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Geobeacon


knowschad

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I ran into an out of state cacher this summer that was puzzled by the term "geobeacon". It is a very common term here in Minnesota (and certainly western Wisconsin as well) but I was surprised to hear that it may be strictly a local term. It refers to an obvious hiding spot... generally large dead, hollow trees and that sort of thing. Is this term used in your area? If not, do you have another word that refers to a similar feature?

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I've seen in used once around here. Though the way they used it seemed to be describing an object close to the cache. As in, you're getting close if you see the geobeacon they were describing. Whatever they meant I still DNF'd the cache. I blamed it on the geobeacon.

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;)-->
QUOTE(R.O.B @ Nov 21 2009, 10:11 PM) 4135108[/snapback]
I've seen in used once around here. Though the way they used it seemed to be describing an object close to the cache. As in, you're getting close if you see the geobeacon they were describing. Whatever they meant I still DNF'd the cache. I blamed it on the geobeacon.
Yeah, that was probably my buddy, Bobcam, when he went down to do the Arlington power trail. :P
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mmmm, geobacon.

wha?

oh, sorry. My bad.

Pretty funny. That is what I read at first as well!

I have only seen the term used here once or twice. I think it has too many syllables for us simple westerners. We say stuff like snag and stump. :P

Well, actually, in real caching, we generally shorten it to "beacon" (as in, "aha! There's the beacon!"), but that is still one more syllable than you are accustomed to, apparently.
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mmmm, geobacon.

wha?

oh, sorry. My bad.

Pretty funny. That is what I read at first as well!

I have only seen the term used here once or twice. I think it has too many syllables for us simple westerners. We say stuff like snag and stump. :P

Well, actually, in real caching, we generally shorten it to "beacon" (as in, "aha! There's the beacon!"), but that is still one more syllable than you are accustomed to, apparently.

So it would seem, so it must be so, my friend. I can not think of a phrase or word to show it not to be true. ;)

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Yah, Yah, I've heard of dat term geobacon. I hear it tastes alot like dat der lutefisk. MMMmmmmm good stuff. :P I was born and raised in southern MN. I have not heard the term geobeacon out this way.

 

Maybe I should start using it in my area and see if it would spread. A linguistic experiment, like the guy who spoke Klingon to his kid for three years. In the meantime I need to find a good source of lefse, like my aunts used to make, but both of these are probably something for the off topic forum.

Edited by Erickson
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Never heard such a thing in Western NY or Southern Ontario. Yepper, I'd say you have a regional term on your hands there. :P

 

Funny, it's buried on like page 17 of the famous Rogue Reviewer thread, but I just noticed a highly regional term the other day, when a link to a similar "reviewer doesn't think it's there cache" was posted (it was in Indiana). There was all kinds of talk about "red herrings" near the cache. I'm like "what the heck are these people talking about?" It seems they were talking about decoy caches near the cache. Anyone I ever heard talk about decoys calls them, um, decoys. ;)

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I ran into an out of state cacher this summer that was puzzled by the term "geobeacon". It is a very common term here in Minnesota (and certainly western Wisconsin as well) but I was surprised to hear that it may be strictly a local term. It refers to an obvious hiding spot... generally large dead, hollow trees and that sort of thing. Is this term used in your area? If not, do you have another word that refers to a similar feature?

 

Geobeacon or beacon is a common term in WI, at least with the folks I cache with.

 

zuma

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Never heard such a thing in Western NY or Southern Ontario. Yepper, I'd say you have a regional term on your hands there. ;)

 

Funny, it's buried on like page 17 of the famous Rogue Reviewer thread, but I just noticed a highly regional term the other day, when a link to a similar "reviewer doesn't think it's there cache" was posted (it was in Indiana). There was all kinds of talk about "red herrings" near the cache. I'm like "what the heck are these people talking about?" It seems they were talking about decoy caches near the cache. Anyone I ever heard talk about decoys calls them, um, decoys. :laughing:

 

A "red herring" is a very common expression in UK for anything designed to deliberately mislead.

 

We don't have geobeacons though.

 

Geobacon is often used at camping events for geobreakfast butties. :P

 

MrsB

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Never heard such a thing in Western NY or Southern Ontario. Yepper, I'd say you have a regional term on your hands there. :)

 

Funny, it's buried on like page 17 of the famous Rogue Reviewer thread, but I just noticed a highly regional term the other day, when a link to a similar "reviewer doesn't think it's there cache" was posted (it was in Indiana). There was all kinds of talk about "red herrings" near the cache. I'm like "what the heck are these people talking about?" It seems they were talking about decoy caches near the cache. Anyone I ever heard talk about decoys calls them, um, decoys. :D

 

A "red herring" is a very common expression in UK for anything designed to deliberately mislead.

 

We don't have geobeacons though.

 

Geobacon is often used at camping events for geobreakfast butties. :(

 

MrsB

 

Well yes, it's a somewhat common expression in the U.S. also. But do Geocachers in Wales or elsewhere in the UK use it to specifically reference decoy caches in the vicinity of the "real" cache with the logbook?

 

Sorry, friend of Chad, not trying to derail your topic. I like GOF's answer though. If you page through Prime Suspect's Geo-Lexicon, and you don't see a Geo term that is in common use in your area, you can bet it's regional.

 

EDIT: P.S. I'd be willing to bet a film Canister that if Prime Suspect sees this thread and responds, that he has rejected submissions for his Geo-Lexicon on the grounds of being "regional terms". :D

Edited by TheWhiteUrkel
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While I've never seen it used in the northeast, I have heard of it, mainly because I have a couple of good friends in the Twin Cities area. First time it ever came up was when I was talking to them and they brought up a cache they were having difficulty finding, they told me that the owner emailed them and told them they were looking at the wrong beacon, and the cache was near the other beacon. My first reaction was to ask them if there were any kind of towers in the area, radio or cell tower or something? Eventually I got the idea, from explanations and context. I like the term but it does appear to be regional.

 

Reminds me of the first time I visited the Twin Cities and asked for a soda, and everyone was like, 'whaaa?'

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Never heard such a thing in Western NY or Southern Ontario. Yepper, I'd say you have a regional term on your hands there. :(

 

It seems that some terms can be very regional. I live about 80 milles from Rochester, NY where I have cached a couple of times and have read lots of listing which use the term "Lammie", as in, "there's a lammie for FTF". I'm still not sure exactly what it is (though I have a guess) and I've never seen the term anywhere 40 miles outside of Rochester.

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I ran into an out of state cacher this summer that was puzzled by the term "geobeacon". It is a very common term here in Minnesota (and certainly western Wisconsin as well) but I was surprised to hear that it may be strictly a local term. It refers to an obvious hiding spot... generally large dead, hollow trees and that sort of thing. Is this term used in your area? If not, do you have another word that refers to a similar feature?

It could be that it is truly a MN/WI term, or that I'm just really new at this, but I'd never run across the term before.

 

Ya learn sumthin' new every day, dontcha know....

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Very interesting! I have been caching since 2005 and heard the term shortly after I started! Until I ran into that guy, I had no idea that it wasn't a term used elsewhere. I've even used it in some forum posts in the past.

 

I think that is the only time I have heard it as well. Never heard a local cacher use it around here. Our logs normally just say things like "spotted the hiding spot from a long ways off" or other such thing. As far as terms go, I like it and may adopt it.

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A lot of us in Western North Carolina call it a "geopile". You're walking through the woods, minding your own business, when you happen upon a stump with a bunch of sticks and leaves heaped up over it in a not-so-natural way. That's an obvious geopile :)

 

Ha! We always thought a "geopile" was something you wouldn't want to step in! :D:(:D:)

 

Something "squishy" (among other things).

Edited by Gitchee-Gummee
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I haven't heard that one before. In my area we have the term 'geotrail' or 'geopath' to refer to the trail that inevitably ends up getting created leading to a popular cache.

 

I suppose now I can say that I found a geotrail leading to a geobeacon :(

 

(edited for spelling errors)

Edited by GeePa
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I ran into an out of state cacher this summer that was puzzled by the term "geobeacon". It is a very common term here in Minnesota (and certainly western Wisconsin as well) but I was surprised to hear that it may be strictly a local term. It refers to an obvious hiding spot... generally large dead, hollow trees and that sort of thing. Is this term used in your area? If not, do you have another word that refers to a similar feature?

 

What?? Never heard the term myself either.. :(:):D

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I ran into an out of state cacher this summer that was puzzled by the term "geobeacon". It is a very common term here in Minnesota (and certainly western Wisconsin as well) but I was surprised to hear that it may be strictly a local term. It refers to an obvious hiding spot... generally large dead, hollow trees and that sort of thing. Is this term used in your area? If not, do you have another word that refers to a similar feature?

Geobeacon or beacon is a common term in WI, at least with the folks I cache with.

zuma

Well, that makes sense, Ralph, considering we cache with some of the same people LOL!!!! :(
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It seems that some terms can be very regional. I live about 80 milles from Rochester, NY where I have cached a couple of times and have read lots of listing which use the term "Lammie", as in, "there's a lammie for FTF". I'm still not sure exactly what it is (though I have a guess) and I've never seen the term anywhere 40 miles outside of Rochester.
That's a new one for me, too!

 

One term that I believe used to be regional, but has expanded, is "blinkie" for the Mr Magneto style nanos. I first heard that in the Sioux Falls area. Around here, they were all called either Mr Magnetos or nanos, but it seems that anyone here that has been caching for more than a week now knows what a Blinkie is. Of course, those folks haven't yet learned to run the other way.

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Haven't heard it in da U.P. either -- maybe I'll have to use it! :(

EDIT: We just call it a "hide" -- different than (true) camouflage -- usually quite obvious.

I believe I've used it in the U.P. But yeah... the common term up there is, "I tink I see it over dere by dat buck, 'ey?" (OK, in all fairness, you don't hear much Yooper-speak anymore, but when I was younger you sure did!)
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