Planar Cant - Frequently Used Terms

[Cicciograna]

Planning to send my plaers to the Planes, I want to present them the characteristic vernacular of the Great Wheel.

I've found a dictionary online, but the thing is pretty long: can you give me a small(ish) list of the most frequently used words (smallish because being a non native English speaker I'll have to translate the terms)?

I already discovered that "berk" and "basher" see a lot of action: what more?

[supermonkeyjoe]

The one I remember most from Planescape:torment is "jink" referring to money or coins

[Planar]

There you go. :D
http://i48.tinypic.com/106f32q.jpg

[Alien Mole]

That list'd certainly get you somewhere in the Planes. Specifically, in the poorhouse if you're lucky and face-down in a pool of your own blood if you're not. Jolly good read, though.

This appears to be a somewhat more straightforward one:

http://mimir.net/cant/cant2.html

[afroakuma]

...what?

No, that's... that's wrong. Not only is it wrong, it's... it's like having Stephen Colbert teach you cant (in-character). It's lies and dad-answers all the way through.

The Cage is what residents of Sigil call their city; it's not some prison. The Harmonium are arrogant law-enforcement types also known as Hardheads. A blood is someone you want to know - it's a term of respect. "Rattling your bone-box" means empty talk - the "bone-box" is your jaw.

Ciphers have nothing to do with math. Dustmen are a nihilistic philosophical sect. I just... whoever made this image file is deliberately messing with people.

If you want a real resource for the cant, you should go to the Mimir's list (http://www.mimir.net/cant/cant2.html), which has the official vernacular as well as player-addded terms from their successful games. I recommend looking at this and never looking at that ridiculous image again.

Seriously, a blood is a vampire? Total dad-answer.

Here's a list of the most common ones to salt your phrases with - as well as what they really mean.

• Addle-cove
A rather unfriendly way to call someone an idiot. "That addle-coved barkeep threw me out of the Styx Oarsman just for lighting a torch!" Also a noun, as in "He's an addle-cove!"

• Bar that
An almost-polite way to say "shut up" or "don't talk about that." It's quick, to the point, and can be used as a warning: "Bar that, there's a Dustman over there!"

• Barmy
Insane. As in, "The winds of Pandemonium'll drive a body barmy if he stays too long." Barmies are insane folks, especially those in Sigil, who've been "touched" by the impossible size of the planes.

• Basher
A neutral reference to a person, usually but not always, implying a thug or fighter.

• Berk
A fool, especially someone who gets himself into a mess when he should have known better.

• Blood
An expert, sage, or professional in any field. Calling someone a blood is a sign or deep respect.

• Body
"A body" is the planar way of saying "someone".

• Bone-box
The mouth, named because of its teeth, fangs or whatever. "Stop rattling your bone-box", is telling a berk to lay off the threats or bragging.

• Bub
Booze, wine or ale -- usually cheap and barely drinkable.

• Cage, the
A common nickname for Sigil, used by the locals. It's derived from "birdcage", so it's a pretty harsh judgement on the place.

• Cager
A native or resident of Sigil.

• Canny
Smart or talented.

• Chant, the
An expression that means news, local gossip, the facts, the moods, or anything else about what's happening. "What's the chant?" is a way of asking for the latest information a basher's heard.

• Clueless
The folks who just don't get it, usually primes. Use this on a planar and there's likely to be a fight. It's also an adjective, like calling someone a "clueless berk."

• Cross-trade
The business of thieving, or anything else illegal or shady in nature. A "cross-trading scum" is a thief who's got on the wrong side of the Mercykillers.

• Cutter
A complimentary term that refers to anybody, male or female. It suggests a certain amount of resourcefulness or daring, so it's a lot better than calling someone a berk.

• Dark
Anything secret is said to be dark. "Here's the dark of it" is a way of saying "I've got a secret and I'll share it with you."

• Dead-book
A body in the dead-book is dead. Some people have others "put in the dead-book".

• Deader
Anyone in the dead-book.

• Give 'em the laugh
To escape or slip through the clutches of someone. Robbing a tanar'ri and not getting caught is giving it the laugh.

• Gully
A potential victim of a peel, a gullible sod.

• High-up
Powerful. This refers to a spell, position, or anything else with plenty of power that can theoretically be measured. A person of money and influence. Factols, for example, are high-ups. It's bad form to call one's self this; it's a phrase that others bestow.

• Jink
The goal of the poor: money or coins. "That's going to take a lot of jink!"

• Kip
Any place a cutter can put his feet up and sleep for a night, especially cheap flophouses in the Hive or elsewhere. Also, to call kip is to make a place a body's home, at least for a while.

• Lann
To tell or inform. See well lanned.

• Music
A price a cutter doesn't usually want to pay, but has to anyway. As in, "Pay the music or you'll never find your way out of here." Not a literal amount.

• Peel
A swindle, con or trick. It's often used as a verb. Peeling a tanar'ri is usually a bad idea.

• Peery
Suspicious and on one's guard. What a basher should be if she thinks she's going to get peeled.

• Pike it
A useful, all-purpose rude phrase, as in, "Take a short stick and pike it, bubber."

• Rorty
Strong, vigorous, though the meaning changes according to the context: thus a rorty bloke is a real blood, a rorty toff is a basher pretending to be a blood, and a rorty cube is a rogue modron.

• Rube
A naive or clueless person, but not necessarily a prime. Sometimes this term's used to describe any non-Cager.

• Sod
An unfortunate or poor soul. Use it to show sympathy for an unlucky cutter or use it sarcastically for those who get into their own messes.

• Sodding
A derogatory term used to stress magnitude. A "sodding idiot" is an amazingly stupid berk.

• Square
Honest, good, or good enough. Frequently used to describe Celestials or the Harmonium, sometimes disparagingly. "I'll slip you that chant if the jink's square."

• Tumble to
To understand, figure out, or find out something. A body better tumble to the dark of Sigil before he bangs around the Cage on his own.

• Well-lanned
Connected, in-touch, or otherwise blessed with numerous friends, allies, and informants.

[kardar233]

...what?

No, that's... that's wrong. Not only is it wrong, it's... it's like having Stephen Colbert teach you cant (in-character). It's lies and dad-answers all the way through.

The Cage is what residents of Sigil call their city; it's not some prison. The Harmonium are arrogant law-enforcement types also known as Hardheads. A blood is someone you want to know - it's a term of respect. "Rattling your bone-box" means empty talk - the "bone-box" is your jaw.

Ciphers have nothing to do with math. Dustmen are a nihilistic philosophical sect. I just... whoever made this image file is deliberately messing with people.

If you want a real resource for the cant, you should go to the Mimir's list (http://www.mimir.net/cant/cant2.html), which has the official vernacular as well as player-addded terms from their successful games. I recommend looking at this and never looking at that ridiculous image again.

Seriously, a blood is a vampire? Total dad-answer.

This blood knows the chant, berk.

[Planar]

I owe you one chiv in the gut cutters for ruining my chance of bobbing a clueless sod... So yeah, the previous dictionary was provided by knights of the cross-trade, and I am not to blame. I better jump back to my kip before they give me the rope.

I also suggest this one (http://www.sorcerers.net/Games/Torment/glossary.php).

[afroakuma]

Edited my above post to include a selection of the more common terms. Left out stuff that's contained in the setting proper (factions, philosophical concepts of planewalking, etc.) and focused on conversation.

[Cicciograna]

Afroakuma, I really hoped to get your answer, because I know you're a real authority when talking about the Planes. Thank you for your kind input :smallcool:

And thanks to the other contributors too, obviously :smallsmile:

However I had already found Mimir's list, and that's why I said that the thing was pretty long :smallsmile:

[afroakuma]

Afroakuma, I really hoped to get your answer, because I know you're a real authority when talking about the Planes. Thank you for your kind input :smallcool:

It does tend to draw my attention. :smallwink:

The list I shortened above should serve you fairly well. Tossing in a few of those words gives the flavor right away, and the sample phrases are pretty useful.

[Cicciograna]

Just a quick question: in the formula Spire's Ward, does the word "Ward" refer to the protection provided by the Spire (as in "May the Spire ward you!") or literally to the district the Spire's in?
So apparently there's no "Spire's Ward" :smallredface:, so I'll go with the first meaning for my translation.

This teaches me to consult maps before posting questions...

[EmperorNortonII]

...what?

No, that's... that's wrong. Not only is it wrong, it's... it's like having Stephen Colbert teach you cant (in-character). It's lies and dad-answers all the way through.

The Cage is what residents of Sigil call their city; it's not some prison. The Harmonium are arrogant law-enforcement types also known as Hardheads. A blood is someone you want to know - it's a term of respect. "Rattling your bone-box" means empty talk - the "bone-box" is your jaw.

Ciphers have nothing to do with math. Dustmen are a nihilistic philosophical sect. I just... whoever made this image file is deliberately messing with people.

If you want a real resource for the cant, you should go to the Mimir's list (http://www.mimir.net/cant/cant2.html), which has the official vernacular as well as player-addded terms from their successful games. I recommend looking at this and never looking at that ridiculous image again.

Seriously, a blood is a vampire? Total dad-answer.

Here's a list of the most common ones to salt your phrases with - as well as what they really mean.

• Addle-cove
A rather unfriendly way to call someone an idiot. "That addle-coved barkeep threw me out of the Styx Oarsman just for lighting a torch!" Also a noun, as in "He's an addle-cove!"

• Bar that
An almost-polite way to say "shut up" or "don't talk about that." It's quick, to the point, and can be used as a warning: "Bar that, there's a Dustman over there!"

• Barmy
Insane. As in, "The winds of Pandemonium'll drive a body barmy if he stays too long." Barmies are insane folks, especially those in Sigil, who've been "touched" by the impossible size of the planes.

• Basher
A neutral reference to a person, usually but not always, implying a thug or fighter.

• Berk
A fool, especially someone who gets himself into a mess when he should have known better.

• Blood
An expert, sage, or professional in any field. Calling someone a blood is a sign or deep respect.

• Body
"A body" is the planar way of saying "someone".

• Bone-box
The mouth, named because of its teeth, fangs or whatever. "Stop rattling your bone-box", is telling a berk to lay off the threats or bragging.

• Bub
Booze, wine or ale -- usually cheap and barely drinkable.

• Cage, the
A common nickname for Sigil, used by the locals. It's derived from "birdcage", so it's a pretty harsh judgement on the place.

• Cager
A native or resident of Sigil.

• Canny
Smart or talented.

• Chant, the
An expression that means news, local gossip, the facts, the moods, or anything else about what's happening. "What's the chant?" is a way of asking for the latest information a basher's heard.

• Clueless
The folks who just don't get it, usually primes. Use this on a planar and there's likely to be a fight. It's also an adjective, like calling someone a "clueless berk."

• Cross-trade
The business of thieving, or anything else illegal or shady in nature. A "cross-trading scum" is a thief who's got on the wrong side of the Mercykillers.

• Cutter
A complimentary term that refers to anybody, male or female. It suggests a certain amount of resourcefulness or daring, so it's a lot better than calling someone a berk.

• Dark
Anything secret is said to be dark. "Here's the dark of it" is a way of saying "I've got a secret and I'll share it with you."

• Dead-book
A body in the dead-book is dead. Some people have others "put in the dead-book".

• Deader
Anyone in the dead-book.

• Give 'em the laugh
To escape or slip through the clutches of someone. Robbing a tanar'ri and not getting caught is giving it the laugh.

• Gully
A potential victim of a peel, a gullible sod.

• High-up
Powerful. This refers to a spell, position, or anything else with plenty of power that can theoretically be measured. A person of money and influence. Factols, for example, are high-ups. It's bad form to call one's self this; it's a phrase that others bestow.

• Jink
The goal of the poor: money or coins. "That's going to take a lot of jink!"

• Kip
Any place a cutter can put his feet up and sleep for a night, especially cheap flophouses in the Hive or elsewhere. Also, to call kip is to make a place a body's home, at least for a while.

• Lann
To tell or inform. See well lanned.

• Music
A price a cutter doesn't usually want to pay, but has to anyway. As in, "Pay the music or you'll never find your way out of here." Not a literal amount.

• Peel
A swindle, con or trick. It's often used as a verb. Peeling a tanar'ri is usually a bad idea.

• Peery
Suspicious and on one's guard. What a basher should be if she thinks she's going to get peeled.

• Pike it
A useful, all-purpose rude phrase, as in, "Take a short stick and pike it, bubber."

• Rorty
Strong, vigorous, though the meaning changes according to the context: thus a rorty bloke is a real blood, a rorty toff is a basher pretending to be a blood, and a rorty cube is a rogue modron.

• Rube
A naive or clueless person, but not necessarily a prime. Sometimes this term's used to describe any non-Cager.

• Sod
An unfortunate or poor soul. Use it to show sympathy for an unlucky cutter or use it sarcastically for those who get into their own messes.

• Sodding
A derogatory term used to stress magnitude. A "sodding idiot" is an amazingly stupid berk.

• Square
Honest, good, or good enough. Frequently used to describe Celestials or the Harmonium, sometimes disparagingly. "I'll slip you that chant if the jink's square."

• Tumble to
To understand, figure out, or find out something. A body better tumble to the dark of Sigil before he bangs around the Cage on his own.

• Well-lanned
Connected, in-touch, or otherwise blessed with numerous friends, allies, and informants.

Think of how funny it'd be to do a Planescape game that started with some clueless berks wandering in from their Primes and being given that list by a Cager as a bad joke.

[Kane0]

I'd say the most common terms would be amongst:
Currency
Locations / Directions
Legal/Illegal
Killing / Stealing
Insults

[EmperorNortonII]

I owe you one chiv in the gut cutters for ruining my chance of bobbing a clueless sod... So yeah, the previous dictionary was provided by knights of the cross-trade, and I am not to blame. I better jump back to my kip before they give me the rope.

I also suggest this one (http://www.sorcerers.net/Games/Torment/glossary.php).

Planar, do you got the next page to the list you posted? Or where I can find it?