Howdy guys, please excuse my strawfoot questions and I’ll only ask this one at the moment. The first of what I’m sure will be many is to ask about the language and acronyms y’all use. I’ve come across a ton, few of which I understand or remember. Is there a list of the more commonly used words, phrases, acronyms, and slang? A reenacting-English/English-reenacting dictionary of some sort perhaps?

Fresh, yet enquiring fish want to know. Thanks.

-Mel  

--Last edited by Private Glover on 2008-08-31 15:48:57 --

The Columbia Rifles Research Compendium volume 1 had such and article. Besides that, I dunno.

Sorry, I'm not much help.

Mel,

Here are a few common acronyms and tongue in cheek definitions:

Farb: Anybody less authentic than you are.

Stitch Nazi: Anybody more authentic than you are.

Mainstream: The majority of reenactors. They travel in large groups and usually come equiped with tents, cots, and coolers.

CPH: Campaigner, Progressive, Hardcore. They travel in small groups and rarely have tents or cots. They keep their coolers in the trunk of their cars!  

LH: Living History, where we put on demonstrations for spectators. They can be "first person", "third person" or just making up stuff as you go along.

SOYA: Sit on your ass, which is what happens at most LH's.

Authentics: Almost everybody thinks they're authentic. Other people may have a different opinion of your impression. Please see Farb and Stitch Nazi.

Barnie Coat: A heavy weight Federal sack coat, usually made in Pakistan. They turn purple as they age. You don't see many of them any more, but people still like to complain about them.

Militant Farb: Folks who know they are doing things wrong and seem to be proud of it. They make no attempt to hide anachronisms from spectators or other reenactors. There is nothing funny about this group.

Deconfliction: Insuring that your event doesn't conflict with another event. The other guy's event always conflicts with yours and never the other way around. In a perfect world, conflicts would not occur. We do not live in a perfect world.

Mainstream events: Where the folks who come equipped with tents, cots, and coolers hang out.

CPH events: Where the folks without tents or cots and coolers in their cars hang out. These events are often discribed as Campaign, Progressive, or Hardcore. There is often much discussion concerning what is the proper category for a specific event.

Top Tier events: Those few events deemed most worthy by those folks who usually avoid tents and cots

CPH Adjunct: When the folks without tents and cots attend events where other folks will have lots of tents, cots, and coolers. Adjuncts tend to generate lots of pro and con posts here on the internet.

Camp of Convenience: Where Mainstreamers go when they attend CPH events.

Fence Sitter: Folks who attend both CPH and Mainstream events.

scrïpted scenario: A planned battle reenactment, usually for spectators. Like real battles, they rarely go as planned.

Tactical: A battle reenactment with an unplanned conclusion. There are usually no spectators present. In too many cases, where grown men get to play cowboys and indians.

Camplanner: A reenactor who walks into a mainstream camp with everything on his back. He will than procede to sleep under your fly, eat your food, and drink your beer. At the end of the event, as you are packing up, he will loudly proclaim the benefits of campaigning.  

Okay guys, what did I miss? Please keep your responses in the spirit of the orginial post.  

  Hallo!

 There are also:

Mental Pictures- what one sees oneself doing and where one sees oneself fitting in

PEC-  Plain, Everyday, and Common

NUG- Normally, Usually, Generally

THEM and US-  doesn't really needed defining  

BELIEVABLE IMAGE-  when one's physical appearance, uniform, gear, speech, mannerisms, etc., add up to convey the impression that one might, could, possibly, look like a "Civil War soldier" and not a modern reenactor who doesn't

SUSPENDING DISBELIEF- when historically recreated, simulated, or emulated sights, sounds, smells all combine in one place at one time to suspend disbelief for onerself and/or one's comrades that it is not 1861-1865

MAGIC MOMENTS-  when "everything" (including Believeable Image and Suspending Disbelief) comes together in a controlled environment or event to th epoint that for a "moment" one could think it was 1861-1865 and not now.

EMULATION- striving to experience aspects of an actual Civil War soldier's (or civilian's) life as are desireable and doable rather than "simulating" the costumes and pageantry of modern reenacting culture and tradition

THIRD PERSON IMPRESSION a portrayal to oneself, one's pards, or the public of CW soldiers as "They did this."  or "They did that."

FIRST PERSON IMPRESSIONaka PERSONA a portrayal to oneself, one's pards, or the public of CW soldiers as "I do this."  or "I did that." by researching elements of the life, family, upbringing, education, religion, politics, profession, beliefs, of an actual or made up CW person

THE AUTHENTICITY TRIAD- an approach that looks at elements of the CW physical and mental man, the material culture, and the methods as to how what things were done.  AKA
as the THREE LEGGED STOOL analogy where one strives to capture all three legs of a stool so one does not fall down as the mental and physical man, the material culture of weapons, uniforms, equipment, tools, etc., etc., and the activities and environments that are recreated for their use.

THE F/M/C/P/H/A PARADIGM or MODEL- one attempt at explaining and labelling all of the varying segments and levels of CW reenacting or living history.  While not a universaly agreed upon thing, letters have been added or modified over the years.  Now, NUG, one sees the Alphabet Letters of F, M, and CPH most often stil used.

ETERNAL COLONELS or ETERNAL CAPTAINS- colonels and captains that either hold reenacting "rank," forever based being Founding Fathers or Benign or Notso Benign Dictators, Socio-Emotive type "electyed" leaders, or actually hard working elected, appointed, or non-elected Effective Leaders.
Because of the "mix," they can be good, bad, or indiffrent.

TATER- the public spectator at events or historical sites

TOURON- the more "History Challenged" public spectator at events or historical sites (a blend of Tourist and Moron)

BBB- a somewhat negative term for some events on the left side of the F/M/C/P/H/A Paradigm Alphabet Letters, that describes what one can expect there- a battle, a ball, and a battle or a ball, a barbecue, and a battle, etc.

THE CAMPAIGNER's MANIFESTO-- by Nicky Hughes, a "manifesto" of beliefs and practices for the "campaigner."

THE AC BOARD- "The Authentic Campaigner- a Website for the Serious Civil War Living Historian" another loved, hated, or indifferent CW board or forum

DE-FARB- a nearly meaningless term used to attempt to describe the problems with Italian reproduction CW era firearms, and various to complex steps and procedures one can choose to render them "less unauthentic" that range from removing the modern Italian barrel stampings and refinishing the stock all the way to removing wood, adding missing stampings, replacing incorrect sized or shaped parts with original parts or reproductions of original parts, etc., etc.,

BUTTON PISSERS- a negative term directed at folks who try to imprive their "authenticity" by alledgedly using uirne to faux-age brass uniform buttons.

STILL ATTENDING THE WRONG EVENTS- a tease, barb, insult, or Flame Bait often directed at lads who have personally progressed to the right of the F/M/C/P/H/A Paradigm Alphabet Letters, but have problems, complain, and/or whine about attending events to the Alphabet Letters to the left of "where they are at."

OTHERS' MILEAGE WILL VARY- an expression reminding folks that not everyone agrees on "things"

 Others' mileage will vary...

 Well, without getting into the numerous Board Speak acronyms like ROTFLMAO, I am back to the National Dachshund Races.

 Curt
 Poser, weakling, uber-keyboard hardkewl attending the Wrong Events

Quote :

Bill wrote   Camplanner: A reenactor who walks into a mainstream camp with everything on his back. He will than procede to sleep under your fly, eat your food, and drink your beer. At the end of the event, as you are packing up, he will loudly proclaim the benefits of campaigning.

  The female version of this will walk into your area with everything on her back.  She will note the number of straight back chairs scattered about, and appropriate the last one even though your assistant has put that chair away twice, (the other 3 being occupied by the musicians)  artfully arranging herself to the best advantage in the center front row, while all around her are sitting on the ground.   She will stay there for the next 3 hours while you lean on your cane because you cannot get up if you get down on the ground.  
Upon your suggestion that she help wash the dishes and pots that made the food she has eaten all weekend, she will suggest that you take it home and wash it because it is too hard for her to do.  She will then scatter her plunder all under the canvas you put up,  not be findable when its time to pack it up, and be unhappy when you take the tentage down leaving her stuff in the open, and not have a clue why folks are annoyed with her.  

This results in SSOS
Significant Sell-Off of Stuff, and folks wondering why you don't haul things for other folks to borrow anymore.

Here's an obscure one that I still think is useful:

On the FMACPH spectrum, I've seen the A used to stand for Authenticist, thus placing it to the left of Campaigner. It's someone who is extremely accurate in some aspect of an impression, while missing the bigger picture, like wearing perfect clothes while camping with an aluminum cot, sleeping bag and cooler.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

Guys, thank you for this. I get most of them, stitch nazi, for instance, is self-evident and pretty funny, but what is "farb?" Is it an acronym or an anachronism? Is it a pronoun, an adjective, or both?

These are all great, what else do have?

Quote :

hanktrent wrote : On the FMACPH spectrum, I've seen the A used to stand for Authenticist, thus placing it to the left of Campaigner. It's someone who is extremely accurate in some aspect of an impression, while missing the bigger picture, like wearing perfect clothes while camping with an aluminum cot, sleeping bag and cooler.

Hank,

That would fit my home unit, Company B, 4th. Texas Infantry to a Tee. We wear custom made uniforms, made to our specifications, using our fabric. We've changed the specifictions at least three times, as our research has suggested a change was in order. Our equipment comes from the best makers in the Hobby and our weapons are clean and functional. We drill on a regular basis, but always seem to need more. I'd put most guy's personal impressions up against anybody in the Hobby.

At the same time, almost everyone owns their own Common tent, cot, and cooler. I'm not sure we are missing any pictures, since we usually attend mainstream events as a group. We are well aware our camps are not authentic and do not pretend otherwise.

For those of us who choose to attend the more authentic events, it makes life easy. Leave the impedimenta at home, roll your traps in a blanket and away you go.  

Quote :

Private Glover wrote : Guys, thank you for this. I get most of them, stitch nazi, for instance, is self-evident and pretty funny, but what is "farb?" Is it an acronym or an anachronism? Is it a pronoun, an adjective, or both?

The origin of the "word" FARBY is not clear.  The best anyone seems to have come up with is that it is a contraction of "Far Be It From Me" to criticise someone else's impression.

Somewhere along the way, it went from being an adjective, describing someone's less than quality gear, attire, or attitude to a noun, FARB, describing the individual him/her self, a much less-nice thing to do.  I, myself, have been pronounced a "Farb in campaigner clothing" by one individual in the hobby.  I took it as a compliment.    

--Last edited by flattop32355 on 2008-09-01 23:44:16 --

I've thought of a few others:

TOG: Tubby Old Guy. AKA people like me.

Galtroop: A female who portrays a male soldier. This term is usually used by reenactors who are not in favor of females  portraying male soldiers.

Farbfest: A really non-authentic or unsafe event. This definition is very much in the eye of the beholder. One reenactor's Farbfest is another reenactor's outstanding event.

Sutler: An individual who will sell you all the stuff the Government gave you, plus a lot more stuff you don't really need. This has absolutely nothing to do with actual Civil War sutlers, who only sold stuff the Government wouldn't give you.

Sutler Row: AKA Skinner's Row. An event's version of the local mall. Enter here at your peril.

Hardkewl: Individuals who entered Sutler's Row and spent all their own, or their father's money on the best possible clothing and equipment and never leave. Hardkewls can be seen pointing and laughing at less well dressed reenactors who actually participate in the events they attend.  

BTW,

The word "farb" is much like another four letter word and can be used as various parts of speech.

A Farb: Noun
I farbed out: Verb
That's a farby uniform: Adjective  

Somewhere in the old AC forum I saw an article about the early days of modern reenacting (1960's) which described the derivation of the word "farby."  "Farben" is German for color, and "farby" was a pseudo-Germanism first applied to someone with a wildly miscolored uniform, like the CS coat I saw somewhere in southern Virginia that was more butterscotch than butternut.  In a very short time "farby" was applied to anything ludicrously fake, and begat the term "farb."

Don't know if this is true, but I like it, as it puts "farb" in sort of the same category as good yiddish terms like "kitsch" and "schlock."

  Hallo!

 Richtig...

 Die Farbe is German for "color," die Farben for "colors."
 Farbig is "colorful."
 It is also used for "paint." Or as a verb, faerben for to "dye."

 And appears in other words such as Farbecht for "color-fast" or "Farbenblind" for "color blind."

  Man and Bhoy, I learned "farby" in 1978 (as Far Be It From Me to criticize), but not "farb" until 1986.

  Not sure when I firt heard  "Farby Barbie" though... as a negative term for the "Gone With Wind" barbecue impressionists.

 Hmmmmmmm.  What else to add to the serious list?

 IMPRESSION DU JOUR- from the heyday of the H/A EBUFU events as well as other type of events where one's persona, uniform, and gear changed according to the unit being portrayed for THAT event.  

 HISTORY LIGHT- impressions or events where the costumes and activities have little to do with Civil War era history but focus instead on the social and recreational pageantry, and POWDER BURNING/SHOOTEM UP aspects of the Hobby.

 HISTORY-HEAVY- by degree on the SLIDING SCALE OF IMPERFECTION, the opposite of HISTORY-LIGHT.  

 CARPE EVENTUM- or "seize the event," a negative label for events that repeat the same levels of so-called F and M reenacting over and over, year after year.

  Humor aside, it is perhaps interesting about "us," that it seems the majority of our "jargon" is....  negative.
     

  Curt

From Wikipedia, though I have never sworn by it .

Farb is a derogatory term used in the hobby of historical reenacting for participants who exhibit less commitment to historical authenticity, either from a material-cultural standpoint or in action. By some accounts, "farb" was created by mixing two words to describe something that is fake or looks inauthentic, fake (F) and Garb (arb). Others describe it as a contraction of "Far be it from authentic, or Far be it for me." Finally, some scholars argue that it is derived from the German word "Farbe", meaning "color". This is in reference to such brightly-colored anachronisms as plastic wristwatches.

Curt,

How did we forget:

EBUFU: "Events, by us, for us." These are events put on by reenactors for the benifit of reenactors, not the spectators.

For Profit Events: Events put on by people who invest their own money and hope to earn a profit from their investment. To the best of my knowledge, there is exactly one of these events, held every year, near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

Quote :

Curt Schmidt wrote :  CARPE EVENTUM- or "seize the event," a negative label for events that repeat the same levels of so-called F and M reenacting over and over, year after year.

That's quite different from how I've heard it used. It means "seize the event," of course, but in my experience it's a positive phrase which is used when a smaller group is planning a way to make the most of an otherwise unenticing mainstream event (unenticing for the cph crowd, that is). As in: "We're holding a carpe eventum at the 145th Battle of Podunk. We'll have pickets out, issue rations, arrange to forage from some civilians, and offer a few other surprises. Register for the event through the Carpe Mess, and then send $5 extra to Joe Blow, treasurer of the Carpe Mess, for rations."

Also, TBG, Tubby Bearded Guy. The look of the typical reenactor. Not complimentary, but not the worst insult either. Just... there's so many of them.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

Hallo!

"ISLANDS IN THE MAINSTREAM" is the version I learned to use, or not to use.

 Thanks (I would not want to confuse by mispeaking).  

 Curt

Have we included "firper" yet? A slightly annoying-sounding but handy abbreviation for "FIRst PERson," which is mentioned above.

Then you'll also run across use of the word "interpretation" in a special way. When a reenactor says "I'm going to be interpretating the history of Fort So-and-So" it generally doesn't mean "interpreting" in the sense of looking at the documents and figuring out what all the conflicting stories are really saying, as one might think. It means he'll be doing some sort of living history presentation to get the message about the fort's history across to others. Think of it like a U.N. interpreter who takes something in a foreign language (the complex historic record) and "interprets it" (explains it) so anybody can understand it.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

And then there's the sub-culture of "nib nazis" who descend on the remnants of recently decimated units to demand their form 21s and manuscrïpt returns of lost ordnance...

How about HCHFWWIIR? (Holy Crap! Heading for World War II reenacting!)

That is from the new to CW reenacting fellow who asked the lead question and is now in "feets don't fail me now" mode!

Seriously, love all the posts, just trying to take myself nack 14 years and think of what I'd have thought reading these as a fresh fish! Jump on in Mel. You'll find what you're looking for somewhere here!

Regards,
Mike

Y'know, when I started in this hobby, I thought that all you really needed to do was try to fit in to the 1860s, and by definition then you'd fit into any event, since events were trying to duplicate the life and culture of the 1860s.

Little did I know that I had it backwards, and the best way to fit in, in most cases, would be to study the culture of reenacting, and forget about the 1860s until much later if ever. So I think our fresh fish is doing it absolutely right.

It took me over a decade to negotiate the complexities of reenacting culture until I could figure out how to find events where fitting in to 1860s culture is a priority, and they're not real popular anyway.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net