I can see that he's trying (and failing) to mimic the style of an academic index, where synonyms are cross-referenced for completeness, but in a work of fiction it's just pointless annoying guff. Much like the whole appendix section, really.
FTL Tape: slang for vacuum tape
This seems really unlikely to me. Assuming they're saying each letter and not wordifying it into a single weird syllable, it's actually more effort to say "eff tee ell tayp" than it is to say "va-kyum tayp". One of the main points of slang is to shorten something to make it easier and faster to say (cockney rhyming slang being one of the more obvious exceptions). Working class Brits say "loo" instead of "lavatory" because it's at least (depending how you pronounce the latter) two syllables shorter. In Australia, we say arvo instead of afternoon. In parts of Midwestern America, they say "spendy" instead of "expensive".
A better slang might be something like "vac tape", 2 syllables instead of three and gets the point across unambiguously.
GROUND-POUNDER: derogatory term for one who lives on or was born on a planet.
This is stupid and completely ignores the prior existing meaning of the phrasal verb "ground and pound". This would better serve as a derogatory slang for a brawler who fights with their fists instead of a laser gun or whatever. or 'one who resorts to physical violence when they lose their temper'.
Personally, I think "rockborn" would be better slang for a planet-born person. or "rockhead". Or simply just Rocky.
There's a great scifi graphic novel by GRR Martin called Windhaven, about a world where certain elite individuals can fly with the aid of massive metal wings (made from the salvaged metal from their crashed spaceship). There's a distinct class divide between the elite Flyers and children of Flyers, called flyer-born, and everyone else, whom Flyers derisively call Landbound. I could see a similar divide between those who can afford a space ship, and those who can't.
"What's the matter, Rocky? Are your boots stuck in the mud?"
"You watch your mouth, spacer. Fly off back to your ship and stop breathing our atmosphere!"
no subject
I can see that he's trying (and failing) to mimic the style of an academic index, where synonyms are cross-referenced for completeness, but in a work of fiction it's just pointless annoying guff. Much like the whole appendix section, really.
FTL Tape: slang for vacuum tape
This seems really unlikely to me. Assuming they're saying each letter and not wordifying it into a single weird syllable, it's actually more effort to say "eff tee ell tayp" than it is to say "va-kyum tayp". One of the main points of slang is to shorten something to make it easier and faster to say (cockney rhyming slang being one of the more obvious exceptions). Working class Brits say "loo" instead of "lavatory" because it's at least (depending how you pronounce the latter) two syllables shorter. In Australia, we say arvo instead of afternoon. In parts of Midwestern America, they say "spendy" instead of "expensive".
A better slang might be something like "vac tape", 2 syllables instead of three and gets the point across unambiguously.
GROUND-POUNDER: derogatory term for one who lives on or was born on a planet.
This is stupid and completely ignores the prior existing meaning of the phrasal verb "ground and pound". This would better serve as a derogatory slang for a brawler who fights with their fists instead of a laser gun or whatever. or 'one who resorts to physical violence when they lose their temper'.
Personally, I think "rockborn" would be better slang for a planet-born person. or "rockhead". Or simply just Rocky.
There's a great scifi graphic novel by GRR Martin called Windhaven, about a world where certain elite individuals can fly with the aid of massive metal wings (made from the salvaged metal from their crashed spaceship). There's a distinct class divide between the elite Flyers and children of Flyers, called flyer-born, and everyone else, whom Flyers derisively call Landbound. I could see a similar divide between those who can afford a space ship, and those who can't.
"What's the matter, Rocky? Are your boots stuck in the mud?" "You watch your mouth, spacer. Fly off back to your ship and stop breathing our atmosphere!"