List of terms (RDM)

	Part of the series on; Battlestar Galactica Terminology
	Original Series Separate Continuity and Unproduced Scripts; Richard Hatch's Continuation Novels; Steampunk Battlestar Galactica 1880; ; Galactica 1980; Re-imagined Series Separate Continuity (Books, Comics, Video Games, et al.); ;
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This is a listing of acronyms, initialisms, jargon and terminology used in both the Re-imagined Series and its prequel, Caprica.

The formatting of this article allows for its use in conjunction with the Lingo extension used throughout Battlestar Wiki. This includes multiple spellings, each listed on its own line, preceding the definition of the definidendum.

Abbreviations, Acronyms and Initialisms[edit]

AAA: Anti-aircraft artillery (pronounced "Triple-A"), such as a battlestar's point defense batteries ^{(TRS: "He That Believeth in Me")}.
AAU: Anti-aircraft unit. Weapons emplacement used to destroy aerial targets ^{(TRS: "Fragged")}.
ACH
After Cylon Holocaust: denotes any time following the Fall of the Twelve Colonies, e.g. 1 ACH (see: Timeline (RDM))
ACM: Air combat maneuver. The positioning of a plane to acquire a firing solution on an adversary; a required skill taught to Viper pilots during flight training ^{(TRS: "He That Believeth in Me")}.
AI: Artificial Intelligence, research into such technology was deemed illegal by the Colonies after the First Cylon War ^{(TRS: "Miniseries")}
ASAP: As soon as possible. Usually pronounced "a-sap."
BCH
Before Cylon Holocaust: denotes any time preceding the Fall of the Twelve Colonies, e.g. 40 BCH (see: Timeline (RDM))
BSG
battlestar group
Battlestar Group: Battlestar Group ^{(TRS: "Water")}. It also doubles as an acronym for the television series itself.
CAG
Commander Air Group: the senior pilot on a battlestar
CAP
Combat Air Patrol: standard deployment of craft on defense posture, an anachronistic colloquialism used to refer to patrols in space
CBDR: Constant Bearing, Decreasing Range. Indicates object on a collision course ^{(TRS: "Final Cut", "Pegasus")}
CF: Colonial Fleet ^{(TRS: "Final Cut")}
CFR: Colonial Fleet Reserve ^{(TRS: "Final Cut")}
CIC
Combat Information Center: nerve center or "bridge" of a battlestar, see: Combat Information Center
CMC: Colonial Marine Corps ^{(TRS: "Final Cut")}
CMCR: Colonial Marine Corps Reserve ^{(TRS: "Final Cut")}
CMO: Chief Medical Officer; e.g. Major Sherman Cottle is Galactica's
CNP
Command Navigation Program: operating system on military and civilian ships exploited by the Cylons ^{(TRS: "Miniseries, Night 1")}
CO: Commanding Officer; e.g. William Adama
DC
Damage Control: generally related to the CIC station and related locations
DCT
Damage Control Team: party of individuals handling damage containment aboard a ship, consisting of deckhands and other NCOs ^{(TRS: "Miniseries, Night 1")}.
DRADIS: "Direction, Range, and Distance", Colonial equivalent of radar or lidar
ECO
Electronic Countermeasures Officer: crew member handling electronic countermeasures of a craft; ECOs are standard crew aboard Raptors (see: ECO)
EMI
electromagnetic interference: high-energy electromagnetic radiation from binary stars is known to interfere with DRADIS (TRS: "The Captain's Hand")
EMP
electromagnetic pulse: A powerful electrically-disruptive surge that typically accompanies a nuclear detonation.
FOB
fresh off the boat: new crewmember who is reporting to their assignment; William Adama is referred to thusly by Armin Diaz after embarking on Galactica ^{(TRS: "Blood and Chrome")}
FTL
Faster Than Light
faster-than-light: technology enabling travel across distances faster than the speed of light would permit, see: FTL
GDD
Global Defense Department: a civilian outfit on Caprica in operation prior to the First Cylon War handling large-scale enforcement throughout the colony, akin to the FBI, see: Global Defense Department
IFF
Identification Friend or Foe: transponder-based system to positively identify friendly spacecraft (TRS: "Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II")
KIA
Killed in Action: used to refer to military personnel who are confirmed deceased during a military engagement, see: KIA ^{(TRS: "Sacrifice")}
LSO
Landing Signal Officer: officer responsible for flight operations of either a battlestar or battlestar group
MIRV
Multiple Independently Targetable Reentry Vehicle: a missile conveyance system; Cylons deployed these for orbital bombardment during the Fall of the Twelve Colonies ^{(TRS: "The Plan")}
MCP
Meta-cognitive processor: hardware used by Dr. Daniel Graystone in the integration of the sentient AI that Zoe Graystone created into the U-87, see: MCP (CAP: Pilot).
NCP
New Caprica Police: pseudo-civilian law enforcement agency overseen by the Cylon Occupation Authority on New Caprica, see: New Caprica Police ^{(TRS: "Occupation")}
OD
overdose: medical term for the use of medication to fatal, or near fatal, effect ^{(TRS: "Faith")}
OOD
Officer of the Deck: a watch officer aboard a ship, when the CO or XO are off-station ^{(TRS: "Scattered")}
PTF
Playing the Field: an advice column on dating in the Twelve Colonies (The Caprican: "Playing the Field: A Guide to Love in the Colonies," et al).
RFN
Right Frakking Now: directive to execute an order with alacrity, often used in a heated situation ^{(TRS: "Scattered", "Valley of Darkness")}
SAM
Surface-to-air missile: ordnance launched from a planetary surface or other stellar form; Silas Nash names this piece as something to be avoided when briefing Coker Fasjovik and William Adama ^{(TRS: "Blood and Chrome")}
SAR
Search and Rescue: the act of finding missing persons in the hopes of their rescue, see: SAR ^{(TRS: "Fragged")}
STO
Soldiers of the One: a monotheistic terrorist organization in existence for more than a decade prior to 58 BCH (^{(CAP: "Pilot")}, et al).
SU: distance measurement similar to "astronomical unit," speculated to stand for "solar unit" (TRS: "The Captain's Hand").
XO: Executive Officer, e.g. Saul Tigh

Military Jargon[edit]

Actual: callsign used in wireless communications to denote a ship's commanding officer
Archer: air-to-air ordnance provisioned for Raptors ^{(TRS: "Blood and Chrome")}
ball: visual indicator used in a battlestar's Instrument Landing System during a hands-on approach ^{(TRS: "Miniseries", "Act of Contrition", "Final Cut", "Black Market")}
bandit: confirmed hostile contact, typically either or both a fighter and shuttle sized craft ^{(TRS: "Final Cut", "Razor")}
basic: initial skills training; can refer to basic military indoctrination, and arms and ground training ^{(TRS: "Fragged")}; and basic flight training ^{(TRS: "Miniseries")}
bent bird: damaged fighter craft ^{(TRS: "Occupation")}
bingo fuel
minimum fuel level required to safely return to base ^{(TRS: "You Can't Go Home Again", "Scar")}
bird farm: Colonial pilot jargon for a battlestar ^{(TRS: "Final Cut")}
bug out: retreat, usually hastily and disordered ^{(TRS: "Valley of Darkness")}
callsign: a nickname used as a substitute for an aviator's given name in wireless communications and in conversation
chatter: to fire on an enemy during a fighter engagement ^{(TRS: "Valley of Darkness")}; active wireless communications traffic
code blue: request for assistance due to potential Cylon agent sighting (TRS: "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II," Podcast:Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II)
command authority: the senior rank in a command, such as an Admiral ^{(TRS: "Pegasus", "Precipice")}
conn: navigation controls, but also used to refer to command in general (TRS: "The Captain's Hand")
dress and cover: military term for personnel to form an ordered rank-and-file formation during ceremonies, derived from "dress right" and "cover down" ^{(TRS: "Pegasus")}
ell-tee: informal phonetic abbreviation for Lieutenant (LT) ^{(TRS: "Valley of Darkness", "Fragged")}
eyeball run: likely refers to targeting or aiming missiles manually, without the use of targeting computers ^{(TRS: "Home, Part I")}
fireteam
fire team: basic fighting element used in small-unit ground tactics ^{(TRS: "Valley of Darkness")}
five-'graph order: five paragraph operation order, the standard format taught in basic training ^{(TRS: "Fragged")}
genny: power generator; Tyrol asked Cally to "find the genny" to power up the lights on Ragnar Anchorage ^{(TRS: "Miniseries")}
hack: the brig
hard deck: the threshold in a massive gas planet's dense atmosphere below which the atmospheric density and pressure becomes too great for a Viper to be able to reach orbit again and maintain structural integrity ^{(TRS: "Maelstrom")}; adapted from the original definition of minimum safe altitude
intra-atmos entry: a jump maneuver that places the ship within a planetary body's atmosphere, in either powered flight ^{(TRS: "Home, Part II")} or free fall ^{(TRS: "Exodus, Part II")}
jarhead: a Colonial Marine ^{(TRS: "Blood and Chrome")}
jock smock: flight suit ^{(TRS: "He That Believeth in Me")}
jump: the process of using the FTL engines to make an near-instantaneous apparent faster-than-light transport of a ship from one point in space to another
klick: one kilometer
knuckle dragger: inoffensive slang for a mechanic or deckhand
nugget: student pilot ^{(TRS: "Act of Contrition", "Scar")}
Mark One Eyeball: the unaided eye ^{(TRS: "You Can't Go Home Again", "Scar")}
no joy: no success in establishing visual contact with the target. Opposite of "tally". Can also mean no success in general ^{(TRS: "The Hand of God""[[|]]", "Maelstrom")}[[Category:]]
Old Man: Commander William Adama's nickname, used by officers aboard Galactica ^(TRS: "33")
press: in military parlance, directive to continue the attack; otherwise used to refer to journalists ^{(TRS: "Maelstrom")}
recovery line: imaginary boundary within which a fighter can return to a landing bay within a given time ^(TRS: "33")
rook: "rookie," typically refers to those on their first tour of duty after initial training ^{(TRS: "Miniseries")}, q.v. nugget
shooter: slang for launch officer, responsible for deployment of craft from a battlestar ^{(TRS: "Miniseries, Night 1")}
Sierra Alpha: "suspicious activity" ^{(TRS: "Scattered")}
sitrep: "situation report"
skids up: "take off" or "launch"; often used by the CAG to end a mission briefing
skosh: radio code meaning "out of ammunition," analogous to modern-day NATO brevity code "winchester." Skosh is also a real-world NATO brevity term meaning "Aircraft is out of or unable to employ active radar missiles".^{(TRS: "The Captain's Hand")}
slingshot: slang for a certain piece of Cylon equipment; Silas Nash names this piece as something to be avoided when briefing Coker Fasjovik and William Adama ^{(TRS: "Blood and Chrome")}
sparrow: slang for Cylon Raider ^{(TRS: "Maelstrom")}
spinner: engineering component of a battlestar's FTL drive ^{(TRS: "The Captain's Hand")}
swallow: decoy drone deployed by Raptors ^{(TRS: "Miniseries")}
snipe: engineer ^{(TRS: "The Captain's Hand")}
spooch: contraction of "screwed the pooch," describing a serious pilot error ^{(TRS: "Scar")}
tally: abbreviation of tally-ho; the sighting of an enemy target, such as a craft, landmark, or position ^{(TRS: "The Hand of God", "Scattered", "Maelstrom")}
trap: battlestar landing bay mechanism that arrests a landing Viper, Raptor or other small craft ^{(TRS: "Final Cut")}
Two Alpha: designation for an extremely risky and hence voluntary mission ^{(TRS: "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I")}
turkey: slang for a Cylon Heavy Raider ^{(TRS: "Maelstrom")}
unrep
underway replenishment: refueling and replenishment between ships away from dock, usually during flight. Taken from the contemporary term for the resupply of military vessels at sea while en route ^{(TRS: "Water", "Maelstrom")}
war porn: gun camera footage from engagements, typically played back by Colonial Marines for their enjoyment ^{(TRS: "Blood and Chrome")}
weapons free: weapon control order indicating weapons systems may be fired at any target not positively recognized as friendly ^{(TRS: "Resurrection Ship, Part I")}
weapons hot: weapons status indicating that safeties are off and weapons systems are armed ^{(TRS: "Final Cut")}
wilco: "will comply," the typical terse acceptance to an order given

Religious terminology[edit]

Apotheosis: a belief held by members of the STO, including Clarice Willow, with various view points ^{(CAP: "Reins of a Waterfall")}. Willow believes that the STO can prevail if they use Zoe Graystone's program to offer real eternal life to their members in the form of holographic avatars. One of the Hybrids also uses this term during the Fall of the Colonies, stating "Apotheosis was the beginning before the beginning" ^{(TRS: "The Plan")}. (See: resurrection program)
temple group: a religious group akin to a "church group"; Lacy Rand tries telling a security guard that her temple group missed their flight to Picon ^{(CAP: "Retribution")}
trinity: a being in three different states; Zoe-R considers herself to be a trinity, as she is "Zoe, and the avatar, and the robot" ^{(CAP: "Rebirth")}

Other Colloquialisms[edit]

The Beast: nickname for Pegasus given by Galactica's crew (TRS: "The Captain's Hand")
Big G: nickname for Galactica
The Bucket: nickname for Galactica given by Pegasus' crew (TRS: "The Captain's Hand")
bullet-head: slang for a Cylon Centurion ^{(TRS: "Downloaded")}
clanker: slang for a Cylon Centurion
chrome job: slang for a Cylon Centurion (TRS: "The Resistance")
companionway: a set of steps leading from a ship's deck down to a cabin or lower deck ^{(TRS: "Valley of Darkness")}
derez
de-rez
de-resolve: occurrence of a holographic avatar's loss of either cohesion or deletion from the Virtual World, see: derez ^{(CAP: "Pilot", "There is Another Sky", "The Imperfections of Memory", "End of Line", "Unvanquished" and "False Labor")}
cube: equivalent of "square," a socially awkward person ^{(CAP: "The Imperfections of Memory")}
Download City: nickname^[1] used by Diana Seelix to describe the unknown or figurative place where humanoid Cylons are resurrected on New Caprica ^{(TRS: "Exodus, Part I")}
frak
frakked
frakker
frakking: all-purpose vulgarism; Colonial version of "fuck" (see: frak)
freight monkey: crewmen on Colonial freighters (TRS: "Scattered, deleted scene")
hard six: taking large risks; literally, rolling 2 threes with a pair of dice
Heavy: used to signify a civilian transport vessel over a certain gross weight/mass, i.e. Colonial Heavy 798
husker: Aerlionian slang for hayseed; William Adama is called this by Coker Fasjovik, thus the source of Adama's callsign ^{(TRS: "Blood and Chrome")}
skin job: derogatory term for humanoid Cylons; homage to the movie Blade Runner ^{(TRS: "Downloaded")}
stump: derogatory term for a prisoner in a labor camp ^{(TRS: "Bastille Day")}
symp: derogatory shorthand for sympathizer, vis-à-vis Cylons; Strohmeyer refers to Jenna McGavin and Nina Leothe thusly during a heated discussion about his war porn ^{(TRS: "Blood and Chrome")}
toaster: derogatory term for Cylons in general
toaster shopping: searching and destroying Cylons ^{(TRS: "Valley of Darkness")}
Go Panthers!
C-Bucs Rule!: passphrase between Sharon "Athena" Agathon and Samuel Anders, referring to two pyramid teams, the Picon Panthers and the Caprica Buccaneers (C-Bucs), the later being Anders' former team ^{(TRS: "Exodus, Part I")}

Battlestar Galactica Specific Terms[edit]

ambrosia: a type of alcoholic beverage, see: ambrosia
carom: term used in conjunction with a DRADIS contact read; analogous to the term "mark"
chamalla: a hallucinogenic plant used in religious ceremonies and medical treatments, see: chamalla
cubit: unit of currency, see: cubit
fumarella leaf: tobacco or a type of tobacco ^{(TRS: "Water")}
G-4: plastic explosive similar to modern C-4, see: G-4 ^{(TRS: "Water")}
JP: a unit of measure for liquid, approximately 1 pint ^{(TRS: "Water")}
krypter: Colonial version of "mayday"; in practice, the term is usually repeated three times, see: krypter ^{(TRS: "Miniseries", "Hero")}
morpha: Colonial equivalent of morphine, see: morpha ^{(TRS: "Valley of Darkness", "Epiphanies")}
pyramid: popular Colonial ball game, see: pyramid
Red Line: a point in space behind which an accumulative error creeps into FTL jump calculations ^{(TRS: "Miniseries", "Pegasus")}
stims: stimulants or a type of stimulant ^{(TRS: "33", "Final Cut")}
triad: card game similar to Poker, see: triad
tylium: mineral that can be refined to a powerful fuel, see: tylium
vernal: alternate term for the spring season (The Caprican: "Argentum Bay: The Ultimate Vernal Break")
Vernal Break: a period of time when students from educational institutions are released to celebrate vacation, c.f. spring break (The Caprican: "Argentum Bay: The Ultimate Vernal Break")

Technology[edit]

auto-umpire: a program in advanced sports courts, including the private tennis court on the Graystone Estate ^{(CAP: "Pilot")}
line sensors: sensors in the grid of a tennis court that can track a ball in play ^{(CAP: "Pilot")}
magcelerators: a magnetic acceleration feature in a battlestar's launch tube, thus allowing the Vipers to launch at high rates of speed for rapid deployment in combat situations ^{(TRS: "Daybreak, Part I")}
movie tile: storage media on which movies are stored; Amanda Graystone instructs Serge to find old home movie tiles of Zoe Graystone ^{(CAP: "Rebirth")}
wireless mobile pack: equipment used by Zoe-R for her work into reconnecting with the V-World ^{(CAP: "Reins of a Waterfall" deleted scene)}
wireless: Colonial equivalent of radio

References[edit]

↑ Whether the Cylons have a download facility on the planet or in orbit, Seelix uses "Download City" as a figure of speech, which is confirmed by Bradley Thompson on the Official Communiques page.

[1] Whether the Cylons have a download facility on the planet or in orbit, Seelix uses "Download City" as a figure of speech, which is confirmed by Bradley Thompson on the Official Communiques page.

[1]

[1]

Part of the series on Battlestar Galactica Terminology
Original Series Separate Continuity and Unproduced Scripts Richard Hatch's Continuation Novels Steampunk Battlestar Galactica 1880 Galactica 1980 Re-imagined Series Separate Continuity (Books, Comics, Video Games, et al.)
v·d·e