Firefly Lingo
Useful Terms
Alliance - The government in charge of… pretty much everything.
Independents/Brown Coats - Rebels against the Alliance who wore brown coats.
Companion - An academy-schooled prostitute practicing legally as part of The Guild, a socially powerful pseudo-religious organization. Companions are highly respected.
Credit - Alliance-based currency. Per unit, a credit is worth more than any other type of currency.
Shepherd - Term for a religious minister, preacher, or priest.
Reavers - Space pirates with a twist — the twist being they’re insane, torture and rape their captives, and practice cannibalism and self-mutilation.
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, the sender must resort to more primitive means of communication.
Slang/Expletives
gorram - Expletive, AKA “god damn.”
humped - Expletive (depending on context).
rutting - Expletive. Mating or ‘to mate’.
shiny - Slang. “Good”, “great”, “neat”, “wonderful”, etc.
sly - Homosexually inclined.
‘verse - Slang, short for “universe”.
Useful Chinese phrases to use in everyday conversation
Ching-wah tsao duh liou mahng - Frog-humping sonofabitch.
go-se - Crap, worthless thing; from gou-shi, dog excrement.
HOE-tze duh PEE-goo - Monkey’s butt.
hwoon dahn - Jerk, bastard, scoundrel; literally, “bastard egg.”
luh-suh - Garbage.
wuh duh ma huh ta duh fung-kwong duh wai-shung doh - Holy mother of god and all her wacky nephews.