Werewolf slang

[Aki]

I like the sheep suggestion..

Brings the saying "Wolf in Sheep's clothing" to a whole new level...

[Trinity]

[vrikasatma]

I like "Skins" in reference to humans. We called them that in my game.

Interesting note: we also referred to Kinfolk as "Aries." They're still sheep but they're brave enough to face the Wolf.

[Trinity]

<-- is an Aries. ( March 31st baby! ) HAHAHAHAHA

Loving it.

[Lupin]

You might want to adjust your profile. March is 03 and not 30.

[Trinity]

Danke!

[Vilkacis]

<-- is an Aries. ( March 31st baby! ) HAHAHAHAHA

Loving it.

Ah, we share a birthday, then.


-- Vilkacis

[Trinity]

Creepy.., I was born in '77 and you were born, same day same month.., '7' year slater.

Whoa! ^.^ *Chuckles*

[Jamie]

I think werewolves should have a term for people that aren't werewolves. It would seem kind of silly to keep saying "the humans" since werewolves are humans half the time anyway, and saying "non-werewolves" would probably get to be too much for the tongue after a while. I don't know, I think it would be kind of funny if a werewolf in human form watches a pure human do something a werewolf would never do and then mutter something about the silly "changeless" or whatever when out of hearing range.

"Changeless" is the best slang I've heard for non-werewolves yet. Maybe there could also be a rough equivalent such as "static" or "stay-at-home" (i.e. doesn't turn into a wolf and go hunting). If someone overheard a werewolf saying "Oh, Bob is a stay-at-home" it might sound insulting, but wouldn't make people think about werewolves.

Person: "Where were you last night?"
Werewolf: "I was out walking the dog."

I agree with this basic idea, especially if it were expanded to every kind of werewolf slang. I think that werewolves would cultivate a slang that would be designed to not give them away if they were accidentally overheard by non-werewolves. After all, even with heightened senses, it is possible to sneak up on a wolf, depending on which way the wind is blowing.
And, occasionally, werewolves might be on the street, or in a restaurant, or some public place when they needed to convey some information about the werewolf part of their life to another werewolf, and they wouldn't want to get known as the people who were always dropping words like "hairy" "mate" "cub" "hunting" and so on all the time. It's not that people would ordinarily figure out anything other than possible links to furry culture from these words, rather it is that if the werewolves had such a reputation already AND THEN someone came along who knew werewolves existed, they could all be in big trouble.
With this principle in mind, I imagine that they would act like teenagers who are trying to keep their parents from figuring out their slang: most phrases would refer to something other than what they really referred to, and some words would mean the exact opposite of what they really meant (for example, perhaps a werewolf who had gone crazy and violent would be referred to as "dead calm" and perhaps a werewolf who let the wolf mind have the priority would be referred to as "one civilized dude" instead of the more obvious "nature boy").
I generally hate those movies and novels that have a special slang word for werewolves such as "lycan" "garou" or whatever. Therefore, I'd prefer that the Freeborn werewolves call themselves "werewolves." However, they should do so only when they are really certain that nobody else is within hearing distance.

[Terastas]

Wanted to add something else, an idea I just got from someone's sig. Maybe non werewolves could be called sheep? It accomplishes two things:

1. shows how weak we are compared to them
2. shows their disdain for our inferiority (stupid sheep)

I don't know, more random ideas....

Sheep might be a better derogatory term less for humans in general and more for humans as a collective. As was said in Men In Black, a human is intelligent and open-minded, but humans as a collective are ignorant, paranoid and easily panicked. A werewolf might therefore not refer to an individual human being as a sheep, but could refer to the human populace as "the Sheep." Another term along the same lines would be "lemming."

Since werewolves are, more or less, just humans with unique conditions, I figured the most accurate terms they could have for humans in general would be something implying that they aren't infected. In the book I'm writing, for example, the most common slang for humans that hasn't been bitten by a vampire or lycanthrope yet is "purebloods." I can understand why people, fans and werewolves alike, would not like this term, as it could imply that werewolves have something wrong with them.

The other possibility I could think of would be that, since all known werewolves are either part of a pack or dogs/mutts/strays/(insert slang here), werewolves could refer to other werewolves in a public setting as "family." Thus, whenever speaking of a human, they could refer to them as anything else like "friend" or "neighbor" and the implicaton would be clear enough.

Hmmm... Well, the librarian's giving me the evil eye, so I'm just going to rattle the rest of these off in thesaurus format:

Change: Sang for shifting, also a potential double-meaning (IE: "Jack's upstairs changing" implied meaning: changing into clean clothes. true meaning: shifting out of gestalt form).

Dog / Mutt: Rogue werewolf.

Stray / Coyote: A non-rogue werewolf outside the pack (IE: Does not associate with the pack, but does not cause trouble for them either).

Pup: A werewolf that either doesn't understand how to control their lycanthropy, or doesn't understand what it means to be a lycanthrope (a pup, for example, might talk about equal rights and werewolf recognition).

Wannabes / Helsings: Werewolf hunters.

Pro: A legitimate werewolf hunter.

Stray / Naturalist / Hippie: A werewolf that has adopted a fully wolven feral lifestyle.

Hiding / Soul Searching: Reverting to a feral lifestyle ("hiding" for werewolves identified as humans, and "Soul Searching" for werewolves weary of the human lifestyle).

Family Friend: A non-lycanthrope that knows about the Pack and is considered trustworthy enough with said secret.

Pet / Fish / Damsel: Someone who knows about werewolves but is not on good terms with them (usually a wannabe) who has been taken alive and is now being held at an undisclosed location until the Pack decides what to do with him.

Familiar / Activist / Duckie: A Family Friend that takes an active role in werewolf preservation (usually by running a duck-marked safehouse).

Giving in / Having a bad day: Being unable to contain a natural urge to shift (good for use in public settings -- most often would follow with a request for a lift home or directions to the nearest safehouse).

The Red: The time period between when a werewolf shifts to gestalt and when they feel they will be strong enough to revert back (common safehouse term).

Den / Kennel / Darkroom: The most private room in a safehouse, usually a back room with dark curtains or no eye-level windows, in which werewolves in the Red are expected to stay while at the Safehouse (example: "It's the landlord -- everybody in the Darkroom now!").

Crap: Hair dye, hair gel or makeup (which will look like crap when in gestalt form).

Tag: Anything that may cross over from human to gestalt form that could identify one with the other (like a tattoo, piercing or an uncommon genetic trait like red hair ro double-joints).

Alpha / Chief / Boss: The werewolf that, by Pack's vote, handles most of the Pack decisions. The unoficial figurehead.

Omega / Junior / 28er: Someone newly infected with lycanthropy that hasn't shifted yet and will need some supervision until comfortable with the change.

[Renorei]

Wanted to add something else, an idea I just got from someone's sig. Maybe non werewolves could be called sheep? It accomplishes two things:

1. shows how weak we are compared to them
2. shows their disdain for our inferiority (stupid sheep)

I don't know, more random ideas....

Sheep might be a better derogatory term less for humans in general and more for humans as a collective. As was said in Men In Black, a human is intelligent and open-minded, but humans as a collective are ignorant, paranoid and easily panicked. A werewolf might therefore not refer to an individual human being as a sheep, but could refer to the human populace as "the Sheep." Another term along the same lines would be "lemming."

Dog / Mutt: Rogue werewolf.

Giving in / Having a bad day: Being unable to contain a natural urge to shift (good for use in public settings -- most often would follow with a request for a lift home or directions to the nearest safehouse).

About the sheep thing, I actually was kinda referring to groups of people. But I see how my post could have been misleading.

I think dog or mutt would be fine for a rogue werewolf, although I still prefer cur. I think it has more negative connotations, but between dog and mutt I think I like dog better, mutt somehow seems to imply racism, I think dog could be pretty powerful with the right voice inflection.

I like "Having a Bad Day", though I would change it to "Having a Bad Hair Day".




I recently thought of another idea for a new werewolf. "Whelp". This generally refers to infant canines in the real sense. It's a versatile word. It can be said gently, or it can be spat out viciously. Try saying it aloud to yourself with disdain. It's nice.

[vrikasatma]

Regarding "Alpha" as a term:
"Alpha" is something used by scientists to describe the directing/influencing animal in a collection of social animals. I read Daniel P. Mannix's book "The Wolves of Paris" and he didn't call the head wolf in the pack "Alpha," he called it "Baron" (the book was set in the Middle Ages).
I prefer the term "Baron" to "Alpha." The latter has a cold, technical feel about it, "Baron" is a little more evocative.

[Renorei]

Regarding "Alpha" as a term:
"Alpha" is something used by scientists to describe the directing/influencing animal in a collection of social animals. I read Daniel P. Mannix's book "The Wolves of Paris" and he didn't call the head wolf in the pack "Alpha," he called it "Baron" (the book was set in the Middle Ages).
I prefer the term "Baron" to "Alpha." The latter has a cold, technical feel about it, "Baron" is a little more evocative.

I also like Baron, but the problem is that someone else has used it before. If we use a slang word for the head wolf, it shouldn't be something that someone else came up with.

But I agree, Alpha is a little cold. I would like it if we used something besides alpha.

[vrikasatma]

Yeah, that's a hard one...
Too bad we can't use the German word for "Wolfpack Leader" — "Fuehrer"
Too many bad connotations

[Renorei]

Yeah, that's a hard one...
Too bad we can't use the German word for "Wolfpack Leader" — "Fuehrer"
Too many bad connotations

LOL. That'd be like Indian tribes calling their chief 'Custer'.

[Anubis]

hey! i got a few.

fanatic / obsessed / dreamer - a human that wants to be a werewolf that either knows or don't knows the existance of werewolves. that usualy don't know what being a werewolf really means.

fan club- a group of fanatics (EX: the pack forums)

Accident- (can't think of any good ones) - a newbie that got bitten, well on accident.

[Anubis]

Regarding "Alpha" as a term:
"Alpha" is something used by scientists to describe the directing/influencing animal in a collection of social animals. I read Daniel P. Mannix's book "The Wolves of Paris" and he didn't call the head wolf in the pack "Alpha," he called it "Baron" (the book was set in the Middle Ages).
I prefer the term "Baron" to "Alpha." The latter has a cold, technical feel about it, "Baron" is a little more evocative.

well me i like alpha or mabey its just simply "leader"

[Terastas]

Regarding "Alpha" as a term:
"Alpha" is something used by scientists to describe the directing/influencing animal in a collection of social animals. I read Daniel P. Mannix's book "The Wolves of Paris" and he didn't call the head wolf in the pack "Alpha," he called it "Baron" (the book was set in the Middle Ages).
I prefer the term "Baron" to "Alpha." The latter has a cold, technical feel about it, "Baron" is a little more evocative.

I can understand that. That's why I included other terms like 'Chief' and 'Boss,' which could just as easily be used as nicknames. I didn't write any of them thinking they were final -- I'm just throwing them out as they come.

Here's a few more:

Speaker / Mediator / Squanto: A werewolf with good people skills, often called upon to look after newbies or settle down a werewolf having a bad day.

Family Night / Newbie Night: Night of the full moon.

The Question / The Big One / His/her Options / Red Pill or Blue Pill: To press a non-lycanthrope with the two dreaded options: be killed or be changed.

[Renorei]

Family Night / Newbie Night: Night of the full moon.

I kinda like family night, though it could be called family game night. That kinda pokes fun at humans, and sorta does the whole double meaning thing. Kinda like "walking the dog".

Sounds kinda weird I know. But picture this, say two werewolves are talking. One of them says his boss (human) invited him to a party (which will be on full moon night). The other asks him if he's going, the first one says no, that he wouldn't miss the full moon for anything. The second one asks the first one what reason he gave his boss for why he couldn't come. The first one smiles miscieviously and tells the second one that he informed his boss he couldn't come, because he would be having family game night.

[Trinity]

I recently thought of another idea for a new werewolf. "Whelp". This generally refers to infant canines in the real sense. It's a versatile word. It can be said gently, or it can be spat out viciously. Try saying it aloud to yourself with disdain. It's nice.

Coudl also refer to a female about to or in teh process of giving birth. ;)

Givin that ist a normal use of teh term in dog breeding circles, it wouldn't satnd out too much ; )

As long as its in the right context.

[Terastas]

I recently thought of another idea for a new werewolf. "Whelp". This generally refers to infant canines in the real sense. It's a versatile word. It can be said gently, or it can be spat out viciously. Try saying it aloud to yourself with disdain. It's nice.

Coudl also refer to a female about to or in teh process of giving birth. ;)

Givin that ist a normal use of teh term in dog breeding circles, it wouldn't satnd out too much ; )

As long as its in the right context.

The only thing I'm not really sure I like about the term 'whelp' is that it comes with a negative context. It might be a good term for someone that has been a werewolf for some time but still behaves like a newbie, but in all fairness, every werewolf should know what it's like going through their first month of lycanthropy. It should be understood that a newbie will be emotionally unstable because each and every one of them should have had the same problem when they first contracted lycanthropy too. It should only carry a negative connotation if they are dependant on the rest of the pack for too long, in which case 'Whelp' would be a good term.

For newbies themselves, however, I think there'd be a sort of time period from the time they were bitten to however many full moons they feel the average werewolf should need to come to terms with lycanthropy and learn to control it. If they exceed that time, they could be called 'Whelps,' but during that time, I think they'd prefer a more friendly term like 'Kid,' 'Tyke' or 'Trainee.' Or at the very least, they wouldn't have a term for the werewolf, but would simply phrase the time period itself as being "new to the family."

[Trinity]

Negative context?

Abuh?
o.O

I've alwasy heard it referring to.., ya know.. birth. The only thing really neagtive about birth is the pain. heh.

[Silverclaw]

Nice thoughts here so far

Could call the newbie, cub or pup as well*shrugs*

[Renorei]

Terastas:

Mmm...well negative context is sorta what I was going for. But I guess it would probably work better for a werewolf who's been a werewolf for a while, but isn't independent yet, like you said.

Either way, it's an interesting word. Not too overused, compared to some words. If it is used (in any context) I would be pleased.

[vrikasatma]

Okay, I'm opening up a potentially smelly kettle of fish with this one...

How would "b****" be handled?

From a wolf's point of view, "b****" would probably be the equivalent of "lady," it's not a derogative like it's become in human parlance. Then again "Lady" can be used perjoratively, too. We seem to have this facility for taking any word, however positive and respectful, and turning it into an insult.