aka the only possible appropriate character for talking about angels
серафими многоꙮчитїи
Multiocular O (ꙮ) is a rare glyph variant of the Cyrillic letter O. This glyph variant can be found in certain manuscripts in the phrase «серафими многоꙮчитїи» (“many-eyed seraphim”). It was documented by Yefim Karsky[1] from a copy of Psalms[2] from around 1429, now found in the collection[3]of the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, and subsequently incorporated[4] into Unicode as character U+A66E.
o.O seems to me like a monk meme rather than a proper letter, but hey
From the article for the Cyrillic O:
Historical typefaces (like poluustav (semi-uncial), a standard font style for the Church Slavonic typography) and old manuscripts represent several additional glyph variants of Cyrillic O, both for decorative and orthographic (sometimes also “hieroglyphic”[1]) purposes, namely:
broad variant (Ѻ/ѻ), used mostly as a word initial letter (see Broad On for more details);
narrow variant, being used now in Synodal Church Slavonic editions as the first element of digraph Oy/oy (see Uk (Cyrillic) for more details), and in the editions of Old Believers for unstressed “o” as well;
variant with a cross inside, used in certain manuscripts as the initial letter of words окрестъ ‘around, nearby’ (the root of this Slavonic word, крест, means ‘cross’) and округъ ‘district, neighbourhood’ with their derivatives;
“eyed” variant (Monocular O) with a dot inside (Ꙩ/ꙩ), used in certain manuscripts in spelling of word око ‘eye’ and its derivatives. In many other texts, including the birchbark letters, the monocular O was not used as a hieroglyph but largely as a synonym of Broad On signalling the word-initial position;
“two-eyed” variants with two dots inside (Ꙫ/ꙫ or Ꙭ/ꙭ), also double “O” without dots inside were used in certain manuscripts in spelling of dual/plural forms of the words with the same root ‘eye’;
“many-eyed” variant (ꙮ), used in certain manuscripts in spelling of the same root when embedded into word многоочитый ‘many-eyed’ (an attribute of seraphs).
It’s finally here! ScriptSoldier’s Army Jargon Masterpost. This is a list of army slang as best as I can recall it, but I do not consider it fully complete. This is the slang I can remember as best I can or with as little input as possible. As such this masterpost will never be entirely complete and will be updated periodically, so check back frequently and make sure you’re always up to date!
A note: I have avoided putting most of the more offensive slang, but there is some slang that has sexual allusions and probably others too. It’s hard to fully weed everything out. I’ve also only gone up to battalion level because that’s as far as the average soldier is probably worried about, but there’ll be more information on my military units post.
Please also remember that this is 1) An ARMY Jargon post, so no kidding there’s no AF/USMC/Navy slang on it. 2) Jargon can often be specific to certain parts of the army or even certain units, meaning I’ve inevitably missed some and there will inevitably be slang on this list that’s uncommon except in certain circles. It’s jargon. By nature it’s impossible to fully catalog it.
This masterlist is a masterlist of words that you may use alongside the word very, very being one of the most common words that are used when writing. I hope this helps you as much as it helps me in our writing seem more sophisticated and unique.
A:
Very accurate – exact Very afraid – fearful Very angry – furious Very annoying – exasperating
B:
Very bad – atrocious Very beautiful – exquisite Very big – immense Very boring – dull Very bright – luminous Very busy – swamped
C:
Very calm – serene Very careful – cautious Very cheap – stingy Very clean – spotless Very clear – obvious Very clever – intelligent Very cold – freezing Very colourful – vibrant Very competitive – cutthroat Very complete – comprehensive Very confused – perplexed Very conventional – conservative Very creative – innovative Very crowded – bustling Very cute – adorable
D:
Very dangerous – perilous Very dear – cherished Very deep – profound Very depressed – despondent Very detailed – meticulous Very different – disparate Very difficult – arduous Very dirty – filthy Very dry – arid Very dull – tedious
E:
Very eager – keen Very easy – effortless Very empty – desolate Very excited – thrilled Very exciting – exhilarating Very expensive – costly
F:
Very fancy – lavish Very fast – swift Very fat – obese Very friendly – amiable Very frightened – alarmed Very frightening – terrifying Very funny – hilarious
G:
Very glad – overjoyed Very good – excellent Very great – terrific
H:
Very happy – ecstatic Very hard – difficult Very hard-to-find – rare Very heavy – leaden Very high – soaring Very hot – sweltering Very huge – colossal Very hungry – ravenous Very hurt – battered
I:
Very important – crucial Very intelligent – brilliant Very interesting – captivating
J:
K:
L:
Very large – huge Very lazy – indolent Very little – tiny Very lively – vivacious Very long – extensive Very long-term – enduring Very loose – slack Very loud – thunderous Very loved – adored
M:
Very mean – cruel Very messy – slovenly
N:
Very neat – immaculate Very necessary – essential Very nervous – apprehensive Very nice – kind Very noisy – deafening
O:
Very often – frequently Very old – ancient Very old-fashioned – archaic Very open – transparent
P:
Very painful – excruciating Very pale – ashen Very perfect – flawless Very poor – destitute Very powerful – compelling Very pretty – beautiful
Q:
Very quick – rapid Very quiet – hushed
R:
Very rainy – pouring Very rich – wealthy
S:
Very sad – sorrowful Very scared – petrified Very scary – chilling Very serious – grave Very sharp – keen Very shiny – gleaming Very short – brief Very shy – timid Very simple – basic Very skinny – skeletal Very slow – sluggish Very small – petite Very smart – intelligent Very smelly – pungent Very smooth – sleek Very soft – downy Very sorry – apologetic Very special – exceptional Very strong – forceful Very stupid – idiotic Very sure – certain Very sweet – thoughtful
T:
Very talented – gifted Very tall – towering Very tasty – delicious Very thirsty – parched Very tight – constricting Very tiny –minuscule Very tired – exhausted
U:
Very ugly – hideous Very unhappy – miserable Very upset – distraught
V:
W:
Very warm – hot Very weak – frail Very well-to-do – wealthy Very wet – soaked Very wide – expansive Very willing – eager Very windy – blustery Very wise – sage Very worried – distressed
X:
Y:
Z:
A/N: If you know of anymore words I can add please message me.
I think it varies significantly depending on what part of the army you were in and how much you absorbed the lifestyle, but here’s a few I still use on a regular basis. Some of them might actually be fairly common irl ones; I can’t even tell the difference at this point.
• Hooah: I can’t help myself. I told my husband at one point to spray me with water if I said “hooah” and I just can’t stop. It’s just such a convenient word that replaces most forms of communication to something akin to a grunt and that’s great when you’re me and you hate talking.
• Hurry up and wait: the army wants you to hurry the fuck up and run your ass ragged only to stand around for literally hours doing nothing. We have to wake up at four a.m. to pre-preassemble at a location where we’ll preassemble before we actually assemble at. Like. Eight a.m. Sometimes it feels like the real world is just as ridiculous with its timing.
• Soup Sandwich: A fuck up of epic proportions. It feels like everything’s a gd soup sandwich these days.
• Voluntold: When someone “volunteers” for something but in fact they were told to volunteer for it, making it more of a demand. I ask myself this all the time when I see businesses doing giveaways or protesters/public speakers and shit, when I pick my passengers in my car who say they do volunteer stuff like that, I want to ask if they actually volunteered or if they were voluntold.
•
…and a wake up: A unit of telling time in the military we learn in basic training to help us get through the weeks of training. It cuts down on your days left by one with the reasoning that if the final day is just a ceremony or something as equally easy, the final day doesn’t count because the hardest part is waking up on that day. So instead of saying we have fifty-six days left, we’d say we have fifty-five days and a wake up. I still say shit like that to my husband. “We have an appointment in three days and a wake up.” Yes, it’s pathetic.
•
as you were/as I was: Return to your prior task/I’ve made a verbal error, please disregard the last thing I said. I often sometimes just say “disregard.”
• Roger: yes, confirmed, heard, understood, you got it, I’m on it, roger-fucking-dodger bro.
•
skillfully acquire: steal. Literally just steal.
•
high speed: good shit, A+, 10/10
•
the crud: a common cold, especially one with fluid leakage.
•
Charlie Foxtrot: a clusterfuck. A complete and utter fuck-up.
•
MIA: missing in action. Applied to literally anything that isn’t where it’s supposed to be. “I can’t leave ‘cuz my damn keys are MIA.”
•
Stay in your lane: this one is common in the civilian world nowadays, but when we used it we meant it quite literally: on the range we each had our own lane, and when the range was hot (guns being fired) you don’t cross over to someone else’s lane because people are literally shooting weapons why would you put yourself in that situation. Also used in the same metaphorical sense civilians use nowadays, aka “you do not know about or understand this so stick to what you know.”
• The real world: civilian life, non-military life. Every day I wake up and am grateful I now live in the real world.
•
Zero dark-thirty: too goddamn early in the morning for this bullshit
•
Beer-thirty: it’s socially acceptable for me to get fucked up thank god
As you can see, most of these I still use because they apply to both the real world and the army. We wouldn’t use most of our slang here because it normally wouldn’t apply. There is no need for me to tell a fuzzy to grab a donkey dick so we can juice up the 5k.
Some soldiers are REALLY hardcore about keeping their personal life and their working life separate and they go to great pains to avoid slipping in military jargon. Others just really don’t care at all. It’s okay to have a character be either of those or somewhere in the middle, but I recommend trying not to overdo it on jargon, such as the above example I gave. You can’t expect most civilians to be able to know what most of these slang terms mean, and you’d be holding up your story having to explain them so often. I recommend keeping jargon relatively sparse, using only when it’ll have the greatest effect. Using jargon just to show off will always drag down a story.
I’d like to give a special thank you to Sally, one of my patrons, whose generous monthly pledge helped bring this post to you all! If you’d like to see what she does and you’re interested in book reviews, (especially of both new and old SciFi books) cosplay costumes, and creative writing, then take a look at Blake’s 7 Blog and Other Interesting Stuff – on Facebook!
There are several charts and lists making the rounds lately with alternatives to using “said.” Guys–I cannot stress this enough: THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH USING “SAID!” 🙂 If you feel like you’re overusing “said,” it’s because you’re over tagging. That’s it. End of story.Which is not to say you should never use replacements for “said.” It’s just that you should use them sparingly and only when appropriate. Here are some things to keep in mind when using alternatives to “said”:
1) Beware of Non-Synonymous Words.
In other words, beware of words that aren’t synonyms of “said” or other speaking words.
Body Language Words:
Words like laughed, shrugged, frowned, trembled, and their synonyms are not words that have to do with speech. You can’t frown something. You can say something WHILE frowning. You can’t tremble something. You can say something WHILE trembling. You wouldn’t say: Ted stood in front of the class and trembled the alphabet. So, you shouldn’t say, “I’ll go in front of the class and recite the alphabet,” Ted trembled.
Speech hindering actions:
Words like smiled, gaped, bubbled, breathed, panted, sneezed–try saying a few sentences while doing any of these things. Bear in mind that “gape” means “open wide.” It’s pretty difficult, right? Not to mention it probably looks/sounds pretty silly.
Non-Speaking words:
Words like accepted, approved, brainstormed, puzzled, cross-examined, publicized, justified, beckoned, invited–are words that go hand-in-hand with talking, but they’re not words that relate to actually saying things. “We could go with a red one, a blue one, or one made of metal, or maybe wood?” Ted brainstormed. Or, “We’re remodeling our house,” Ted publicized. It just sounds weird.
2) Beware of Over-Complicated Words.
While it’s certainly fine to be ornate now and then, most of the time, simple and concise is much better. Words like asseverated, remonstrated, vociferated, equivocated, acknowledged, communicated, etc. are long and over-complicated. “We’re remodeling our house,” said Ted is a lot more concise than “We’re remodeling our house,” Ted vociferated. It’s fine once in a while, when the word choice really matters, but don’t get into the habit of it.
3) Beware of the “Instead of Said” Tennis Match
The only thing worse than: “We should go to the beach,” Denise said.
“I would love to,” said Laura.
“There’s a great beach in the next town,” Melissa said.
“I think I know the one you mean,” Denise said.
Is…
“We should go to the beach,” Denise announced.
“I would love to,” agreed Laura.
“There’s a great beach in the next town,” Melissa offered.
“I think I know the one you mean,” Denise stated.
4) Beware of Over Tagging
The problem with the examples in #3 isn’t the overuse of “said” or of alternatives to “said.” The problem is over tagging. When you’re writing dialogue, it isn’t necessary to put “he said” after every line that is spoken. Try using action instead:
Denise gazed out the window at the beautiful sunny day. “We should go to the beach.”
“I would love to,” Laura said, joining her at the window
Melissa picked up the travel guide from the dresser. “There’s a great beach in the next town.”
“I think I know the one you mean,” said Denise.
I hope that demystifies tagging a little bit for those of you who feel like you’re overusing “said” too much. 🙂
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