The following is a glossary produced for Nomicide, a Livejournal GameOfNomic.
Last updated 23 August 2007.
Common Terms
These terms are not specifically defined by any rule. Terms defined by a rule should appear in Defined Terms, below.
- Adopt
- Synonym of "enact".
- Alphabetical
- In order by first letter, where 'a' is considered to precede 'b', 'b' 'c', &c. as per standard English usage. Ties are broken by consulting the next letter, with shorter words preceding longer words beginning with the full text of the shorter.
- Amend
- To transform the wording of a current rule.
- Calvin and Hobbes
A renown syndicated newspaper strip by Bill Watterson, run from November 18, 1985 to December 31, 1995. By Rule 330, Calvin and Hobbes is the Official Comic of Nomicide in recognition of the Nomic-like features of Calvinball, a game prominently featured in the strip.- Calvinball
- A famous Nomic-like game first introduced in the classic newspaper comic strip Calvin and Hobbes,
Calvinball, in the words of the strip's author, Bill Watterson, is "pretty simple: you make up the rules as you go." According to Rule 330, Calvinball is the official inspiration for making Calvin and Hobbes the Official Comic of Nomicide. - Color coded
- Colored in a way reflective of a particular characteristic. For example, traffic lights use a simple color code - red indicating 'stop', amber indicating 'proceed with caution', green indicating 'go'.
- Comment
- A reply to a post, made so as to appear on the same webpage.
- Couplet
- See "Rhymed couplet".
- Defined game term
- A term defined with a meaning by rules of the game.
- (In) Effect
- Adjective modifying a rule - a rule is in effect if it is guiding play. See also "void".
- Eligible voter
- Any person eligible to vote in a particular poll. Effectively synonymous with "voter".
- Enact
- To pass a proposed rule, thereby making it part of the current ruleset. Synonyms include "adopt".
- Fine
- A scoring-unit penalty imposed on a player.
- Forfeit
- To lose the game and cease being a player. Synonyms include "quit".
- Head
- A leader, e.g. the person in charge of a committee.
- Iambic Pentameter
- A poetic meter, wherein each line consists of five (penta-) iambic feet. An "iambic foot" is a pair of syllables such that the first is unaccented and the second is accented ("i-amb" is an example, as are "re-gret" and "al-lude"). Iambic pentameter, therefore, is a meter consisting of ten-syllable lines with the even syllables accented. It is widely claimed to be the most common (or natural) meter in the English language; much of Shakespeare is written in iambic pentameter, including all the sonnets. A pair of examples (the first from Shakespeare's Sonnet 18, the second from John Keats To Autumn) with emphasis added: And summer's lease hath all too short a date. To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
Note that the beginnings and ends of feet need not coincide with the beginnings and ends of words. Note also that this form is often varied, for example by omission of the initial unaccented syllable, introduction of additional (short) unaccented syllables, replacement of iambs with trochees, etc.
- Immutable
- Unable to be repealed or amended. Rules are either mutable or immutable.
- Law
- A synonym for "rule".
- Levy
- To collect by legal authority.
- Local time
- The time according to the standard in the location of a particular player. For example, at the time of writing, packbat measures local time according to U.S. Eastern Daylight Time, and thus 0800 local time for packbat is 1200 UTC. See also "UTC".
- Maintainer
- As per dictionary - currently, active_apathy and packbat are both maintainers.
- Majority
- Generally, more than 50%. See "simple majority" and "supermajority".
- Mechanics
- The operation of rules in effect.
- Moderator
- As per dictionary. Identical in person to the maintainers.
- Mutable
- Able to be repealed or amended. Rules are either mutable or immutable.
- Overrule
- To replace a ruling by an authority with one by a different authority.
- Pass
- To accept a rule-change into the current ruleset. See also "enact", "repeal", "amend", and "transmute".
- Parties
- Players involved in an agreement.
- Perfect rhyme
- A rhyme in which the last stressed vowel and all that follows it match in the rhyming words. Examples: 'right' and 'light', 'invitation' and 'elation'. (Note that the number of syllables need not be equal.)
- Player
- Any competitor in the current game of Nomic. All players must be members of the Nomicide community.
- Point
- The discrete units constituting a player's score.
- Poll
- As per dictionary – synonymous with the first meaning of "vote".
- Post
- A single entry on Livejournal, not to be confused with "comment".
- Proposal
- An element of the player's turn. As the rules currently stand, consists of one or more rule-changes that will either be enacted or not according to a vote.
- Putative
- Alleged or commonly assumed to exist.
- Quit
- Synonym of "forfeit".
- Repeal
- To remove a rule from the current ruleset.
- Revoke
- Effectively synonymous with 'repeal'.
- Rhyme
- Matching sounds at the ends of words. See "slant rhyme" and "perfect rhyme".
- Rhymed couplet
- Two successive lines whose last words rhyme. See "rhyme".
- Rule
- As per dictionary - in the singular, refers to the entire contents of a numbered block, and can be referred to by that number. For example, the phrase "Rule 101" (or simply "101", if context makes the reference clear) refers to "All players must always abide by all the rules then in effect, in the form in which they are then in effect. The rules in the Initial Set are in effect whenever a game begins. The Initial Set consists of Rules 101-115 (immutable) and 201-215 (mutable)." Players should refer to portions of a numbered rule when such is desired. For example, "the first paragraph of 108". Valid synonyms include "law".
- Ruleset
- The entire list of rules for a current or imminent game.
- Score
- The total number of points possessed by a player. May be negative.
- Simple majority
- Any percentage greater than 50%. See also "majority", "supermajority".
- (in) Succession
- In a row, sequentially, with nothing intervening. For purposes of Rule 327, refers to two turns by the same player with no turns by the same player intervening.
- Slant rhyme
- Also known as half rhyme: when the final consonants of two words match. Examples: 'cheese' and 'baize', 'chocolate' and 'mate'.
- Supermajority
- A percentage greater than a specified threshold, said threshold being greater than 50%. For example, a 90% supermajority refers to a percentage greater than 90%. See also "simple majority", "majority", "unanimous".
- Thursday
- A day of the week, comprising the twenty-four hour period beginning one minute after 11:59 p.m. (2359 hours) Wednesday, and ending one minute before 12:01 a.m. (0001 hours) Friday.
- Unanimous
- 100%. See "supermajority".
- Username
- The Livejournal account name of an individual. Examples include packbat and active_apathy.
- UTC
- Universal Time Co-ordinated, equivalent to Greenwich Mean Time. The worldwide standard clock employed for player-independent timekeeping in Nomicide; also the common reference for defining time zones (e.g. U.S. PST == UTC -8). See also "local time".
- Void
- Adjective modifying a rule – a rule is void if it does not affect play. See also "(in) effect".
- Vote
- As per dictionary – may refer to a poll, or to a single vote in a poll. Votes are employed to determine passage of proposals, acceptance of judgments, and for any other purpose defined in the rules.
- Voter
- Any person able to vote in polls. See also "eligible voter".
- Webpage
- As per dictionary - the page appearing when a specific URI is accessed by a webbrowser. An example is the Initial Ruleset page, appearing at
http://community.livejournal.com/nomicide/743.html or any equivalent thereto. - Website
- As per dictionary - a linked set of webpages. This website contains all pages with URIs beginning with
http://community.livejournal.com/nomicide for purposes of the rules.
Defined Terms
These include only terms specifically defined in a rule. Terms employed but not defined should appear in Common Terms, above.
- Acceptance
- Defined by Rule 309: a comment agreeing to an offer without revision, amendment, or reservation. One of the three elements required to create a valid agreement.
- Agreement
- Defined by Rule 309: a contract between players for mutual benefit. See also "offer", "acceptance", and "consideration".
- Conflict of Interest
- Defined by Rule 338: an opportunity to use the powers of Judgment for personal benefit or the benefit of some affiliated party.
- Consideration
- Defined by Rule 309: the state of all parties gaining an in-game benefit from an offer. One of the three elements required to create a valid agreement.
- Constitutional Convention
- Defined by Rule 348: the period immediately following the end of the game during which the rules for the next game are developed.
- Distim
- Defined by Rule 328: to comment on in iambic pentameter. One of four terms employed in Rule 317.
- Dosh
- Defined by Rule 328: an active discussion post. One of four terms employed in Rule 317.
- Flutzly
- Defined by Rule 326: every interval. One of four terms employed in Rule 317.
- Gostak
- Defined by Rule 326: the player or set of players with the fewest points. One of four terms employed in Rule 317.
- Infraction
- Defined by Rule 335: a rule that has been broken in such a way that the error may no longer be corrected.
- Interval
- Defined by Rule 203: four days. Intervals are generally held to begin and end at 1200 UTC, 0000 UTC or local time, or 2400 UTC or local time, at the maintainers' discretion (subject to the decisions of Judges).
- Judge
- Defined by Rule 338: a player, usually the one preceding the one taking a turn, who referees in rules-decisions.
- (invoking) Judgment
- Defined by Rule 338: declaring the existence of a disagreement about rules, and thereby requiring a player to act as Judge to settle said disagreement.
- Offer
- Defined by Rule 309: a comment in negotiation of an agreement. One of the three elements required to create a valid agreement.
- Provisional
- Referenced in Rules 329 and 337 - refers to proposals which received a majority of their votes from non-players. Such proposals are subject to revocation after a trial period of two intervals.
- Qualifying Livejournal account
- Defined by Rule 329: refers to Livejournal accounts which meet at least one of the following criteria:
- Possession of membership in the Nomicide Livejournal community.
- Paid or Permanent status, at the time of the expiration of the vote.
- Inclusion of no less than two substantive posts, separated by a period of no less than one interval, over the period of the month preceding the expiration of the vote. The definition of "substantive" in this case shall include but not be limited to "containing in excess of one hundred (100) words".
- Recusal
- Defined by Rule 338: removing oneself from the position of Judge to eliminate a conflict of interest.
- Rule-change
- Defined by Rule 106: an enactment, repeal, amendment, or transmutation.
- Rule-change set
- Defined by Rule 323: any number of individual rule-changes, combined in a single proposal.
- Scoring unit
- Defined by Rule 339: any arbitrary unit which is expressed as a numerical quantity such that the victory conditions of the game both name this unit and specify a number which defines a victorious condition. At the present time, "points" are the only scoring unit.
- Substantive
- Defined by Rule 329: when used in reference to Livejournal posts, includes but is not limited to "containing in excess of one hundred (100) words".
- Transmute
- Defined by Rule 102: to convert a mutable rule into an immutable rule, or vice-versa.
