Lexikon von Props
(a beginner's guide to understanding the lexicon of Props and friends)
Don't bother saying your sorry. Every time I get no further, how long has it been? Come on now, wipe your feet on my dreams. You take up my time, like some cheap magazine. When I could have been learning something. I've done this before, and I will do it again. Come on and kill me baby, while you smile like a friend. Oh and I'll come running, just to do it again.
(from "Like a Friend" by Pulp)
1017 The house at 1017 Garnett Place in EvIL. One time residence of D-Man, Ryobi, Props, Token Female Roommate, T-Bone, Burger, L-Dog and Izu. D-Man owned the house during this time.
All growns up To have attained a sudden, admirable understanding of life. First heard in Swingers, and usually employed while under the influence of firewater. Usage: He's all growns up, he's all growns up! I would never eat here anyway...
Angry Fruit Salad Mode Software text editor setting under which certain recognized words are automatically displayed in an alternate color. More specifically, said mode under EMACS which visually resembles a bizarre submission to a church pot-luck.
Apathy (see NU)
B Town Boston. One-time residence of Izu, home of the greatest baseball team ever, and all-around kick ass place. Location of the infamous 1017 millenium party.
Bah Weep Grahnah
Weep Nin-ie Bong?
The universal greeting.
Ball Flash Catching a glimpse of a roommate's genitalia via loose-fitting boxer shorts. Not that this ever happened...
Beer Often used as a verb in reference to the fetching of said beverage. Usage: Hey, beer me while you're in the kitchen.
Betty Crocker Props' alter-ego which reveals itself only after he drinks much firewater. Betty quickly proceeds to cook everything in the kitchen, preferably twice-baked potatoes or couscous. Also mixes terrible, terrible drinks.
Bi-Polar Disorder The mildest issue suffered by most of Props' and Ryobi's ex-girlfriends.
Bird A female.
BOC Bendable over chair. Adjective describing a particularly sexually-attractive female.
Bonehead Trombone player in NUMB. When plural, refers to the loosely-knit drinking club of said musicians.
Broken Unrealistic or exceptional. Often refers to a bird's amazingly... "fit" body.
Burger Drew. SAIC undergrad and male prostitute. Turns into the Hulk if you call him Andy. Do not feed.
Chitown Chicago, the greatest place in the world. The big city you can actually live in; less pretentious than Satan's Asshole and less sprawling that Los Angeles. Ryobi is petitioning to move The Man's capital to Chicago.
Circular Definition (see Circular Definition)
Corporate Whore An employee of ThoughtWorks, a medium-sized consulting firm headquartered in Chitown. Compared to most consultancies, ThoughtWorks is relatively liberal. Compared to most fascist states, ThoughtWorks is conservative.
Crank To have sex. Particularly applicable to the initiator of said activity. Can be confusing for those familiar with this term's drug association.
Cue Tip Alternative nickname for Woodsy, based on his current hairstyle.
Daddy Didn't Love
Me Enough
The penultimate source of male anguish, as all relationship difficulties can be distilled to this postulate. Especially applicable to females infected by The Virus.
Daily, The The Daily Northwestern, NU's excuse for a student newspaper. Sensationalist, inaccurate and leftist; the paper would be completely ignored if anyone cared. For some reason, it is considered one of the best college newspapers in the nation.
Devil in my ass The state of digestive organs in violent protest. Usage: Curry puts the devil in my ass.
Dillo Day The one day per year that NU comes close to being a state school. Students from nearby universities (and jailbait from ETHS) squat the lakefill on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend for drunken revelry, music and to be rained upon. An excellent tradition of drinking a beer in the shower on Dillo Day morning was started by L-Dog several years ago. Don't eat the sausage.
D-Man John D. Corporate whore and world traveler. Voluntarily drinks stingers, since they "put hair on your nutsack."
EvIL Evanston, Illinois. A pretentious suburb north of Chicago in denial of its purpose as a college town. Home of NU, brutally difficult parking, and a nearly nonexistent night-life.
Evil Dave Neighbor to the denizens of 1017, fellow computer science major, and 1999 campus president. Currently works for the Evil Empire. Caused a controversy when he won the presidency of a "top-ten" university based on a joke platform. A vital part of this platform was to give reparations to the People of the Lake, who had been displaced by NU.
Evil Empire Microsoft. The largest software development company and scapegoat for the woes of the world. This blame is usually warranted, depending on whether L-Dog is in the room.
Fault! Word yelled to interrupt a conversation that has moved far beyond anything resembling human decency.
Firecrotch Having naturally or artificially red pubic hair.
Firewater Liquor. Term typically used by Woodsy and Props, who are of dubious Native American ancestry. Usage: Hate the firewater; hate it.
Freeballing State of an underwear-lacking male. Or a male wearing boxers while infected by The Virus.
Fuzzy Animal Slippers Traditional footwear of the denizens of 1017. The precedent was established at their first few parties.
Geek Lab Undergraduate computer science laboratory at ILS. L-Dog has left a permanent psychic impression on the place.
Geeking Out Alternatively playing video games, role-playing, playing an overly-complicated board game like Axis & Allies, watching sci-fi, or using the "-p" suffix. Or all of the above at once.
Gimp, The (see Props)
Hiv, The Human immunodefinciency virus. The term is pronounced this way ("the hiv") for its incredible capability to offend others.
Holy Trilogy The original Star Wars film trilogy. The defining myth of our generation. NU professor Jacob Kinnard once gave a lecture on the Hindu ascetic basis of the Holy Trilogy's venerable jedi.
-ILF Abbreviation for "... I'd like to fuck." Never actually spelled out, but pronounced with an appropriate single-letter prefix. Common usages are MILF for "mother I'd like to fuck" and SILF for "sister I'd like to fuck." Note that this euphemism was popular across the midwest years before the film American Pie was released.
Illuminati, The The more bureaucratic faculty of NU's computer science department. Dedicated to preserving the department's unhealthy emphasis on artificial intelligence.
ILS Institute for the Learning Sciences. A modern office building on the west edge of NU's EvIL campus. Houses the computer science department, geek lab, and any number of research lackies. The home away from home for many computer science students.
In Out, In Out Sex. Popularized in the much-admired Kubrick film, A Clockwork Orange. Note that seeing this movie makes for an exceptionally-poor first date.
"Issues" Originally a more cozy way to refer to the mental disorders of certain females. Now it refers to the mental disorders of every* female.
Except our mothers, sisters, current significant others, token female roommates, and KOE.
Izu the Demon Jon W. Eighty hour week game programmer and professional alcoholic. The source of much envy since he actually loves his job.
Jager Jagermeister. Dark green, German firewater of undescribable taste. The bottle is usually chilled to freezing level and then passed around for sips. The mascot firewater of NUMB.
Jen Possibly the only member of the 1017 ilk that is consistently referred to by her real name. Medill alumni, runway model and closet geek. At all costs, keep away from shotguns.
K The letter which begins the name of every woman in Props' life. Only a slight exaggeration — Kate, Katie, Katherine, Kat, Kirsten, Kristen, Kristin...
Keg, The Sports bar meat-market in EvIL. Known for its huge crowds, terrible music and pathetic ID policy. One of the last bastions of night-life in EvIL.
KOE The best Classics teacher at NU, and arguably the greatest professor to ever live. Currently a graduate law student at "that other Chicago school." Has the rare distinction of actually liking good movies. Referred to by Props and his ilk by pronouncing her initials ("koh-ee"), although she does not condone this.
Lakefill, The In 1965, NU began expanding its campus by dredging topsoil into Lake Michigan to literally create more land. The result is a beautiful, park-like expanse along the lake that serves as space for Dillo Day and many sporting events. Seeing the lakefill may single-handedly be responsible for any number of undergrads voluntarily attending the university.
Lava Lounge One of the last of the great 1017 parties. Themed around jazz, Swingers, and seeing girls in dresses. Hosted by D-Man as bartender and Props as hors devours chef. Noted as being one of the precious few themed house parties that did not suck. Izu was actually spotted at said event wearing a suit.
Lax Lacrosse. Aggressive hobby of Izu and fellow demons on this plane of existence.
LCW Short for lying cheating whore. Could never refer to women from the Jersey Shore.
L-Dog Lars. Soldier of the Evil Empire and Jesus impersonator. Imports Peet's coffee into the Seattle area, and actually admits to owning an Infiniti.
Leggings Nickname of a certain ex-girlfriend, associated with a story involving her green-and-red striped tights and an orgasm.
Leia! Word often yelled for no particular reason. Originally, the obnoxious answer given to the Holy Trilogy trivia question: "Snub-nosed fighters are the only way to penetrate the defenses of what?" This particular game of trivia was played while waiting fourteen hours in line for tickets to the first Holy Trilogy prequel. (Thanks Ryobi!)
Make me say big papa To please sexually. Overused quote from the film Can't Hardly Wait. Usage: But you don't know how to make me say big papa!
Meat-Market Any location which exists solely to connect predatory males with impressionable, pseudo-jailbait birds. Usually refers to frat houses or The Keg.
Monopoly Board game which leads to more violence than a Scottish rugby match when played by Jen and Props.
Mustard & A1 Steak
Sauce & Mayonnaise
Traditional chasers of tequila, according to already-drunk Woodsy and Props.
No love for ho's The all-purpose response to any query. Very rarely has any consistent meaning, but its roots lie in a flippant dismissal of the need for female companionship.
NU Northwestern University. Robbing you blind since 1851. "Like having a well-liked, beautiful older sister who hates you." Referred to as NWU by people who kan't spell.
NUMB NU's Marching Band. The undisputed masters of punctual drinking, for as a group they believe any available keg might be the last in the world.
-p Suffix applied to any word, roughly meaning "would you like to...?" For example, pizza-p (pronounced "pee-za-pee?") means "Want to order pizza?" The source of this suffix is the Scheme programming language's tradition of using the -p suffix on predicate functions (functions that return true or false).
Paper Crack Magic the Gathering. The infamous, geeky collectible card game with terrifying addictive properties.
People of the Lake Race of proto-humans displaced when NU created the lakefill. Represented in our world by President Evil Dave. Two of these People (looking very much like Izu and Props) guarded fellow diety, Jesus Christ (L-Dog), at Evil Dave's induction ceremony.
Pixie, The Kate. NU dance major who shouldn't be avoided just because she grew up in Satan's Asshole. Often embellished as the "buff pixie."
Private Popple Ryan. Second Lieutenant in The Man's army and closet geek. Despises the nickname, hence its persistence. Do not refer to his frat as a "frat" or he will launch into a diatribe about the mythical philanthropic aspects of the Greek system.
Props Ben. Corporate whore and full-time defender of his heterosexuality. Refuses to accept that Audrey Hepburn is dead.
PW Short for pussy whipped. To be obsessed with your female significant other, excluding all logic and reason. This usually leads to becoming engaged.
Man, The The United States Government. More specifically the Federal Reserve Bank, where Ryobi is enslaved.
MRS Degree Desperate female looking for a suitable PW'ed mate to hitch. That to which so many aspire, without concern for sanity or happiness. Usage: Yeah, she spent most of college working on her MRS Degree.
Roofied To unknowingly be dosed by the knock-out drug rohypnol. Usually occurs at NU frat parties. At one point, NU was informally known as the "roofy capital of the world."
Ryobi Jon E. Slave of The Man and one-time bonehead. Spends his free time reading tactical war manuals. Yeah, seriously.
Sacred Holiness, The The most debated term in this lexicon. Has several conflicting definitions, depending upon the speaker. Ostensibly refers to, in a complimentary manner, the aroused female genitalia. The actual meaning is obscured by Props' drunken memory, but it has something to do with witchcraft, a psychotic ex-girlfriend, and a blanket.
SAIC School of the Art Institute of Chicago. A mysterious place where Burger spends much of his time. All other information is classified.
Salty Being in a bitchy mood. Coined when several bitter 1017-ites were sitting around drinking firewater and bitching about moving. Usage: Man we were all so salty last night!
Satan's Asshole Manhattan. May also refer to the whole of New York City or to the entire state of New York.
Sausage Fest Social gathering at which the male-to-female ratio drastically favors straight women and gay men.
Schtup (see Crank)
Shitty Techno The majority of Props' music collection. Note that the two words are always used together.
Skinny Guy Wrestling A bizarre spectacle, occurring only after Ryobi and Woodsy have imbibed ridiculous amounts of firewater, usually Jager. Tradition dictates it occurring in the living room of 1017, but other public displays have been noted.
Spicy Particularly attractive, exotic and/or sexy female. Often followed by "...little [insert-ethnicity-here] number." Usage: Oh she's a spicy little Latin number.
Star Destroyer Mainstay of the Imperial navy, a 1600 meter long starship manufactured at the Kuat Drive Yards. Also the domain name of Izu's web site (see stardestroyer.com).
Street Tax The inevitable amount of spare change that is given to the various homeless residents of EvIL.
Swingers The single greatest film ever made. Can also be used as an adjective for anything that resembles the vocabulary or habits of the film. Usage: The Lava Lounge was such a swingers night.
T-Bone Tara. Game-programmer and the second Token Female Roommate. Grew up in New Jersey but actually has a hairstyle from this decade.
The Hole (see Sacred Holiness) Usage: Wait, are we talking about the hole?
Thing That Should
Not Be, The
A certain, ill-mentioned ex-girlfriend. Now a drop-out, bipolar, mother of one — Congratulations! Term derived from both the Metallica song and the cheery Lovecraft story.
Token Female Roommate Lisa. Struggling Medill alumni and victim of being a middle child. Denies being a princess, even though she refused to clean the bathroom for several months.
Tracks of Land Breasts. Female. Large.
Tree Hugger (see Props)
Trixie Professional, single woman living in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chitown. Characterized by a man-hating demeanor, Jetta ownership, and a creepy Starbucks fetish (see lptrixie.com).
Troala (Collective), The Troy and Loala, long-term couple and Seatle natives. He is an ex-bartender and she wears very shiny shirts. Have been known to steal Props and dance all night in dark warehouses. Forced to move to Los Angeles for law school, the single most depressing occurrence since Props hung that one painting over the mantle.
Überborders The Borders bookstore at 830 North Michigan in Chitown, on the Magnificant Mile. Called such because of its enormous size and tendency to empty the wallets and schedules of Props and his ilk.
Uncle George George Lucas, creator of the Holy Trilogy.
Unnamed One, The Props' heartbreaker, her real name and identity are not spoken of. Names have power.
Vamping Playing Vampire: The Masquerade, the only activity probably more geeky than paper crack. Usually followed by a vehement bashing of LARPing ("No we don't mope around while wearing too much makeup pretending to actually be interesting!"). Until a recent exception, every couple that Vamped together quickly fell into a nasty break-up...
Virgin Someone who has not seen the Rocky Horror Show performed live. Admitting to being such results in a certain economist being thrown a plastic dildo from across the theatre.
Virus, The Competitive roller skating, an activity slightly more addictive and self-destructive than crack cocaine.
Weaver One-time faculty director of NU's undergraduate chemistry lab. Infamous for being "retired" after a squable of dubious propriety with a bird. Might threaten you with being squished if you leave the lab.
WH Short for wet hole. Perhaps the most derogatory term for a woman ever devised. It's origins are clouded in intentional obscurity.
Woodsy Dave. Corporate whore and co-founder of skinny guy wrestling. Primary requisite for a mate: firecrotch.
X Day A day that should have never occurred, and has thus been stricken from the record of history. No one is permitted to even mention the day itself, let alone the actual events of said day.
Yellow Fever Having an intense attraction for Asian women, as a result of their purported exotic and/or trustworthy natures.