Shadow of the Swan (Book Two of the Phoenix Legacy)
Page 45
HACKLE: To disturb, bother, or arouse suspicion. Also used in the form “to be hackled”; i.e., disturbed, etc.
HEADPRICE: A reward, or the amount of the award, offered, usually by Conpol or the SSB, for information leading to the apprehension of a person on their fugitive or runaway lists.
HOUND: A Brother who specializes in finding and tracking people.
INSIDE: The opposite of the Outside, either as a place or a state of being “Inside”; i.e., a non-Outsider, or someone living within the official or accepted social order in the Concord.
ITCHY NOSE: The state of having suspicion or anxiety about someone or a situation.
KEEP (ONE’S) BLADE SHEATHED: To show restraint or to offer no threat.
KINLY: A feeling of closeness toward another person; a friendly attitude.
LAST FALL: Defeat and/or death.
LAY: To wager.
LIFTER: A space vessel.
LINE IN: To provide information; to make someone privy to a situation.
MAXOBOOTH: A type of entertainment offered in most Outsiders’ districts providing, via helmets equipped with electronic beam probes, a choice of simulated sensations or moods.
MOLLY-DODDLE: Nonsense; foolishness.
NOB: To fraternize with, be friendly, or converse with.
NODDY: An informer; usually one who directs Conpol or the SSB to fugitives or runaways in exchange for the headprice.
NUCH: A term of insult (masculine).
OLD SER: Father.
ONE ON: An expression of approbation, encouragement, or agreement.
ON THE SHORT END: At a disadvantage, or deprived.
PASSKEY: The price exacted for providing a “door.”
PIN: v. To kill, usually purposely.
n. A killing or murder, also called a “pinning.”
POLE, OR POLER: A Conpol officer or agent.
PRICE IN (A PERSON’S) BLOOD: Retribution by death.
PSYGAME HOUSE: A type of entertainment found in most Outsiders’ districts offering games based on psychological fantasies realistically staged with a combination of live actors, holograms, vidicom projections, and other visual and aural effects.
PULL A LOOK: To attract attention.
PULL DOWN: To defeat and/or kill.
QUIV: A coward. A person behaving in a cowardly manner is “on the quiv.”
RED PANIC: A state of extreme anxiety.
RUN THE GANT: To accept a challenge, or attempt a dangerous course of action.
RUN SHORT: To be deterred, forestalled, or frustrated in one’s desires or aims.
SCAN: Also “scan straight:” To understand clearly.
SCREENED AREA: A private or secret part of a person’s life. SEAL: To convict and incarcerate.
SERALLIO: A house of prostitution.
SHAD: An officer or agent of the SSB.
SHIVVY: Dangerous or frightening.
SHOW TOOTH: To object or take exception to someone or something in a potentially violent manner.
SKIMP: Lacking, or in short supply.
SMELL OUT: To find, uncover, or unmask something or someone.
SODDY: Dull, old-fashioned, stilted; sometimes used in the sense of “prim.”
SOUL-LINK: A relationship between two or more persons considered more significant and more binding than friendship, love, or even blood ties.
SOUL OUTSIDER: A person born into the Outside and committed to its way of life.
SPIN: A story or tale, often by implication exaggerated or outlandish.
SPOOK: To escape, run away, or desert.
STAT: Status; situation.
STIMUTHEATER: A type of Outside entertainment combining theatrical presentations, usually pornographic in nature, with drug or electronically induced stimuli enhancement.
SWEET: An attractive woman, especially one with an air of innocence or naïveté.
TEN-CARAT BRASS: A term of insult; a sham, false, or faked.
TICE: Attractive; enticing.
TOOK: n. A person who is easily deceived; a victim, or prospective victim of a gim. “Tooky” is used as a derisive form of address.
TOOTH MAN: A gim artist or charlatan who uses personal charm to achieve his ends; the “tooth” refers to a habitual smile.
TURN A ‘CORD: To make a difference, to change or affect the outcome.
UNMOTHERED: A term of insult.
UPPERCASTE: Elite.
UPSIDE: Above, an upper level, or the surface of a planet. It may also refer to the Inside.
WEAVE: Clothing, especially in the sense of costume.
More from M.K. Wren
The Phoenix Legacy
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