LGF Dictionary

OK, that was fun while it lasted. Here is the the entire dictionary, so zombie, go ahead and copy/paste.

The Little Green Footballs Dictionary

This page is a dictionary of slang terms and neologisms that originated on or were popularized by the Web site Little Green Footballs. It is a work in progress — no claim to infallibility is made. Corrections and updates will be posted periodically.

For now, the entries are categorized according to where they originated and how widely used they are. This schema may change eventually, with all entries placed in a single alphabetical list with each source noted individually, but until the origins of most terms are more definitively ascertained, we’ll keep these categories.

If you have any corrections, definitions, citations or nominees for this dictionary, please post them as comments on the home page of this dictionary blog (by clicking “Home” above). We would especially like to get links to the “first known use” of any term, whether on an LGF thread as proof it originated on LGF, or on a different site, as proof it originated elsewhere.

The LGF Dictionary was started and maintained for years exclusively by zombie, but this new version has several editors:

zombie, song_and_dance_man, Killgore Trout, Thanos, vxbush, lawhawk, DesertSage, Mandy Manners, Noam Sayin’, and writermom.

(Hat tips for all the words and definitions to: Charles, song_and_dance_man, theparson, zulubaby, Raziel (Troll Devouring Blader), scaramouche, Frank IBC, mich-again, Poitiers-Lepanto, Perry, composmentis, Andrew B., Buckaroo, kps, whiterasta, Yehudit, aboo-Hoo-Hoo, AG in Houston, Al di Grandpa, American Infidel, bkrog, Bob G., bouzouki, christheprofessor, Craig Abu Al-Boo-Boo, Cybrludite, D. Edgren (the Merciless Infidel), DocDale, doppelganglander, Doss, Ed Moran abu GOMEX, exredtory, Ferris Bueller, FreeKeys, Geepers, Gmac, hm, ibu guru, Iron Fist, justdanny, kmclay, Kragar (Proud to be Kafir), M. Simon, Merovign, Meryl Yourish, Mike C., minuteman, mollyb, Mr Pol, Nannette, NuclearTinkerbell, Ol’ Southern Boy, ploome hineni, pst314, Rayra, rbmn, RickZ, satan sidekick, Spiny Norman, Stringart, Studsup, Throbert McGee, Village Idiot’s Apprentice, wtc394, Weiss, TotallySirius, Dan, adie, Antioch, Steve Barnett, Dan the Librarian of Sheffield Hallam University, David M., Forgiven Sinner, mrat88, John M., Schlacht, the crew who put together the LGF FAQ, and everybody who coined or popularized any of the terms here.)

And so, without further ado, here is the “complete” list of terms, words, phrases and neologisms associated with Little Green Footballs:

Terms that Originated on LGF

anti-idiotarian – Someone who has his or her head screwed on straight politically; generally used to refer to anyone who grasps the significance of and does his or her best to combat the post-9/11 political alliance between the “Old Left” and militant Islam.
[First documented use: Charles 1/5/2002 5:21 PM]

Arafish – Disparaging reference to Yasser Arafat, based on his resemblance to a fish in some pictures. When Arafat was alive, Charles frequently posted photoshopped images of Arafat as a fish spouting inanities and lies.

bigelate / anything bigel-derived – 1. To drop nuclear bombs on; 2. To disrupt a calm thread with an extreme post. Based on the nickname of former LGF poster bigel, who was well known for advocating the “Samson Option,” in which Israel, after having been decimated by nukes delivered by Muslims (either Iran, Pakistan or stateless terrorists), retaliates with its own nuclear arsenal against Europe, as punishment for facilitating and helping to create the Islamic Bomb. The term also referred to the disruption of a thread by bigel in which he expresses unforgiving hatred of European culture and its history of anti-Semitism. (His opinions were apparent even in his very first LGF comment.) Bigel has since been banned from LGF (apparently for malfeasances unrelated to his nuke-themed comments), but his name and reputation linger on nonetheless.

Bwahahaha/Muwhahaha! – An onomatopeiac evil laugh as said by members of the lizardoid Zionist conspiracy (satirically) acknowledging their global power. (The generic term “Bwahahahaha” obviously predates LGF by many decades [possibly originating in early comic books or pulp novels], but its use in this specific setting is more closely LGF-based.)
[First documented use of Bwahahaha: Jeff B. 4/16/2002 06:21PM PST]
[First documented use of Muwhahaha: Charles 8/27/2002 07:49AM PST]

car swarm – A peculiar Palestinian custom of swarming around a car which had recently held Palestinian extremists but which was then blown up by Israel in a targeted killing of the terrorists inside. Often, thousands of Palestinian men will swarm around the destroyed vehicle, looking to retreive bits of flesh from the incinerated “martyrs.” The bodily remains are then paraded around in triumph. Charles generally posts any new car swarm photos as soon as they appear.

fauxtography – Fraudulent photography. News images that have been faked by various means, generally to promote an ideological agenda or to manipulate the emotions of the viewer. (Derived from a combination of the French term faux meaning “false,” and “-tography,” the second half of the word “photography.”) The word was first used to describe the doctoring of photographs by Reuters photographer Adnan Hajj during the Lebanon War of 2006, and has since been generalized to mean any dishonest or faked news photo. Methods for creating “fauxtographs” include: using Photoshop (or similar software) to digitally alter the photo; photographing staged scenes or simulated news events and presenting them as real; interfering with or manipulating photo subjects to creat a “more effective” picture; adding inaccurate and/or misleading captions. General consensus is that the term was first used on LGF in this post on August 8, 2006, in which Charles Johnson credits LGFer kay1212 as the originator of the term. It is not known if the term (in this context) was used earlier on another blog.

Fiskie – An award originated by Charles, designating the single person in any calendar year who most clearly exhibited the personality traits of The Independent’s Robert Fisk (who, after being kidnapped by Afghan extremists, expressed sympathy for them and their cause and famously declared, “If I were them, I’d have beaten me too.”); or, more generally, who was the year’s most unrepentant idiotarian. Voting on the Fiskie takes place every year in January. Previous winners have included Jimmy Carter and Rachel Corrie. (See also the LGF FAQ.) [The award was originated by Charles in this post on 12/19/2002; originally it was merely called “LGF Idiotarian of the Year Award”; after complaints from LGFers that nominee Robert Fisk was in a league by himself and was sure to win, Charles updated his post, dropping Fisk from the nomination yet changing the name to “The Robert Fisk Award for Idiotarian of the Year”; but neither of these titles made use of the term “Fiskie.” On that same thread, Susan first used the word “Fiskie,” though she was not referring to the award but rather to the man himself; it was actually Bill Whittle near the end of the thread who first used the term “Fiskie” to refer to the award.]

FNDT – Friday Night Drinking Thread. A thread posted by Charles late in the day on a Friday, hopefully on a light-hearted topic, where minions gather to swap gossip, jokes, commiserate (if necessary), and occasionally indulge in drinking games.
[First documented use: really grumpy big dog Johnson 6/4/2004 06:43PM]

GAZE – To glare with silent disapproval at a troll who has intentionally attempted to derail a topic. A sign of non-acknowledgment of a particularly offensive or inflammatory post, and a sign to other commenters not to “feed the troll” (pay attention to a disruptive commenter). Usually written all capitals.
[First documented use: sub_version 4/17/2003 03:04PM]

JfnK – John “fuckin'” Kerry. A reference to his propensity for swearing at and blaming his underlings when he embarrasses himself in public.

L³ogic – The type of logic used by the LLL; in other words, illogic. [First documented use: 12/16/2003 09:24AM PST]

LFG – An inversion of the acronym LGF, mistakenly first used by a deranged commenter who was speculating on LGF’s sinister powers. It was immortalized in a cartoon by Cox & Forkum (notice the shoulder patches), and is now used mockingly by lizardoids when sarcastically play-acting as moonbats.

lizardette – a female lizardoid (see below). Used infrequently.
[First documented use: Smit 8/22/2003 06:59AM PST]

lizardoid – a lizardoid is a devoted follower of and commenter on Little Green Footballs; it can refer to either gender. Further exploration of the “lizard” references can be found on the LGF FAQ. The first use of “lizardoid” on LGF was by Throbert McGee, 1/31/2003 11:01AM PST, though it did not refer to LGFers. The term acquired its current meaning from this classic posting [Charles, 11:02 AM PST].

minion – (as applied to blog-followers) Essentially the same thing as a lizardoid; perhaps with an extra emphasis on the commenters’ devotion to pro-LGF and anti-idiotarian online activism.
[First documented use: Spiny Norman 5/15/2003 07:03PM PST]

Morlocks – Originally borrowed from H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine, “Morlocks” in an LGF-sense refers to idiotarians and other ill-informed anti-LGFers. One of Charles’ rotating headers says “to Morlocks, as Morlocks are to Eloi,” a further reference to The Time Machine implying that lizardoids are on the food chain on the level above Morlocks — hence, we feast on their gamy buttocks. The term was popularized by this LGF thread.

Nazimedia – Disparaging appellation for Indymedia, an extreme leftist activist site that often drifts into fascistic thinking.
[First documented use: Damian Penny 4/10/2002 11:47AM PST]

Oil Ticks – The Saudi royal family, and other Saudi aristocrats who, like ticks, drain their country’s oil wealth.

PIMF – Preview Is My Friend. Offered by way of apology for posting a misspelling or typo, and failing to use the “preview” function provided by Charles in the comments field. Usually used in self-deprecation.
[First documented use: Right Wing Conspirator 12/2/2003 02:47PM, referring to an earlier post in which it was spelled RIMF]. A little-used variant, employed when a poster is proud of his or her typo, is PIFW — Preview Is For Wimps.

PIYF – Preview Is Your Friend. The inverse of PIMF, used (jokingly) to point out someone else’s typo.
[First documented use: Right Wing Conspirator 3/16/2004 06:43PM]

Religion of Pieces – Mocking reformulation of President Bush’s absurd declaration that Islam is a “Religion of Peace.”

St. Pancake – Disparaging nickname for Rachel Corrie, a American activist who voluteered to help Palestinian militants in their attacks on Israel; she was killed after being crushed by a Israeli bulldozer while “defending” Palestinian smuggling tunnels. She was subsequently beatified by the extreme left, and in mockery of her new holy status, LGFers dubbed her “St. Pancake,” in reference to the manner of her death.

splodydopes – Suicide bombers, particularly Palestinian suicide bombers. A contraction of “exploding dopes.” Coined by LGFer Jim Treacher in a posting on April 15, 2002.

Terms that Originated on LGF, and Which Remain Used Almost Exclusively on LGF and Nowhere Else

Aloha Snackbar – Absurdist parody of the Islamic prayer “Allah Ackbar” (meaning “God is greater”). Occasionally used mockingly by commenters to poke fun at Islamic fundamentalists who have revealed their incompetence or irrationality. “Allah Snackbar” was first coined by Geepers on 8/27/04 at 7:39:32 am, in reference to a hunger strike by Palestinian prisoners. Four days later, jemima took the concept one step further and coined “Aloha Snackbar” on 8/31/04 at 7:46:35 am.

Comment #17 – Something mysterious and forbidden; a secret you’re not supposed to know. Derives from an incident on this LGF thread about Daily Kos posted on April 8, 2004 in which Charles himself made a comment (originally #17 on the thread) that was so over-the-top that he immediately deleted it. No one seems to remember what comment #17 said, and when later asked, Charles famously remarked, “Do not mention Comment #17.” Eventually that remark become one of LGF’s rotating titles and part of legend.

Darwin Akbar – Another parody of the phrase “Allah Ackbar,” used most often when a suicide bomber accidentally blows himself up prematurely in a “work accident.” Technically means “Darwin is greater,” but refers to the Darwin Awards which are annually given to those individuals who accidentally kill themselves in the most idiotic way, thereby (thankfully) removing their genes from the human gene pool — a comic inversion of the concept “survival of the fittest.”

El cubo – A Spanglish pronunciation of L³ (i.e. “L cubed”). See the “L³” and “LLL” entries for definition.
[First documented use: scaramouche 2/17/2004 10:28AM]

Fwench – Intentional mispronunciation of the word French, to conjure the notion of an effeminate and decadent culture. Possibly derived from the satiric faux French accent spoken by Michael Palin’s characters in various Monty Python skits.

globular clusters – Tightly grouped, spherical formations of stars that orbit the cores of galaxies. They are a common feature in most galaxies, and are distinguished from the “normal” stars that are more widely spaced in galactic disks. As revealed in the LGF FAQ, a troll named “Yair” on this thread insisted that the absence of globular clusters in a Hubble Telescope photo proved that it was fake; ever since then, the term “globular clusters” has had humorous associations on LGF, though no one is quite sure why.

the horrible red binder – A plastic red binder that was always inexplicably positioned somewhere in a pile of papers on Yasser Arafat’s desk, in every photo of him sitting in his office. As mentioned in the LGF FAQ, it was first pointed out by LGFer ploome in this thread [10/3/2002 03:52PM]. The minions concluded that the omnipresent red binder indicated that the paperwork on Arafat’s desk was little more than a unchanging prop to make him look like a legitimate politician. Eventually, the red binder passed on to his successors and as of this writing is in the possession of Mahmoud Abbas. Its contents remain one of the great mysteries of our era.

HWSNBN – He Who Shall Not Be Named. A euphemism used for discussing an especially disliked former commenter named Ranbutan without having to actually use his name. After Ranbutan stopped posting on LGF, the phrase He Who Shall Not Be Named was sometimes later used to refer to radio pundit Michael Savage, probably because he frequently complains on air how he is ignored by the media, and because the very mention of his name in most real-world conversations would be enough to start an argument.

Iron Fist Rule – See the LGF FAQ; a rule of thumb coined by LGFer Iron Fist: “If you think you are too drunk to post, you are too drunk to post.” A word to the wise to prevent unnecessarily antagonistic or rambling comments.

Islogic –
[First documented use: 11/13/2003 12:22PM PST]

just poop – A mocking reference to a bizarre protest sign that appeared at an anti-war rally in Washington, DC on January 27, 2007. As the “Just Poop” sign so succinctly encapsulated the childishness and idiocy of the anti-war movement, LGFers will occasionally reference the phrase as a mocking tribute to the intellectual rigor of the Left.

Krazy Kos Kidz – Half-joking derogatory name for denizens of the site DailyKos, made to have the same initials as the Ku Klux Klan. Because Kos readers often attempt to win any argument by calling their opponents “racists” (even though the points of dispute generally have nothing to do with race), LGFers will scornfully turn the tables and fling the baseless accusations back in the face of the accusers.

L³ – LLL, written as an exponent (L x L x L = L³). See “LLL” entry (below) for definition.

Let’s give them a state! – A sarcastic show of support for Palestinian national aspirations, frequently shouted whenever Palestinian leaders or militants do something that reveals themselves to be incapable of or unworthy of independent self-governance.

LGF Dictionary – The LGF Dictionary itself (which you are now reading — self-referential enough for you?) accidentally got its start with this innocent post: zombie 1/7/2005 02:41PM (which was a follow-up to this comment). In the space of three and a half hours, the idea had grown so quickly from a tentative list of six terms into a full-fledged lexicon that Charles made a thread devoted specifically to the concept: 1/7/2005: LGF Etymological Dictionary, Charles 1/7/2005 06:16PM, which has matured into the page you see here.

Mr. Holland’s Opus – A reference to the tedious Richard Dreyfuss film, which had its origins on this LGF thread (something to do with an intentional mixup between the Dreyfus Affair and the career of actor Richard Dreyfuss). The significance and syntactical purpose of the reference, and the reasons why the very phrase “Mr. Holland’s Opus” continues to be thought of as humorous, are lost in the mists of time.

my Zionist check – The monthly paycheck each LGF minion receives from the vast Zionist secret world goverment. Whenever a particularly unhinged anti-Semite accuses Jews, Zionists and/or neo-conservatives as all being part of a conspiracy to subjugate the world, commenters on LGF will ask why “my Zionist check” is late this month.

Nekama’s Troll Hammer – A fact-laden comment by LGFer “Nekama” often referenced as a convenient all-purpose refutation of the many worn-out anti-Israel arguments proferred by inexperienced first-time trolls who post revisionist history and ignorant comments about the Israel/Palestine conflict. Nekama’s arguments were so concise and on-target that the comment acquired the name “Nekama’s Troll Hammer” — a tool used to smack down trolls. The original comment can be found here:
Nekama’s Troll Hammer [8/17/2003 06:10PM PST].

Nodrog – A mocking reversal of the name of LGF commenter “Gordon,” who is famous for being the most persistant troll/contrarian in the history of LGF. Because many of his arguments get everything backwards, logic-wise, jocular minions sometimes refer to him as “the Nodrog.”

smells vichy – Said of something or someone traitorous or pro-enemy. A variant on the phrase “smells fishy,” altered to make reference to the Vichy Government in France during WWII, which collaborated with the Nazis. Now rarely used.

Stan – Satan. Also, less frequently, Allah. Accidentally coined by BabbaZee in a comment when she left out the first “a” while writing “Satan,” creating the typo “Stan.” Since then, LGFers will occasionally refer to Satan (or Allah) as Stan, usually in a jocular setting. [Coined by BabbaZee on 9/20/06 at 4:46:47 am: “More than anything else, Stan HATES to be mocked.” See comments #560, #583 and #585 on the same thread for acknowledgment of the neologism.]

Stupidfada – Stupid Intifada — a commentary on the futility and ultimate pointlessness of the Palestinian Intifada. Now rarely used.
[First documented use: Charles 11/27/2002 2:50 PM]

weirod – Weirdo. Based on an accidental misspelling of “weirdo” in a hate-mail letter sent to Charles on July 23, 2006: “Have a nice day you bunch of racist scum, crusaders and wierods!!!!!!!!!!!!11” Often used in mocking imitation of illiterate people who criticize LGF.

Terms that Probably Originated on LGF (evidence pending)

Dhimmi Carter – Insulting nickname for former President Carter, substituting Dhimmi for Jimmy. He earned the nickname by allowing Islamic fundamentalism to gain ascendancy during his watch (in Iran in 1979) and for not seeing through the lies of Arafat during the Arab-Israeli negotiations that led to Carter getting the Nobel Peace Prize.

Fraudis – A contraction of “fraud” and “Saudis, ” presumably implying that the Saudis hold their despotic power position through fraud, or that they frequently engage in fraudulent behavior.

Islamonazi – A variant of the more common “Islamofascist,” but drawing a more direct comparison between Islamic fundamentalism and Nazism in particular, as opposed to the more generalized term “fascism.”

Jordyptian – Substitute name for “Palestinian,” based on the notion that most modern-day self-identified “Palestinians” are descended from Arabs who emigrated from either Jordan or Egypt, and the fact that there never has been an actual independent nation called “Palestine” nor an identified ethnicity called “Palestinian” until recently in political history. Jordyptian is a contraction of Jordanian and Egyptian.
First known use by Model4 10/16/2002 2:40:41 pm PDT: “And here I thought Kuwait belonged to the Kuwaitis. So why did the Jordyptians (ok, I’ll play along) “Palestinians” ally themselves with Saddam? Oh, that’s right, the “dead jew” platform.”

Balestinian – A variant of the word “Palestinian,” probably derived from the fact that Arabic has no native “P” sound, so that when Palestinians themselves try to say “Palestinian” in English, it often comes out sounding like “Balestinian,” as Arabic speakers will tend to substitute the “B’ sound for the “P” sound. (The Arabic word for Palestine is actually “Falastin.”) Several alternate etymologies for “Balestinian” have also been suggested by readers, including: that it comes from conflating “Palestinian” with the word “bale” (meaning “evil” or “anguish”); or that it references Baal, the pagan god worshipped by the Canaanites, an early tribe from the area later known as Palestine, who were conquered by the Israelites. “Balestinian” is now rarely used on LGF.

Kossack – A denizen who frequents the Web site Daily Kos, known for it left-wing activism and its irascible Webmaster Markos Moulitsas Zuniga. Politically, a Kossack is almost the direct opposite of a lizardoid. Kossacks deride LGF as a “hate site” because of the frank and unapologetic assessment of Islam frequently expressed by LGFers; lizardoids regard Kossacks as among the leading proponents of “leftist fascism,” characterized by bullying, dirty tricks, illogical discussions, and an irrational hatred of everything to the right of Noam Chomsky. The name “Kossack” references the Cossacks, an old spelling of the ethnic group now known as Kazaks. When Russia absorbed Kazakstan into its empire, the Czar used Muslim Kazaks as a special cavalry due to their expert horsemanship and reputation for savage violence. Cossacks often were the perpetrators of horrific pogroms against Jews in Russian territory during the Czarist era. The first use of the term on LGF did not refer to Daily Kos but rather to Kofi Annan, and was by Lichty on 5/1/2002 3:29:01 pm PDT: “If anyone was worried about the effect of keeping Kofi’s Kossacks out of Jenin, it is looking pretty good.” However, the first known use of “Kossack” as a direct reference to Kos denizens was by The Commissar 4/3/2004 07:09PM PST: “Kerry delinked out of fear?” Maybe. But it was the right action. Let it be. Tonight, let’s let the Kossacks diss Kerry.”

LLL – “Loony Liberal Left or Leftist, or Loony Left Logic (depending on context),” says the LGF FAQ, though in fact there is no universally agreed-upon definition for the acronym LLL; it has been designated as standing for a wide variety of three-L-word combinations (e.g. Liberal Lunatic Lefties, etc.), all of which refer in general to the more extreme and demented leftist side of the political spectrum. Can be used either as a noun (“she’s a real LLL”) or an adjective (“this LLL colleague of mine”). Also written as L³, which gave rise to the even cleverer “el cubo” (which see)
[first use of LLL on LGF: Robert Brandtjen 4/16/2003 09:01PM; first use on LGF with definition: European-American 4/25/2003 09:59PM].

Oil for Palaces – Sarcastic name for the UN’s 1996-2003 “Oil for Food” program, which purportedly was intended to allow Iraq to trade its oil exports for international food aid, but which in reality devolved into a scheme of corruption in which foreign businessmen and diplomats profited from illegal export deals while Saddam Hussein used the “humanitarian aid” to build palaces for himself instead of help poor Iraqis.
First known use by GKarp 10/31/2002 02:18PM PST: “The proposition that the conflict with Iraq is all about oil suffers from at least two fatal flaws.First, as several posters have pointed out, the cheapest most efficient way to get the oil would be to buy it, even as the most dangerous and costly way to get the oil is to send troops and risk Iraqi oilfields going the way of Kuwait’s in ’91. It took a year to put those fires out. If you think this is the US’s best effort to get access to Iraqi you must believe that US policymakers are irrational.Even worse, the proposition that this is a war for oil must fail because it is non-falsifiable; there is no state of affairs in which it could be proved untrue. The US since the first Bush administration has pursued a policy of sanction and embargo against Iraq, restricting oil exports to what flows through the UN’s oil for palaces- er, food- program. Decreasing supply naturally tends to raise prices which benefits big corporate oil interests (say, Halliburton for instance). Now the US proposes to change policy to one of Iraqi liberation which will either 1) shut down Iraqi production entirely or, 2) increase Iraqi production markedly. Each of these scenarios is decried as being “for the oil.” If the proposition that US policy is all about oil is always true no matter what policy the US adopts, the claim has no meaning.One could just skip all this and accept that the US is defending itself against an aggressive sadistic madman intent on the acquisition and probable use of WMD, but it is harder to fit on a bumper sticker. Its also scarier to believe we cannot reform ourselves into making this go away. If the problem was our appetites rather than Saddam’s ambition then no one would have to get hurt. Just ain’t so.”

Pajamarines – Self-appellation of anti-idiotarian and neo-conservative bloggers who jokingly see themselves as Marines in pajamas storming the stronghold of the Mainstream Media. Based on the now notorious comment by a media pundit that bloggers who attacked and tried to expose the incompetency and bias of the existing media structure were just guys sitting at home in their pajamas. This concept was later expanded to include the metaphor of pajama-clad bloggers laying seige to a castle defended by old-school reporters. Running with this theme, a commenter on LGF combined “pajamas” and “Marines” and the phrase caught on (well, to a certain extent).
First known use by Bayonet 9/19/2004 09:45AM PST: “While the Army is my alma mater . . . I submit for your consideration that justifiably aggressive and truth-seeking bloggers would be aptly described as:PajaMARINESA proposal made more honorable by the fact that the Marines bounced Dan Rather when he tried to become one.”Always Faithful,The Few,The Uncompromising,The PajaMarines . . . .””We Can Handle The Truth”

Ra^thergate – The scandal from September, 2004 in which the CBS program “60 Minutes II” presented as evidence (in a muckraking report attacking President Bush) several forged documents supposedly dating from Bush’s time in the Texas Air National Guard in 1972. Subsequent analysis of the documents by various blogs, including LGF, showed that they could not have been created by any technology available contemporaneous with Bush’s service. The word is a contraction of Dan Rather and Watergate, along the same “-gate” principles that has dominated American scandal-naming since (coincidentally) 1972. The superscript ^{” th “} is a reference to a superscripted “th” in the alleged documents – a sophisticated typesetting technique that was almost unheard of in early ’70s typewriters yet which is the default setting for modern-day Microsoft Word, thereby becoming one of the most damning bits of evidence in the forgery. Charles’ debunking of these “TANG documents” is seen as a turning point in the history of blogs, the day when the mainstream media realized it no longer had a monopoly on the public discourse.
[First documented use without the superscript: Charles 9/17/2004 2:19PM; first use with the superscript not yet determined]

Trans-Palestine – Jordan. “Trans-Palestine” is an inverted rendering of “Transjordan,” the name of the area now occupied by the nation of Jordan during the period of the British Mandate (1920-1948). The exact implication of the phrase “Trans-Palestine” is somewhat unclear, but presumably it means that the area currently known as “Palestine” could and should become a province of the nation of Jordan, under which the residents now known as “Palestinians” would be granted Jordanian citizenship and some degree of stable governance.

Zionist hair rays – Magical rays emanating from the hair of attractive Jewish women, with the ability to mesmerize Muslim men and render them sexually enslaved. Based on an Islamic justification of the need for the hijab, which covers women’s hair so that it does not inflame the passions of men. Various imams have sermonized about “rays” from women’s hair which needed to be avoided, and the notion was exaggerated by female LGFers for satiric purposes.
First known use on LGF by evariste 7/28/2004 09:18AM PST: “What is it with these creepy trolls? It seems like you’re always one of the first people they somehow sense with their icky stalks or whatever those things are, slimy trolling tendrils, trolldar, somehow you always end up an object of their unwanted affections. Been wearing that scent lately? Or just zionist hair rays doing their thing.”

Brilliant Witticisms Posted Once or Twice on LGF But Which Never Caught on (Yet, at Least)

blue-diaper babies – A play on the term “red-diaper babies,” originally referring to kids who grew up in communist or far-left-leaning households in the ’50s and ’60s. Coined in response to the confusing new habit, popularized during the 2004 election, of referring to Republican states as “red states” and Democratic states as “blue states,” at a time when the Democratic party seemed to drift even further to the left — a part of the political spectrum that used to be associated with the color red (from the red flag of communism). Referring to this color shift, the original posting read, “The kids coming of age in the twentyteens will have to call themselves ‘blue-diaper babies’.”
[coined by zombie 1/5/2005 11:32PM. The phrase appeared unnoticed once in a comment on Daily Kos but apparently in a different context with a different meaning].

DDD – Dangerous Delusional Dhimmi.

Huffer – A denizen of the Huffington Post blog; or as TotallySirius puts it, “one who breathes in the rarified, oxygen-starved air of the Huffington Post blog.”
[First documented use: TotallySirius 7/24/2005 06:42PM]

Moonstream Media – Derisive term for the left-leaning media; a conflation of moonbat and mainstream media.
[coined by Zombie_Killian 1/11/2005 06:41PM].

OSM and NSM – Oldstream Media and Newstream Media. Coined by song_and_dance_man.

Terms that Probably Did Not Originate on LGF (evidence pending)

Ahm-A-DinnerJacket – Disparaging reference to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, president of Iran. The reference first appeared on LGF as “President Ahm-A-DinnerJacket” by Alone in NY, apparently in reference to Ahmadinejad’s practice of wearing a jacket with no tie. This was later abbreviated to DinnerJacket by whiterasta. However, two other claims to prior ownership have been located: it was used as Ahmadinnerjacket on Harry’s Place by brownie almost two weeks earlier, and it has been claimed (with no proof) that Stephanie Miller first used the phrase to make fun of herself.
[First documented use on web: Brownie on Harry’s Place 12/22/2005 02:36 PM]
[First documented use of Ahm-A-DinnerJacket on LGF: Alone in NY 1/01/2006 010:26:33am PST]
[First documented usage of DinnerJacket on LGF: whiterasta 1/15/2006 7:30am PST]

demonrats – Insulting term for Democrats, comparing them to both demons and rats. Frequently used by radio host Michael Savage, though it likely did not originate with him. LGFer Malleus Dei claims to have accidentally coined it in a posting he made on Free Republic several years ago.

Frenchurian Candidate – Mocking nickname for John Kerry during the 2004 presidential elections; based on his affection for France and the overly nuanced and cosmopolitan French style of foreign policy. A combination of “French” and “Manchurian Candidate,” implying that Kerry would have brought French cultural values to the White House if he had been elected.

Frogistan – Derisive name for France, based on the growing Islamic presence in the country and the seeming passive acquiescence of the French to the likelihood that their nation will eventually have a Muslim majority population. A combination of “Frog” (common British insulting term for “Frenchman”) and “-istan” (suffix meaning “land of…” in the name of many Middle Eastern and Central Asian countries). Date of first appearance unknown.

Froll – A fake troll, or false troll. Someone who posts an idiotic or inflammatory comment as a joke, not because they seriously believe what they are writing. A prankster who assumes the online persona of a troll. Date of first appearance unknown, though probably predates LGF.

Holy Shiite – A sarcastic exclamation of dismay, usually in relation to some event involving Islamic extremists. A combination of “Holy Shit” and “Shiite,” a member of the Shia branch of Islam. (Also influenced by “shite,” the Cockney spelling and pronounciation of “shit.”)

Koranimal – Derogatory and somewhat offensive term for Islamic terrorist, or a Muslim who sympathizes with Islamic terrorists. A contraction of “Koran” and “animal.” Date of first appearance unknown, though probably predates LGF.

Magic Kingdom – Saudi Arabia; an ironic reference to Disneyland, which in many ways is the exact opposite of Saudi Arabia, where shari’a law ensures that fun is non-existent

MSM – [First documented use: 3/26/2004 09:57AM PST]

ROP – The Religion of Peace — a reference to George W. Bush’s famous post-9/11 declaration that Islam is a “religion of peace.” ROP is generally used as a substitute for the word “Islam,” though it can also refer to Muslims in general. ROP can also be used as an adjective, though this usage is less common. In all cases, use of the term ROP indicates either distaste for Islamic beliefs and practices, or derisive mockery of the PC attitudes (as embodied by Bush) that spawned the phrase “religion of peace”; or both simultaneously (e.g. “The ROP claims another victim”). See also the LGF FAQ.

/s – Ultra-shorthand abbreviation of “/sarc” (which see). [example of usage: Attaboid 1/12/2005 08:35PM]

/sarc – When written at the end of a comment, “/sarc” indicates that the writer has been in “sarcastic mode,” informing the readers not to take the comment seriously. The term is a parody of html codes, in which one exits a text format by putting a slash in front of the style type. Thus, to stop text from being bold, one would code “/b”; so (humorously) to exit a comment that has been sarcastic, one writes “/sarc.” Used frequently on LGF, though its origins are unknown.

Sudden Jihad Syndrome (SJS) – The tendency among supposedly Westernized Muslims living in the United States to unexpectedly lash out violently in an act of self-initiated (and usually small scale) Islamic terrorism. Also abbreviated to “SJS” or “S.J.S.” Examples include Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar who drove his SUV into a crowd at the University of North Carolina in 2006, Naveed Alzal Haq who shot people at a Jewish Federation Center in Seattle also in 2006, Hesham Mohammed Hadayet who murdered people at the El Al terminal in the Los Angeles Airport in 2002 — among many others. In all of these instances, the perpetrators had no known direct connection to any established terror group, and because of this the authorities inevitably refrain from describing their actions as “terrorism” — hence the sarcastic term “Sudden Jihad Syndrome.” Daniel Pipes claims to have coined the phrase on March 14, 2006 (in the article cited above), but some commenters have reported seeing it before that date. (If you have a link citing “Sudden Jihad Syndrome” prior to March 14 2006, please leave it as a comment on this page.)

wingnut – A term of derision used by leftists to describe their opponents; the mirror-image of a moonbat. LGFers occasionally use the term wingnut sarcastically to describe themselves. The term, in its current definition, most likely is a contraction of the phrase “right-wing nut” — though according to this etymology page the slang definition of “wingnut” dates from the 1980s and was originally politically neutral, meaning simply a “weird person,” probably derived ultimately from the original hardware meaning.

Terms that Were Not Coined on LGF, But Which Were Popularized by LGF

buzzing prayer rug – A Islamic prayer rug invented by a Jordanian in 2003 that buzzes when the user’s forehead touches a metal plate embedded in the rug. Occasionally brought up sarcastically as a wonderful example of “technological innovation” in the modern Islamic world.

Do not trust the Shover Robot – The LGF FAQ has an entry about the Shover Robot, with links to two sites that supposedly “explain all.” However, many lizardoids, even after clicking on the links, have been left mystified. In succinct, plain English, here is the origin of the phrase “Do not trust the Shover Robot”: In 2000, an Internet jokester by the name of Rich “Lowtax” Kyanka began engaging in bizarre online discussions in “ICQ” chat rooms. (ICQ is not an acronym, but is rather a shorthand way of spelling “I seek you.” ICQ is a form of Instant Messaging that allows people to have chats with random people around the globe.) Having duped his ICQ chat partners into ludicrous conversations, Rich “Lowtax” Kyanka would then post the transcript of each discussion (which he called a “prank”) on his Web site, for the amusement of his readers. One of these “pranks,” in which he claims to be a robot designer, became so popular that a musical production group called The Laziest Men on Mars made a song about it and filmmaker Jonathan Robinson then turned the song into an animated Flash music video based on the robots described in the “prank.” In the video, two rival robots — the Pusher Robot and the Shover Robot — arrive on Earth to save humans from “the terrible secret of space.” Eventually the two robots get into a fight, and the Pusher Robot tells the humans, “Do not trust the Shover Robot.” (If none of this makes any sense to you, don’t worry — it’s not supposed to make sense.) This video also became wildly popular — so much so that Charles adopted the slogan as one of the rotating titles for LGF. (Whew — hope that clears things up.)

Fisking – From the LGF FAQ: “A point-by-point debunking of the kind of lies and/or idiocies written by those of the Robert Fisk persuasion.” First known use: by Free Republic commenter “sheik yerbouty” on 12/5/2001: “More Arab ‘Fisking’.” Blogger David M has done a thorough fisking of the definition of “fisking,” and claimed that the first known use of the term with its current definition was by Instapundit’s Glenn Reynolds on 12/24/2001, though he uses the term casually as if he expects his readers to already know what it means, and this reference is three weeks after the Free Republic citation. David M also links to three excellent definitions of fisking by Eugene Volokh, the Internet FAQ Archive, and Samizdata. [First documented use on LGF: John B. 5/21/2002 11:00AM]. [Please post any known earlier citations as a comment on this page.]

moonbat – An unthinking or insane leftist — in other words, most modern leftists. Moonbat can also be used as an adjective, e.g. a moonbat professor. According to the Wikipedia entry for moonbat, the word was coined in 2002 by the Editor of Samizdata, Perry de Havilland, and was a variation on the name of radical British activist and columnist George Monbiot. Originally, the term “moonbat” was intended to be more politically neutral, and described wackos on the left and the right, but it quickly acquired its current usage of being applied almost exclusively to those on the left. The term also references the moon much in the same way that “lunatic” refers to the insanity-causing powers of the full moon (luna = moon). LGFers occasionally analyze the behavior patterns of various moonbat “species” as if they were actual animals, and even give them satirical Linnaean taxonomical names, such as moonbattus berkeleyensis. According to Charles: “Moonbat was originally coined by Perry at Samizdata, I believe. But LGF probably played a much bigger part in popularizing it.” The entry in the Samizdata glossary indicates that Perry originally coined the full phrase “barking moonbat”; apparently “moonbat” is just a subsequent shortened version of “barking moonbat,” rather than being a pre-existing term that was lengthened to barking moonbat. The term “moonbat” was first used by Charles on Little Green Footballs June 14, 2002.

Paleostinian – Derogatory and (to some people) somewhat offensive combination of “paleolithic” and “Palestinian,” with the implication that Palestinian culture is primitive (i.e. similar to that of ancient humans from the paleolithic era).

ROPMA – Religion Of Peace My Ass.

Who blew up da owl? – Parodic line from the bizarre conspiracy-mongering poem Somebody Blew Up America by radical Marxist poet and African-American activist Amiri Baraka (formerly Leroi Jones). The poem repeatedly asks “Who?” was responsible for the 9/11 attacks, and says at one point “Who knew the World Trade Center was gonna get bombed / Who told 4000 Israeli workers at the Twin Towers / To stay home that day / Why did Sharon stay away?” which overnight made the poem and Baraka beloved icons to left-wing zealots who blamed the 9/11 attacks on Israel, and identified him as a dangerous buffoon to everyone else. Since the poem was published in the wake of 9/11 when Baraka was the Poet Laureate of New Jersey, it created a massive controversy and eventually lead to him losing the post. Because of the repeated “Who?”s in the poem, Baraka conjures the image of an “owl” asking the questions; though the phrase “Who blew up da owl?” never actually appears in the poem, it is occassionally used as a mocking summary of the kind of fact-free conspiracy theorizing that is legitimized only because of its rhythmic phraseology.

Terms that Originated Elsewhere

asshat – An aggressive idiot who insists on expounding foolish opinions (usually of an extreme-leftist nature). Presumably either derived from a combination of “asshole” and “tin foil hat”; or indicating someone who has put his head so far up his own ass that he’s wearing it as a hat. First coined in Europe ca. 2000, the term may have originally referred to a donkey (“ass”) wearing a ridiculous hat — i.e. an image of something absurd (any research or links on this would be greatly appreciated — post them as comments on this page). [First documented use on LGF: 7/18/2002 01:57PM PST]

Canuckistan – Derisive name for Canada, reflecting its anti-American sentiment. Coined by Pat Buchanan on October 31, 2002.

Eurabia – Sacrastic and pessimistic name for Europe, based on the observation that Muslim immigration and population growth — coupled with European appeasement of Muslim cultural demands — will eventually lead the continent to become an Islamic Caliphate. Popularized by writer B’at Yeor in her 2005 book Eurabia: The Euro-Arab Axis.

Euroweenies – Coined by P.J. O’Rourke in the essay titled “Among the Euroweenies” in his book Holidays in Hell, published in 1988.

feh – Old Yiddishism dating back hundreds of years.

FOAD – Fuck Off And Die. Common Internet slang dating back to the early days of the Web in the ’90s and BBSs in the ’80s.

hat tip – An acknowledgment (by the moderator of a blog or bulletin board) that someone has provided the source or inspiration for a topic of discussion. Its use probably pre-dates the Internet, since tipping hats to acknowledge acquaintances dates back at least to the 19th century.

Hildebeast – Insulting nickname for Hillary Clinton. Coined by talk-show host Neal Boortz during the Clinton administration.

Islamofascism/Islamofascist – In general, Islamofascism refers to the notion that Islam is not so much a religion as it is a political ideology that in many ways resembles “fascism” (i.e. the modern common definition of fascism which equates it with totalitarianism, as opposed to the original capital-F Italian-style Fascism). More specifically, Islamofascism is used to describe either the social structure of a society living under strict Islamic shari’a law, or the interpersonal behavior of someone who acts in accordance with true Islam. An Islamofascist can either be an Islamic fundamentalist, or someone who uses violence or bullying tactics to impose Islamic principles on others — or, more bluntly, a Muslim bigot whose religious beliefs are the source of his bigotry. Radio talkshow host Michael Savage has repeatedly claimed on air that he coined the term “Islamofascist” in his first book, and even offered a reward to anyone who could prove he was wrong. However, the term was first used on LGF at least nine months before Savage’s book came out: Robert Crawford 3/2/2002 01:43PM. But in reality “Islamo-fascism” was coined at least a decade earlier; the first known use of the term was on September 8, 1990 by journalist Malise Ruthven in a column about religion for Britain’s Independent newspaper, in which Ruthven wrote, “”Nevertheless there is what might be called a ‘political problematic’ affecting the Muslim world. In contrast to the heirs of some other non-Western traditions, including Hinduism, Shintoism and Buddhism, Islamic societies seem to have found it particularly hard to institutionalise divergences politically: authoritarian government, not to say ‘Islamo-fascism’, is the rule rather than the exception from Morocco to Pakistan.” There may be earlier citations as well.

joooooos – satirical pronunciation of the word “Jews,” in mockery of anti-Semites and conspiracy theorists who blame the Jews for everything. Apparently first used in Usenet groups in the mid-’90s. First use on LGF by piglet 2/22/2003 8:18:28 am PST: “Funny, how the arabs are “brown” people and Israeli’s who are also 5’8″ tall, with the same curlly [sic] brown hair and brown eyes, and the same desert tan are “evil white colonialists.”Oh “english speaking” because the US army has a large percentage of “people of color” which would undermine the attempt tp make this a race thing.And the Kurds are “white” right?What about the “gypsies” that europe is still abusing, are they “white” or people of color.Of course my people were oppressed and enslaved in Egypt while most of OLD Europe was still wearing animal skins and trying to figure out how to make fire. But that doesn’t count because we are JEWS, Jews, joooosssss!!!”

LOL – Laugh Out Loud. Common Internet slang dating back to the early days of the Web in the ’90s and BBSs in the ’80s.

mad mullahs – Epithet for the religious leaders of Iran, or (rarely) the Shi’ite leaders of southern Iraq. Epitomized by Ayatollah Khomeini, the typical “mad mullah” is an Islamic extremist who excercises totalitatrian control in a Shi’ite religious theocracy. Coined in 1898 by Winston Churchill in his book The Story of the Malakand Field Force, “mad mullahs” originally referred to the Pathan and Beluchi tribal leaders in what would be present-day Afghanistan and Pakistan.

moby – An insidious and specialized type of left-wing troll who visits blogs and impersonates a conservative for the purpose of either spreading false rumors intended to sow dissension among conservative voters, or who purposely posts inflammatory and offensive comments for the purpose of discrediting the blog in question. The term is derived from the name of the liberal musician Moby, who famously suggested in February of 2004 that left-wing activists engage in this type of subterfuge: “For example, you can go on all the pro-life chat rooms and say you’re an outraged right-wing voter and that you know that George Bush drove an ex-girlfriend to an abortion clinic and paid for her to get an abortion. Then you go to an anti-immigration Web site chat room and ask, ‘What’s all this about George Bush proposing amnesty for illegal aliens?'” The strategy has been frequently attempted on LGF and elsewhere, but has not been nearly as effective as Moby envisioned, since false rumors are easily debunked by fact-checking minions, and cartoonishly extreme commenters often get immediately identified as mobys and banned from LGF.

MooreOns – Unthinking acolytes of Michael Moore and MoveOn.org. Coined by Jonah Goldberg in the National Review.

OT – Off Topic. Common Internet slang dating back to the early days of the Web in the ’90s and BBSs in the ’80s.

pajamaheddin – Satirical combination of “pajamas” and “mujaheddin,” envisioning bloggers in pajamas as guerilla fighters attacking and undermining the mainstream media. Apparently coined by Jim Geraghty at National Review Online’s Kerry Spot blog.

racist – A statement of surrender during an argument. When two people or disputants are engaged in an acrimonious debate, the side that first says “Racist!” has conceded defeat. Synonymous with saying “Resign” during a chess game, or “Uncle” during a schoolyard fight. Originally, the term was meant to indicate that one side was accusing the other of being racist, but once it was noticed that people only resorted to this tactic when all other arguments had been exhausted, it acquired its new meaning of “indicating one’s own concession of defeat.”

ROFLMAO – Rolling On the Floor Laughing My Ass Off. Common Internet slang dating back to the early days of the Web in the ’90s and BBSs in the ’80s.

Samson Option – A military/strategic policy purportedly maintained by Israel which recommends that, should Israel ever be struck by a nuclear bomb, it unleash a nuclear retaliation not just on the nation directly responsible for the attack (presumably a Middle-Eastern nation such as Iran) but also against any nation indirectly responsible for the attack (presumably any European nations that sold nuclear technology to the attacking nation). In shorthand, the phrase “Samson Option” means that Israel would nuke Europe as a response to Israel getting nuked itself. The rationale behind the Samson Option is to compel nuclear-capable states to stop proliferation of nuclear technology to unstable and/or radical nations, by holding the suppliers of such techonology liable for its eventual use. Advocating the Samson Option is very controversial, on LGF and elsewhere. The term was popularized by (though not coined by) radical journalist Seymour Hersh in his 1991 book The Samson Option.

*spit* – In modern usage, placing asterisks around a verb indicates the actual performance of that action. Posting “*spit*” indicates you are spitting in disgust at a certain topic or person. Before the development of the Web and html, asterisks on each side of a word in BBS postings indicated that the word was bold.

STFU – Shut The Fuck Up. Common Internet slang dating back to the early days of the Web in the ’90s and BBSs in the ’80s.

STFD – Sit The Fuck Down. Common Internet slang dating back to the early days of the Web in the ’90s and BBSs in the ’80s.

tin foil hat – Referring to a device worn by delusional schizophrenics to protect themselves from mind-control rays; or, more generally, to anyone who believes in an absurd conspiracy theory. Apparently a very old term, possibly dating from the mid-20th century when police would advise crank callers to wear tin-foil hats to defend themselves against psychic attacks.

troll – Unwelcome, offensive, stupid or abusive commenter on a blog, chat room, user group or BBS. Common Internet slang dating back to the early days of the Web in the ’90s and BBSs in the ’80s.

Zionazi – Offensive term combining “Zionist” and “Nazi,” implying that Zionists (or anyone who supports the existence of Israel) are the equivalent of Nazis. Used by the extreme left, anti-Semites, and (in sarcastic mockery) by Zionists themselves. An absurd revisionist derivation of the term — that it is a combination of “Zionist” and “Ashkenazi” — has been circulating on the Internet recently, on anti-Semitic sites such as this one, among others (though the twisted logic of denying that you are calling Zionists Nazis while you are in fact calling them Nazis may be a little hard to grasp).

ZOG – The Zionist Occupation Government. Offensive term used by anti-Semites and neo-Nazis referring to the government of the United States (and occasionally to Britain), implying that Jews and their supporters control the mechanisms of government. LGFers will on occasion mockingly use the term “ZOG” to poke fun at extreme-right racists. (Infrequently, “ZOG” will be used to describe the state of Israel, generally by hardcore Palestine supporters and Pan-Arabists who seek the elimination of Israel.) According to Wikipedia, the term was coined in 1976 by neo-Nazi Eric Thomson.

Islamic Terminology

[Note: Most of these terms are Arabic words that have been around for centuries, and none of them originated on LGF. But since they are used frequently on LGF, definitions are provided here for those who are unfamiliar with their exact meanings.]

Allahu Ackbar – Arabic for “God is the greatest,” which is the literal translation, though it is more commonly (and erroneously) rendered simply as “God is great.” The primary declaration of faith made by Muslims, said in all sorts of situations: during prayer, during times of fear and stress, as an expression of joy and happiness, or just as a day-to-day greeting. Most notoriously, the phrase is known to Westeners as the cry of an Islamic warrior or martyr as he attacks. Often transliterated as “Allah Ackbar” as well.

burqa – A loose-fitting robe worn by Muslim women that covers the entire body, including the face and head. Usually worn only in the most conservative Islamic societies, such as Afghanistan. To non-Muslims, the burqa symbolizes the Islamic oppression of women. Also sometimes transliterated as “burka.”

caliphate – An empire in compliance with Islamic law which is based on Muhammad’s rule during his lifetime. The re-establishment of a global caliphate is seen by many conservative Muslims as the ultimate goal of the current jihad, and as the only way to achieve pan-Islamic unity by bringing the world under Islamic rule. The last caliphate was the Ottoman Empire, which was dismantled after its defeat in WWI and formally abolished by Kemal Atatürk in 1924.

Dar ul Harb – “House of War”. A designation of a country as a war zone in which the rules of combat are less restrictive under Islamic law. In general parlance, “Dar ul Harb” refers as a group to all non-Muslim nations, and is essentially the equivalent of the English terms “the Western world” or “Western civilization.”

Dar ul Islam – “House of Islam,” or “House of Submission” or “House of Peace.” Any country under Islamic rule, or — more commonly — all Muslim countries as a group.

Dar ul Kufr – “House of the Unbeliever” A country not under Islamic rule.

dawa – Proselytizing or spreading Islam. The Muslim equivalent of evangelism in Christianity.

dhimmi – A designation of non-Muslims under Islamic rule as second class citizens.

dhimmitude – The state of being a dhimmi. Commonly credited as being coined by writer B’at Yeor (no later than 1991, and possibly even earlier).

diyah – Blood money paid to compensate for a murder or wrongful death.

fatwa – A ruling by a cleric on Islamic law. Fatwas may be requested by an individual to clarify an ambiguous aspect of Islamic law. Fatwas may concern any part of Islamic life, from the minutiae of daily rituals up to the punishments for serious criminal conduct. Among non-Muslims, the term “fatwa” most famously refers to death sentences declared on anyone who is deemed to have violated Islamic law. Because there is currently no formalized transnational Islamic legal system, any self-described expert or scholar may issue his own fatwas.

fiqh – Interpretation of Islamic law derived from the Quran, the Hadith ( Islamic traditions) and precedents set by previous rulings by religious scholars.

Hadith – A collection of tradtions and customs regarding the Islamic way of life.The Hadith is not derived directly from the Quran but was passed down orally for several 100 years after the death of Mohammad.

halal – In accordance of Islamic law. Often refers to dietary rules. In this context, it is usually viewed as the Islamic equivalent of kosher (or kashrut), the tradtional Jewish dietary laws. In Arabic, “halal” means “permitted” or “permissable,” and in general indicates any behavior, activity, food or drink that is allowed to Muslims. Though there are a great number of similarities between halal and kosher dietary guidelines, they are not identical, and food that is halal is not necessarily kosher, nor vice versa.

haram – Forbidden under Islamic law. Refers to any behavior, activity, place, food or drink that is not allowed to Muslims, or that is “off-limits.” The term “harem” comes from “haram,” referring to the area of the household where women were secluded, and which was therefore forbidden (haram) for men to enter.

hijab – Headscarf worn by Muslim women, intended to cover the hair and neck, but leave the face exposed. It is the least restrictive of the various conservative Islamic garbs for women, though it is still controversial in Western (especially European) society and commonly seen as a symbol of oppression and gender bias in Islam.

hudna – A peace treaty or ceasefire. Treaties with non-Islamic foes are usually limited in duration and are less binding than treaties between Muslims. Among critics of Islam, a hudna is generally regarded not as a valid ceasefire but rather as a ruse to give Muslim combatants time to regroup and reload when they sense they are about to be defeated by non-Muslims in a military engagement.

jihad – Holy war. Also sometimes sarcastically referred to as a “peaceful inner struggle”. Traditionally, a jihad is a war of aggression by Muslims against infidels, and dates back to the very earliest days of Islam during Mohammed’s lifetime. Modern apologists, however, have pointed out that jihad literally means “struggle,” and that Muslims who are physically incapable of waging war can conduct jihad in other ways that do not involve physical violence: jihad of the tongue (propaganda), jihad of the hand (funding), and so on.

jinn – Spirits or ghosts. Also sometimes spelled “djinn” or “djinni” (which has become conflated with the pre-existing English word “genie”). Jinns were pre-Islamic desert spirits who had supernatural powers. This Arabian folk belief was incorporated into Islam, even though it is supposed to be a monotheistic religion.

jizya – A special tax levied against non-Muslims under Islamic rule.

Ka’aba – The cube in the center of the mosque in Mecca which all Muslims must face to pray. The Ka’aba houses the Black Stone, the pre-eminent sacred relic of Islam, which scholars speculate was a meteorite worshipped as an idol at Mecca even before Mohammed’s lifetime.

kafir (also spelled kufr, kuffar, kaffir) – A derogatory term for any non-Muslim. An unbeliever; infidel. Considered to be an insult. Under the spelling “kaffir,” it is also a derogatory term for any dark-skinned African.

Muttawa – The Saudi religious police.

niqab – Veil worn by Muslim women which usually covers the entire face, leaving only the eyes exposed.

PBUH – An abbreviation of “Peace be upon him” used by Muslims after mentioning Muhammad. An honorific epithet used exclusively for “the Prophet.” Also see SAW.

Qur’an (also spelled Koran) – The sacred text of Islam. According to Muslim belief, the words of the Qur’an were dictated by Allah through the Angel Gabriel to Mohammed, and are thus perfect and cannot be contravened, altered or interpreted in any way.

SAW – Abbreviation for Sallallahu ‘Alaihe wa Sallam (“May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.”) Often used after mentioning Muhammad.

sharia – Islamic law as derived from the Quran. Under an Islamic state, there would be no secular law as opposed to Islamic law; all personal behavior, civic statutes, and criminal jurisprudence would be determined exclusively by sharia.

sunna – Islamic practices for day to day life derived from the Quran.

sura – The chapters of the Quran.

taqqiya (also; taqiyya) – An Islamic doctrine that allows Muslims to lie in order to protect themselves.

ummah – The Muslim community.

wudu – Ritual washing before prayer.

zakat – A tax collected from Muslims for charitable purposes.

Other Online Internet Slang Dictionaries and Glossaries

Samizdata Blog Glossary (blog-related neologisms)

Noslang.com Internet Slang & Acronym Dictionary (Internet, text-messaging and BBS slang)

The Jargon Lexicon Glossary (hacker slang)

Wikipedia list of Internet Slang (mostly acronyms)

NetLingo (dictionary of Internet terms)

Internet FAQ Archives Jargon File (Web geek jargon with some political terminology)