of any race) they welcome the company of. Between close friends, its use is an insult, or a neutral �say-nothing-we�re-being-listened-to� warning. Vlandranna (Vlan-DRANNA: �Gods grant [approval, or that what is spoken of occurs by their will]): an old, corrupted dwarven word from the region that is today the Vast and Impiltur; now used by all trading races in The Sea of Fallen Stars. Yarting: A guitar, growing in popularity through Faerun after coming out of Amn and Calimshan some time in the past forty or fity years |
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