Just a few words & phrase to make yourself abundantly clear -- or to know what others are saying.

Advocate

A lawyer, a second. Someone who stands in in a duel, should you skip out.

all-fired

completely. (ex. "Where'd she go gettin' all-fired jealous 'bout this?")

atmo

Foreshortening of the word "atmosphere".

bang-up

great. (ex. "They did a bang-up job.")

being buzzed

Sensors from another ship are actively sweeping you

black, the

Outer space or perhaps deep space, beyond planetary orbit.

Blue Sun

A company that sells food products (and certainly more). Blue Sun logos are seen on food cans and advertisements throughout the 'verse. The motto from their commercials: Live life with Blue Sun.

Brown Coats

Referring to the "independents" or rebels against the Alliance, likely in reference to their military uniform.

bughouse

a mental hospital.

bushwhack

ambush

Companion

An academy-schooled prostitute practicing legally as part of The Guild, a socially powerful pseudo-religious organization. Companions are highly respected by almost everyone. Their schooling is long and arduous and covers everything from psychology to sword fighting. They can converse with anyone, and make anyone utterly at ease, from a dirt poor farmer to a planetary president. They live by the Guild code and only engage in transactions with customers of their choice.

core

Refers to any major city/planet in the Alliance.

Cortex

The visual/textual Interactive Network of the 26th century.

credit

A type of currency. Alliance-based, with no 'solid' component, and used to the exclusion of all else for legitimate transactions on all core worlds. I.e.: all standard transactions on the Core worlds are electronic in nature -- no one can physically hand you a credit. Per unit, a credit is worth more than any other type of currency (See *platinum*, below.)

cryo

Foreshortening of the word "cryogenic", especially in the context of cryogenic suspension. By the 26th century, cryogenic technology has advanced to the point that suspension can be sustained in a self-contained mobile unit. This makes for an ideal means by which to smuggle living human cargo in a temporary state of suspended metabolic function. Awakening suddenly or prematurely from cryo can result in severe system shock.

doxy

Slang, a female lover or mistress, or a sexually promiscuous woman. A prostitute.

drops

Illegal, addictive, narcotic drugs.

Feds, Federals

Members of the Alliance, its military, law enforcement, or functionaries.

Footpad

Pickpocket thief in a town.

genseed

A type of genetically engineered crop seed issued to those sent to settle terraformed planets and moons.

gorram

Expletive, AKA "god d***", used to express extreme displeasure, anger, or surprise.

hornswoggle

To trick someone.

humped

Expletive (depending on context).

I.A.V.

Interstellar Alliance Vessel -- standard prefix on all Alliance military craft. (As seen on the IAV Dortmunder in the Serenity Pilot, as well as several others.)

ident card

Alliance identification card carrying personal information in electronic format -- useful for scanning purposes.

Independents

Political/military party opposed to the Alliance. See also: Brown Coats and the Unification War.

mei mei

Little sister. Used for sister in blood or sister in spirit.

mule

Four-wheeled all-terrain vehicle used to transport goods and crew. Seats a maximum of two people. Top speed approximately 40 to 50 k/m.

Oh-two

Oxygen

on the dodge

Wanted by the police.

on the drift

In space without fuel, unable to travel.

ornery

Stubborn, not passive.

pipeline

A communications channel.

platinum

A type of hard currency, typically used on border worlds and for most clandestine dealings. For the purposes of conversion, a credit (see above) converts to platinum on approximately a 4:1 ratio, and a platinum coin converts to paper scrip (1 "dollar") at approximately 10:1. (1 credit = 4 platinum = 40 bills).

pretties

Fancy things. (ex. a dress)

purple belly

An Alliance soldier or officer. (Used in reference to an Alliance Captain in Bushwhacked.) The Alliance's official colors include purple and are used on the abdomen (belly) of Alliance troop body armor.

reader

Short for mind reader.

Reavers

Space pirates with a twist -- the twist being they're insane, torture and rape their captives, and practice cannibalism and self-mutilation.

Rim, the

frontier planets, not the core.

run afoul

to get into trouble

rutting

Expletive. Mating or 'to mate'.

shepherd

Term for a religious minister, preacher, or priest.

Shindig

a party, usually with dancing.

shiny

Slang. "Good", "great", "neat", "wonderful", etc.

Sky Plex

A space station that has optimized a large portion of it's habitable space for client services such as shopping, entertainment, and so forth.

Tele Fonix

Name of a telecommunications system, like AT&T or MCI.

Tetchy

sensitive or complaining.

triplex

A slang term for a planet side shopping and entertainment megaplex.

U-Day

Short for "Unification Day"; the holiday celebrating the Alliance's defeat of the Independents.

'verse

Slang, short for "universe".

wave

Audio-visual transmission sent over the Cortex. Full waves (audio and visual) are generally only available within major Alliance systems. Once a ship has left a major system (or is traveling in a system too unimportant to have a Cortex beacon), the sender must resort to more primitive means of communication.

weave

Medical term, presumably refering to a skin weave. A skin weave is a highly advanced medical procedure that uses nanotechnology in re-knitting the dermal fibres at a molecular level. Such a procedure is to stitches as stitches are to a bandage.