The following is a small collection of words and expressions that are in common use with Colonial and Cylon people and their equivilant in modern day English.
This is not a collection of terms and names which can be used to identify certain events, names and locations from the series. Instead this is more of a dictionary of words which are in common use, although slanted towards the Colonial way of life.
You will not find names of people, places, ships or events here unless relevant.
For a much more complete and expanded lexicon of terms, places, people, events and more, please consult the Battlestar Galactica Concordance or the Battlestar Wiki.
For a full animal listing, see here.
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | Expressions |
|---|
| Agron Outpost | Agriculture/Farming colony |
| Ale | Beer type of alcoholic drink |
| Ambrosa | Fine wine [Note the correct spelling] |
| Android | A robot made to look and act like a human. |
| Arnament Day | Colonial National Holiday |
| Ascensior | Lift, elevator |
| Asteral Winds | Winds produced by gravities interacting between close orbit planets. |
| Astralon | Asteroid |
| Avion | Bird |
| Bacteria Trap | Slang for the decontamination chambers aboard starships |
| Baharri | Intoxicating spirit drink |
| Barge Lice | Slang for prisoners on a prison ship |
| Bio-Pulse Lines | Pulse and vital signs of a patient |
| Bio-robotics | The study of robots designed to look and mimic a particular race. Note that these are not biological robots though, they are still mechanical inside. Colonial Institutes are quite advanced in this respect. |
| Blackshirt | Slang for Council Security personnel |
| Book of Strategy | Colonial Warriors manual |
| Book of the Word | Colonial sacred texts |
| Books of the Lords of Kobol | Colonial sacred texts detailing the Lords of Kobol, their teachings and morals, many of which are still in use today |
| Boraton | Firefighting foam |
| Bovine | Cattle, mainly cows |
| Brig | Detention centre on starships |
| Buritician | Heridatary noble, usually leaders of the Colonies |
| Buzzer | Slang for homemade intoxicating drinks |
| Carbide | Carbon Dioxide |
| Celestrial Chamber | Early navigation domes on ships |
| Centar | Hour |
| Centon | Minute |
| Centuron | 100 |
| Chancery | Gambling den |
| Commanders Court | Military court |
| Computron | Computer |
| Council of the Twelve | See Quorum of the Twelve |
| Crawlon | Spider |
| Cubit | Standard money of the Colonials. Gold coin, valued by weight. |
| Cryogenic Suspension | Process of freezing the human body in a Cyrogen tube until a cure can be found. Early cultures also use these to travel between the stars. |
| Cyrogen Tube | A device used to put a person in cyrogenic suspensions, or deep freeze |
| Daggit | Dog |
| Datapad | Hand held palm computer |
| Death Stone | Grave stone |
| Designation | Career, job |
| Diables | The Devil or a demon |
| Di-ethene | A toxic gas given off by Cylon weapons, and sometimes Tylium refining |
| Drone | Robot, usually slow and dumb, for menial or heavy labour duties. |
| Duckit | Permit, ticket |
| Electro-Identification System | Colonial system for determining whether a ship is friendly or not. If the result of a EIS scan is positive, then the ship is friendly. All Colonial ships broadcast this and thus it can be turned off to avoid detection. |
| Electronic Defence Shields | The main defence for ships, this is electronic warfare designed to confuse and jam enemy electronics. |
| Elite Class | First class or luxury class |
| Energiser | Power generator |
| Epistle | Letter, as in, "to write a letter" |
| Equine | Horse |
| Feldercarb | Sh*t or Cr*p |
| Finite Laser Extractor | Medical tool for extract a holographic image of a neuro cell. |
| Finite microlaser | Medical tool for use in surgery |
| First Orbit Cadet | Slang for a rookie pilot |
| Fleet Commline Alpha | Secure and scrambled communications channel between Colonial warships |
| Forced Nitron Process | A Colonial method for force growing plants to create a crop very quickly |
| Frak | F*ck |
| Fumarello | Cigar |
| Furlon | A leave period |
| Gamma Frequency | Old and obsolete radio frequency |
| Grid Barg | Slang for a prison transport. |
| Grid Rats | Slang for prisoners on a prison transport |
| Grog | Beer type drink. A good quality grog actually has mild aphrodisiac qualities. |
| Hades | Hell |
| Hand Mine | Grenade |
| Hectare | 14,500,000 kilometres |
| Hemo-type | Blood type |
| High Band | Communications Channel, possible an emergancy frequency |
| Hi-Lo | A card game where the objective is to get higher or lower than the dealer |
| Hovermobile | An air cushion vehicle, the common transport for Colonials |
| Instructional Period | A period for learning. |
| Ion Trail | The exhaust trail given off by Colonial starships |
| K-Biscuit | Snack food |
| Kinsman | Family relative |
| Kobol | Planet from which all human life originated |
| Languatron | Language translater computer |
| Laser | Standard term for most weapons, even though most weapons are in fact blasters and not really lasers. |
| Laser Range | Firing range, used for practise |
| Laseronic Ergon Scan | A test to determine whether the output of a laser weapon is the same as the impact of a laser on a target. |
| Launch Field | Landing area, airport |
| Life Centre | Medical bay |
| Life Pod | A medical unit for holding a critically ill patient |
| Life Station | Medical bay |
| Lords of Kobol | Ancient rulers of Kobol |
| Lupine | Wolf |
| Marker Beacon | A signal given off by Colonial ships to allow other friendly ships to track them. |
| Marron Drive | Standard Faster Than Light drive of the Colonials |
| Maxim | 10 microns (distance) |
| Mephistopheles | The Devil |
| Meteor Fire | A meteor storm that enters and burns up in a planets atmosphere |
| Metron | 1 metre |
| Micron | Second |
| Micron | Kilometre |
| Microcenton | Micron, not widely used |
| Millenium | 1,000 yahrens |
| Millicenton | 10 centons |
| Modocker | An expletive, a rude - but friendly - name for someone. |
| Mushies | Snack food, sweets |
| Night Flyer | Night owl |
| Numo | Primative compressed air rifle type weapon |
| Officiator | Sports referee |
| Opposer | Prosecuter in a court of law |
| Oregg | Gold |
| Orion Cheques | Monetary unit of Orion and legal tender within the Colonies. |
| Ovine | Cattle, mainly Oxen |
| Parsec | 1 Astronomical Unit |
| Pluton | A form of radition, deadly |
| Pods | Generic term for any hidden or camouflaged Cylon ground base |
| Powersled | A tracked cargo transport vehicle |
| Praesidium | Central governing body of a planet. Each Coloial world had its own Praesidium. |
| Primaries | Basic food types, healthy |
| Protector | Defending council in a court of law |
| Psycho-Electron Recall | A mechanical method of helping or forcing the recipiant to reveal hidden memories or to get them to reveal the truth. |
| Pyramid | Card game |
| Quarton | Week of 5 days, not widely used |
| Quorum of the Twelve | Leadership of the Colonials |
| Radion | Radiation. Radion Levels are radiation levels, the higher, the more deadly. |
| Rejuvenation Centre | Rest room or common area |
| Respiratory Probe | Device to monitor the breathing of a patient |
| Sagan | God, or a good Colonial Deity |
| Sagitarian Straight Arrow | Spirit drink |
| Seal | Marriage |
| Secton | Week |
| Sectar | Month |
| Servitor | Servant, waitor |
| Seven and Eleven | Card game |
| Sire/Siress | Male or Female noble, not neccassarily a Buritician |
| Spacedome | A spaceport or landing ground. Larger than a launch field. |
| Socialator | A Scorpion female trained in the art of entertainment and the pleasure of others. Training includes the arts, dance, music and sex. Can speak knowledgely on most subjects, and on their home world, looked on with respect. Not everyone appreciates them though. |
| Solium | A refined liquid fuel of Tylium |
| Solenite | A powerful explosive, made from refined Solium |
| Star | In addition to being an astronomy reference, the word "Star" can also refer to a space ship, and is interchangeable with that word. For example Baseship and Basestar, The star Kobol and the ship Kobol. |
| Stripped and Moduled | A military punishment. Means to be stripped of ones rank and thrown in the brig. |
| Support Vapours | Artifical oxygen supply on board space ships |
| Tape Corder | An audio recording device, the name being a hold over from primitive devices which used magnetic tape. |
| Tech Levels | Engineering decks of a spacecraft |
| Testing Drones | A term for a testing device. Human testing drones would be human guinea pigs. |
| Travelator | Travel agent |
| Triad | Popular Colonial sports game |
| Tribunal | Court hearing |
| Turboflush | Toilet |
| Turbowash | Shower |
| Tylium | A volitile substance, which when refined into liquid, is used for fuel |
| Ultrasonic Scub | A procedure to clean and sterilize a medical personels body before a medical operation. |
| Unicom | Standard Colonial Fleet communications channel. |
| Unicorn | The standard riding animal of the Colonials. A Unicorn is much like a horse only they have a small horn on their heads. Some are rumoured to have telepathic powers. |
| Valcron | Material used to make clothing |
| Vapor Point | Boiling Point for a liquid |
| Victurals | Consumables, mainly referring to snacks |
| Warbook | Computer identification system |
| Wing Command | Flight operations centre on a spacecraft |
| Yahren | Year |
| "Cut through the feldercarb" | Cut through the bull | |
| "Sniff plant vapours" | To take drugs | |
| "Scare the pogees out of" | To frighten | |
| "Jar my chips" | Stir up, shake me up | |
| "For Sagans sake!" | For gods sake | |
| "Eating ion vapors" | Eating dust | |
| Equinus' Altrum | Horses ass | |
| To be Starbucked | To be out manoeuvred where the only possibly outcome is defeat (7335 onwards) |