Add to the Geo Dictionary

August 21, 2003

I have been looking around the various threads at the different terms that seem to be used exclusively by geocachers. I decided to post a list of these terms which would obviously benefit from the input of others. I am certain there are hundreds of other excellent terms that can be added to the list and probably many correction that can be made as well. Is there a word for someone who is extremely skilled at geocaching?

The List:

Blair Witching: When GPSr readings appear to 'flip' over a desired coordinate (usually near the cache site), preventing the seeker from locating a cache.

Booty Nuggets: The treasure found in the cache for trading (see also McToys, Geoswag).

Chromes: "Crow Miles" describing linear distance without regarding elevation or terrain.

Drive & Dump: A cache placed with little thought, usually very close to a road or parking lot.

Force (The Force): The ability to instinctively know where a cache is hidden when you get within a certain proximity. The term alludes to supernatural force used by specially gifted characters in Star Wars.

FTF: First to Find

Garminites: Those that favor the Garmin line of GPSr units

Geobasher: A person (usually a geomuggle) who derides geocachers or the act of geocaching.

Geocasher: A geocacher who leaves valuable items in a cache.

Geodashing: Another GPS Game involving visiting randomly generated waypoints

Geomuggle: A person that is unaware of the existence of geocaching. The term alludes to Harry Potter where "muggles" refers to non-wizard humans. (see also In-Laws)

Geosnatcher: A person who steals the contents of a geocache or the entire geocache itself (see also Plundered)

GPSr Food: Batteries

Hedwigged: E-mailed. The term alludes to Harry Potter's messenger owl, Hedwig.

He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named: The gentleman who placed the first Geocache in May 2000. The term alludes to Harry Potter's evil nemesis, a powerful wizard who must not be named.

In-Laws: Unwanted geomuggles who remain at a cache location for extended periods of time, preventing discrete access to that cache.

Letterboxing: Another stash-and-find game that started in the U.K. over 100 years ago. It is similar to Geocaching, but without the use of GPS and coordinates.

Log and Dump: A cache carelessly replaced in its original location, often left unhidden and vulnerable to plundering.

Loose Bearings: The point at which the direction on your GPSr no longer points in the correct direction, mostly because you've slowed down to a point that it doesn't know in which direction you're moving.

Maggies: Those that favor the Magellan line of GPS units

Markwell: To create a link to a previous, or related forum discussion of a topic.

McToys: Cheap, dirty, or broken toys of little monetary value left in caches for trade.

Microcache: Much smaller than a regular cache.

Minicache: Between the size of a microcache and a regular cache.

Minute War: Another GPS Game involving playing a "capture the flag" related game on a global scale

Neocacher: An inexperienced Geocacher (see also newbie)

Newbie: An inexperienced Geocacher (see also Neocacher)

Plasma Bandits: Mosquitos

Plundered: A cache which has had its contents stolen or the theft of the cache itself. (see also Geosnatcher)

Signature Item: A specific item used and/or created by a geocacher to show that they've visited a cache.

Smurfs 292: Meeting another geocacher in the woods. The term alludes to Smurfs episode #292 where the Smurfs encounter "Wild Smurf", a 150 year old loincloth-wearing Smurf who was lost as an infant and raised by squirrels.

Sock Puppet: A person posting under a different handle in order to appear to have more than one person supporting the stated position.

Swag: The treasure found in the cache for trading (see also McToys, Booty Nuggets)

TFTC: Thanks for the Cache

The "Other" Site: Geocaching site in competition with Geocaching.com

The Degree Confluence Project: Another GPS based hobby involving visiting points where the latitude and longitude are integers (e.g. N 42° 00.000 W 088° 00.000)

TNLN: Took Nothing, Left Nothing

TNLNSL: Took Nothing, Left Nothing, Signed Logbook

Troll: A person who posts inflammatory remarks specifically to elicit heated replies.

YAPIDKA: Yet another park I didn't know about

A C atom noticed that an H ion was looking depressed, "Why do you look so sad?" he asked. "I lost an electron" replied the H ion. The C atom asked "Are you sure?" To which the H ion replied, "I'm positive."

3.8k · August 21, 2003

Some good ones. More are here, and here.

==============="If it feels good...do it"================

**(the other 9 out of 10 voices in my head say: "Don't do it.")**

.

[This message was edited by sept1c_tank on August 21, 2003 at 01:04 AM.]

1.4k · August 21, 2003

Good list Doc Honeydew.

quote:
More are here, and here.

Perhaps those lists should be put here with this list so that they can be compiled and sorted into one list that can be placed into the Getting Started discussion forums.

*****

3.8k · August 21, 2003

quote:
Perhaps those lists should be put here with this list

Here ya go:

Glossary

We are constantly updating the glossary. If there is a term you would like to add, please contact us

archive

This is usually seen when you own a cache. Archiving is basically deleting your cache from the listings on the web site. This usually occurs when you are not going to replace a cache after it has been removed. You can temporarily disable it as the cache owner if you plan to activate it again within a month.

benchmark

See benchmark hunting for more details.

Bureau of Land Management (BLM)

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), an agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior, administers 262 million acres of America's public lands, located primarily in 12 Western States. The BLM sustains the health, diversity, and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. Their web site is www.blm.gov.

CITO

Cache In Trash Out - When out geocaching, take a bag with you and pick up trash along the way! More info can be found on the Cache In Trash Out page.

cache

Pronounced "cash" - In geocaching it is a hidden container filled with a log book and pencil/pen, and possibly prizes. Caches were often used by explorers, miners, etc. to hide foodstuffs and other items for emergency purposes. People still hide caches of supplies today for similar reasons.

Geocaching comes from the terms "geo" and "cache" to explain the sport. Some caches have cash in them, but there is no pun intended

datum

A datum is something used as a basis for calculating and measuring. In the case of GPS, datums are different calculations for determining longitude and latitude for a given location.

Currently, Geocaching uses the WGS84 datum for all caches. Many maps still use NAD27, which can cause confusion if your GPS unit is set to NAD27. Always check your GPS to ensure that WGS84 is the datum before entering a cache coordinate into your unit.

FTF

First To Find. Usually found in the forums or written in the online or physical log books.

Geomuggle

A non-geocacher. Based on "Muggle" from the Harry Potter series, which is a nonmagical person. Usually this term is used after a non geocacher looks puzzled at a geocacher making circles with their GPS receiver, or when a non-geocacher accidentally finds a cache. Geomuggles are mostly harmless.

GPS

GPS stands for Global Positioning System. It is a system of satellites that work with a GPS receiver to determine your location on the planet.

Geocaching uses GPS to help hide and seek caches on the planet. For more information on GPS, visit Trimble's web site.

GPSr

Slang for a GPS receiver. Equipment to receive GPS signals for use in navigation.

hitchhiker

A hitchhiker is an item that is placed in a cache, and has instructions to travel to other caches. Sometimes they have logbooks attached so you can log their travels. A Travel Bug is an example of a hitchhiker.

latitude

Latitude and longitude create a waypoint. Latitude is the angular distance north or south from the earth's equator measured through 90 degrees. (Listen to this mp3 for an entertaining way to learn about longitude and latitude (thanks to ACME))

letterbox(ing)

Letterboxing is similar to Geocaching, but you use a series of clues to find a container. Once you find the container (or letterbox), you take a carved stamp from the box and stamp your personal logbook. You then take your carved stamp and stamp the letterbox's log book. See Letterboxing North America for more info.

longitude

Latitude and longitude create a waypoint. Longitude is the angular distance measured on a great circle of reference from the intersection of the adopted zero meridian with this reference circle to the similar intersection of the meridian passing through the object. (Listen to this mp3 for an entertaining and non-technical way to learn about longitude and latitude (thanks to ACME))

Markwelled

When a response to a new post in the forums points you to a similar topic in the past. Based on the user Markwell.

NAD27

Stands for North American Datum 1927. The precursor to WGS84. Many maps still use the NAD27 datum, so always check before using a GPS unit with a map.

spoiler

A spoiler is information that can give details away and ruin the experience of something. For example, telling someone the end of a movie before they see it. In geocaching, a spoiler gives away details of a cache location and can ruin the experience of the hunt.

TNLN

Took Nothing. Left Nothing. Usually found in cache logbooks for folks that enjoy the thrill of the hunt more than the material contents of the cache.

TNLNSL / TNSL

Took Nothing. Left Nothing. Signed Logbook / Took Nothing. Signed Logbook

Travel Bug

A Travel Bug is a hitchiker. Visit the travel bug page to learn more about it.

UBBCode™

UBBCode™ tags allow you to add formatting (bold, italics) and other information (emails, URLs) to your messages without learning HTML! They were created by Infopop, who run the Groundspeak forum software. More info on UBBCode™ can be found on their web site.

USDA Forest Service (USFS)

The U.S. Forest Service, an agency within the Department of Agriculture, administers 191 million acres (77.3 million hectares) of National Forests, Grasslands, and Prairies. These public lands are generally geocaching-friendly, with exceptions of designated Wilderness Areas, and other specially designated botanical, wildlife, and archaeological sites. The phrase "Caring for the land and serving people" captures the Forest Service mission of achieving quality land management under the sustainable multiple-use concept to meet the diverse needs of people. The Information Center in the agency's national headquarters has been a Washington D.C. Virtual Geocache since August 12, 2001.

Virtual (cache)

Adapted from "Virtual Reality," virtual means "nothing there." So a virtual cache means there is no cache container. It's the location that is the cache itself. Nothing is normally traded, except photos and experiences.

WAAS

WAAS stands for Wide Area Augmentation System, but that doesn't really describe what it is. Garmin has an excellent description on WAAS.

watch list

A watch list is a list of users that are watching a specific travel bug or cache. On some cache pages there is a number of users watching the cache. There is no current functionality to see who those people are.

waypoint

Waypoints are named coordinates representing points on the surface of the Earth.

Geocaching uses a suggested waypoint for a cache, created automatically when a cache has been created. Because most GPS units have restricted names to 6 characters or less, we generate a waypoint name based on the ID of the cache. It is optional, but makes it easier to locate a cache on the geocaching web site.

WGS84

The most current geodetic datum used for GPS is the World Geodetic System of 1984 (WGS84). The significance of WGS84 comes about because GPS receivers rely on WGS84.

Geocaching uses the WGS84 datum by default. We also use the format HDDD MM.MM, which is a standard for GPS receivers (like the eTrex).

HDD means Hemisphere and degrees. MM.MM are minutes in decimal format. If you have any questions, you can either visit the forums or contact us directly.

It is critical that the format is correct, otherwise cachers will be unable to find your cache!

Term Definition

Booty Nuggets The treasure found in the cache for trading (see also McToys, Swag)

Chromes Combination of "Crow Miles" as in "The GPS says the cache is 0.45 chromes, but this is going to be a 2 mile walk on the trail."

Force (The Force) The ability to instinctively know where a cache is hidden when you get within a certain proximity.

FTF First to Find

Garminites Those that favor the Garmin line of GPS units

Geo- prefix Attaching the prefix "Geo-" to any other word, thus making it part of Geocaching (e.g. Geo-swag, Geo-wandering, Geo-Clue)

Geocoin Small minted coins with the Geocaching Logo on one side and a customized impression on the other

Geodashing Another GPS Game involving visiting randomly generated waypoints

GPSr GPS with the "r" added for "receiver"

GPSr Food Batteries

He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named The gentleman who placed the first Geocache in May 2000. Read some of his posts. Unfortunately, the more inflammatory posts have been deleted from the forums.

Letterboxing Another stash-and-find game that started in the U.K. over 100 years ago. It is similar to Geocaching, but without the use of GPS and coordinates. The boxes are hidden and clues are passed either by word of mouth, or on sites like www.letterboxing.org.

Loose Bearings The point at which the direction on your GPSr no longer points in the correct direction, mostly because you've slowed down to a point that it doesn't know in which direction you're moving. At this point, you need to take out your trusty compass to determine directions.

Maggies Those that favor the Magellan line of GPS units

Markwelling (to markwell) verb In the discussion board: To reference a pre-existing thread to a current discussion in a polite manner, bringing historical perspective to the discussion. Named after the resident archivist on the Geocaching discussion boards.

McToys Little trinket toys of little monetary value left in caches for trade. McToys because they are usually Happy Meal toys. See also Booty Nuggets, Swag

Minute War Another GPS Game involving playing a "capture the flag" related game on a global scale

Muggles (or GeoMuggles) Those poor humans not "in the know" that we encounter on the trail.

Neocacher Inexperienced Geocacher (see also newbie)

newbie Inexperienced Geocacher (see also Neocacher)

ROT13 The encryption method utilized by the encrypted hints or logs on Geocaching.com.

Swag The treasure found in the cache for trading (see also McToys, Booty Nuggets)

SWMBO She Who Must Be Obeyed. While not a exclusively a "Geocaching" term, it has significant impact on when the males of our community can go out and enjoy their hobby.

TFTC Thanks for the Cache

The "other" maps Buxley’s Waypoints

The "other" site Navicache.com. In competition with Geocaching.com, some caches that could not be listed for various reasons on Geocaching.com have been listed here.

The Degree Confluence Project Another GPS based hobby involving visiting points where the latitude and longitude are integers (e.g. N 42° 00.000 W 088° 00.000) and reporting your visit

TNLN Took Nothing, Left Nothing

TNLNSL Took Nothing, Left Nothing, Signed Logbook

TPTB The Powers That Be, i.e., Jeremy Irish and Elias - those that control Geocaching.com

==============="If it feels good...do it"================

**(the other 9 out of 10 voices in my head say: "Don't do it.")**

.

3.8k · August 21, 2003

quote:
Perhaps those lists should be put here

Tried that, but apparently some "trigger" words routed my post to ADMIN.

There's a good one; Trigger word(s): Words or phrases that deny a post in the Groundspeak forums.

==============="If it feels good...do it"================

**(the other 9 out of 10 voices in my head say: "Don't do it.")**

.

1.4k · August 21, 2003

quote:
Tried that, but apparently some "trigger" words routed my post to ADMIN.

So omit those words and bring the rest over. Deal with those other words later.

Gotta bounce the ball before you can dribble it.

*****

2.3k · August 21, 2003

I have heard from someone, somewhere that sometimes placing a space between each letter of a "forbidden" word will prevent it from being detected by the bots.

Of course I would never encourage inappropriate behavior!

---------------------------------------------------

Free your mind and the rest will follow

1.4k · August 21, 2003

Doc Honeydew, since this is your thread I'll ask first -- may I have your permission to explain to Doc-Dean that if he wants to discuss site policies that he/she should start a new thread? And that the inclusion of a few words shouldn't become a distraction to the real purpose of this thread, which is to continue building a dictionary of caching terms?

It's your thread, so if you don't want me to bring this up with Doc-Dean I'll respect your wishes. After all, it's your classroom, er, thread.

*****

2.3k · August 21, 2003

I was merely giving a point of information which I believe was on-topic. I have no interest in altering site policies... they are there with good reason I am sure.

For the "record" (and to stay on topic): I think its a great idea.

For Jomarac5: Free your mind and the rest will follow

August 21, 2003

I don't have any problems with people suggesting solutions for getting around trigger words but honestly, I am more interested in new words that people can add to the lexicon. I believe that the act of discussing trigger words makes the term 'trigger word' one of those terms that should be added (as sept1c_tank noted).

A C atom noticed that an H ion was looking depressed, "Why do you look so sad?" he asked. "I lost an electron" replied the H ion. The C atom asked "Are you sure?" To which the H ion replied, "I'm positive."

1.4k · August 21, 2003

In Michigan, there is a cacher who became infamous for fording a river in December to be first finder of a cache.

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=46963&log=y&decrypt=

Since then, in this area at least, the term "a gunner" or "pull a gunner" has been used to describe those willing to ford bodies of water to reach a cache. A "true gunner" of course is in the winter. However certain caches have been set up specifically for you to "pull a gunner" on.

There have even been some caches placed in MI to test your "gunner-ness"

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=45e47b2c-4905-4eb8-bf68-58de77d8ecd7

I'm not really good at putting a small definition to it, but it's part of the local dialect. Thought it would be good for inclusion.

--------

trippy1976 - Team KKF2A

Assimilating golf balls - one geocache at a time.

6.5k · August 21, 2003

quote:
Troll: A person who posts inflammatory remarks specifically to elicit heated replies.

I have often wondered about this one. Is the toll the poster or the post? Does 'troll' derive from an ugly creature under a bridge or the act of pulling bait through the water to induce a bite?

These changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes;

Nothing remains quite the same.

Through all of the islands and all of the highlands,

If we couldn't laugh we would all go insane

August 21, 2003

You could also describe coming across another geocacher caught in the act of opening the cache you;re looking for as "geocrashing."

--------------------

You have the right to defend yourself, even when geocaching!

August 21, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by wimseyguy:

quote:
Troll: A person who posts inflammatory remarks specifically to elicit heated replies.

I have often wondered about this one. Is the toll the poster or the post? Does 'troll' derive from an ugly creature under a bridge or the act of pulling bait through the water to induce a bite?

It started as a fishing reference, trolling being posting something inflammatory and waiting for another poster to take the bait, but I think its wide use as a noun has brought up the Creature Under The Bridge image.

--------------------

You have the right to defend yourself, even when geocaching!

2.3k · August 21, 2003

Thanks to the nude cacher, we also have Geonuding! Free your mind and the rest will follow

8.9k · August 21, 2003

Looks like you looked at my FAQ and copied and pasted - with adding some of your own, and effectively re-wrote some of the ones that I penned. Before I put them into my FAQ on neologisms, I have to see them used very frequently.

Plasma Bandits, Smurfs 292, Log and Dump, In-Laws, Hedwigged and a few of the others are great terms, but I haven't seen them in common usage. YAPIDKA has been bandied about, but I haven't seen it in common usage across regions yet.

I'm also thinking about removing some of the non-used terms from mine: Loose Bearings is about ready to drop off, even though it was the first conscious definition. We needed a term and we coined it (I believe ClayJar did).

Thanks to the others for posting the links to my neologism page.

Markwell

Chicago Geocaching

38.2k · August 21, 2003

How about this one:

Forum Cop - Someone who appoints himself as a pseudo moderator and takes it upon himself to berate anyone who may drift even slightly away from the original topic (a.k.a. busybody, buttinsky, intermeddler, quidnunc and jerk)

"Give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, he'll sit in a boat and drink beer all day" - Dave Barry

24.7k · August 21, 2003

Muggle, non geocachers, especially when they are around a geocache. yeah geomuggle was coined too, but its not used locally.

1.4k · August 21, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by BrianSnat:
How about this one:

Forum Cop - Someone who appoints himself as a pseudo moderator and takes it upon himself to berate anyone who may drift even slightly away from the original topic (a.k.a. busybody, buttinsky, intermeddler, quidnunc and jerk)

_"Give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, he'll sit in a boat and drink beer all day" - Dave Barry_

That's just wrong. I am in pain from LMAO. You beat me to it. I got about half way down the thread when it came to mind. I was going to refer to it as "going postal". as in "So and so went postal on this thread because someone was trying to have fun by making a joke".

When in doubt...hit it with a big hammer.

August 21, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by wimseyguy:

quote:
Troll: A person who posts inflammatory remarks specifically to elicit heated replies.

I have often wondered about this one. Is the troll the poster or the post? Does 'troll' derive from an ugly creature under a bridge or the act of pulling bait through the water to induce a bite?

"I'm not Responsible... just ask my wife, She'll confirm it"

1.1k · August 21, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by BrianSnat:
How about this one:

Forum Cop - Someone who appoints himself as a pseudo moderator and takes it upon himself to berate anyone who may drift even slightly away from the original topic (a.k.a. busybody, buttinsky, intermeddler, quidnunc and jerk)

Good one. Or Norm - A forum old timer who believes he lives on the set of Cheers, making obscure references to old posts and making off-topic comments to derail threads.

Back on topic, though I think that geocaching related lexicons are fun, I normally don't add them to the "official" glossary until they are commonly used in the community. Normally we add them once we get enough inquiries from newbies who read them in logs and don't know what they mean. Like TNLN.

Many of the listings are also forum specific, and not geocaching specific. "Sock Puppet" and "Newbie" is pretty common 'net slang.

Jeremy Irish

Groundspeak - The Language of Location

August 21, 2003

DEET = Bug Repellent

"I'm not Responsible... just ask my wife, She'll confirm it"

August 21, 2003

How about:

TFTC/LTIITC/TN/SLB?

(Thanks For The Cache/Left Trade Items In The Car/Took Nothing/Signed Log Book)

August 21, 2003

Baggage Handler - A person who packs far too much equipment with them for even the most simply-located of caches: "Sure it's a micro hidden in a bush in the park down the street from my house, but why NOT pack 2 GPSr's, a Santa-sized sack of goodies, water, food, digital camera, video camera, emergency blanket, firemaking tools, satellite phone, radio frequency scanner, marine radio, laptop computer, knickers and pith helmet, sleeping bag, survival knife, climbing harness, grappling hook, hand-held CB, .454 Casull, body armor, flare gun, piston engine, old copies of Newsweek......"

--------------------

You have the right to defend yourself, even when geocaching!

2.6k · August 21, 2003

In the Nordic Countries forum some of us Finns have pondered the possible translations to some common geocaching terms. We have come up with some really good dictionary-eligible translations, but we're still far from Finnishing the job. We're e.g. arguing between two strong translation candidates for the word geocaching... But it's been fun anyway, and we don't take the topic or ourselves too seriously. Thanks Dr. Bunsen Honeydew for the excellent addition to the dictionary! I already pointed to this thread in ours.

Oh, the thread mentioned is here, although I'm afraid it's not readable to most in this part of the forums.

- I just got lost in thought. It was unfamiliar territory. -

1.6k · August 21, 2003

Geotrash: The junk some less enlightened players leave for future finders.

McToy: derisive term for small plastic toys commonly found in Happy Meals and left in Geocaches.

GeoQueen: My wife, who happily went out of her way to fetch me after I had exceeded my optimum distance to heat ratio and went critical after hiking out for a cache yesterday.

Geominion: A newbie or muggle that you can talk into finding a cache near their home to drop a travel bug into on the other side of the continent.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nebraskache/

1.4k · August 21, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by mckee:
_Baggage Handler_ - A person who packs far too much equipment with them for even the most simply-located of caches: "Sure it's a micro hidden in a bush in the park down the street from my house, but why NOT pack 2 GPSr's, a Santa-sized sack of goodies, water, food, digital camera, video camera, emergency blanket, firemaking tools, satellite phone, radio frequency scanner, marine radio, laptop computer, knickers and pith helmet, sleeping bag, survival knife, climbing harness, grappling hook, hand-held CB, .454 Casull, body armor, flare gun, piston engine, old copies of Newsweek......"

--------------------

You have the right to defend yourself, even when geocaching!

I thought a .454 Casull was required caching equipment.

When in doubt...hit it with a big hammer.

4.2k · August 21, 2003

Boy am I glad you defined Booty Nuggets!

Before reading your list I wasn't very excited about finding them in a cache!

5.9k · August 21, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by Kealia:
Boy am I glad you defined _Booty Nuggets_!

Before reading your list I wasn't very excited about finding them in a cache!

I always thought it had to do with loose shorts and ammo can lids. Who'd a thunkit?

http://fp1.centurytel.net/Criminal_Page/

August 21, 2003

Magellan user have their own nickname for their GPSr of choice.(Maggies)

Why isn't their one for Garmin users? How about Garmmies

GF

********************************************

Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.

August 21, 2003

Oops...re-read the list and see the reference already. Nerver mind.

GF

********************************************

Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.

August 21, 2003

Thanks for all of these great terms and definitions! I am currently adding them to my UNOFFICIAL geo-dictionary. Markwell is correct, I did forget to mention that many terms came from his neologism page. My apologies to him. The good thing is that I got to see some Markwelling in action .

------------------------------------------------------------

A C atom noticed that an H ion was looking depressed, "Why do you look so sad?" he asked. "I lost an electron" replied the H ion. The C atom asked "Are you sure?" To which the H ion replied, "I'm positive."

3.1k · August 21, 2003

quote:
Drive & Dump

syn. "Park & Grab"

Well the mountain was so beautiful that this guy built a mall and a pizza shack

Yeah he built an ugly city because he wanted the mountain to love him back -- Dar Williams

August 21, 2003

Great terms! I still haven't found a word for someone who is extremely skilled at geocaching? (I added my own definition to Dinoprophet's "Park & Grab". Let me know if it's wrong.) Here is the Jumbo List including the terms I have heard so far. My favourites are Norm, Geominion, and the Troll vs. Trolling debate .

The New UNOFFICIAL List:

Baggage Handler: A person who brings excess equipment with them while caching.

Blair Witching: When GPSr readings appear to 'flip' over a desired coordinate (usually near the cache site), preventing the seeker from locating a cache.

Booty Nuggets: The treasure found in the cache for trading (see also McToys, Geoswag).

Chromes: "Crow Miles" describing linear distance without regarding elevation or terrain.

Drive & Dump: A cache placed with little thought, usually very close to a road or parking lot.

Force (The Force): The ability to instinctively know where a cache is hidden when you get within a certain proximity. The term alludes to supernatural force used by specially gifted characters in Star Wars.

Forum Cop: Someone who appoints himself as a pseudo moderator of a forum, berating those who post material unrelated to the original topic.

FTF: First to Find

Garminites: Those that favor the Garmin line of GPSr units

Geobasher: A person (usually a geomuggle) who derides geocachers or the act of geocaching.

Geocasher: A geocacher who leaves valuable items in a cache.

Geocrashing: Encountering another geocacher opening the cache you are searching for.

Geodashing: Another GPS Game involving visiting randomly generated waypoints

Geoflashing: Geocaching in the nude. (see also geonuding)

Geominion: Another geocacher (usual a newbie), or geomuggle that a more advanced geocacher takes advantage of.

Geomuggle: A person that is unaware of the existence of geocaching. The term alludes to Harry Potter where "muggles" refers to non-wizard humans. (see also In-Laws)

Geonuding: Geocaching in the nude. (see also geoflashing)

Geosnatcher: A person who steals the contents of a geocache or the entire geocache itself (see also Plundered)

GPSr Food: Batteries

Hedwigged: E-mailed. The term alludes to Harry Potter's messenger owl, Hedwig.

He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named: The gentleman who placed the first Geocache in May 2000. The term alludes to Harry Potter's evil nemesis, a powerful wizard who must not be named.

In-Laws: Unwanted geomuggles who remain at a cache location for extended periods of time, preventing discrete access to that cache.

LTIITC: Left Trade Items In The Car

Letterboxing: Another stash-and-find game that started in the U.K. over 100 years ago. It is similar to Geocaching, but without the use of GPS and coordinates.

Log & Dump: A cache carelessly replaced in its original location, often left unhidden and vulnerable to plundering.

Loose Bearings: The point at which the direction on your GPSr no longer points in the correct direction, mostly because you've slowed down to a point that it doesn't know in which direction you're moving.

Maggies: Those that favor the Magellan line of GPS units

Markwell: To create a link to a previous, or related forum discussion of a topic.

McToys: Cheap, dirty, or broken toys of little monetary value left in caches for trade.

Microcache: Much smaller than a regular cache.

Minicache: Between the size of a microcache and a regular cache.

Minute War: Another GPS Game involving playing a "capture the flag" related game on a global scale

Neocacher: An inexperienced Geocacher (see also newbie)

Newbie: An inexperienced Geocacher (see also Neocacher)

Norm: A forum old timer who makes obscure references to old posts and derails threads with inappropriate comments. The term alludes to the Norm character on Cheers who spent long periods of time in the bar making idle chit chat.

Park & Grab: A cache that is easily (perhaps too easily) accessible.

Plasma Bandits: Mosquitos

Plundered: A cache which has had its contents stolen or the theft of the cache itself. (see also Geosnatcher)

Pull A Gunner: To wade across a body of water to reach a cache. The term alludes to an infamous Michigan cacher who crossed a river in winter in order to reach a cache first.

Signature Item: A specific item used and/or created by a geocacher to show that they've visited a cache.

SLB: Signed Log Book

Smurfs 292: Meeting another geocacher in the woods. The term alludes to Smurfs episode #292 where the Smurfs encounter "Wild Smurf", a 150 year old loincloth-wearing Smurf who was lost as an infant and raised by squirrels.

Sock Puppet: A person posting under a different handle in order to appear to have more than one person supporting the stated position.

Swag: The treasure found in the cache for trading (see also McToys, Booty Nuggets)

TFTC: Thanks for the Cache

The "Other" Site: Geocaching site in competition with Geocaching.com

The Degree Confluence Project: Another GPS based hobby involving visiting points where the latitude and longitude are integers (e.g. N 42° 00.000 W 088° 00.000)

TNLN: Took Nothing, Left Nothing

TNLNSL: Took Nothing, Left Nothing, Signed Logbook

Troll: A person who posts inflammatory remarks specifically to elicit heated replies.

Trolling: The act of posting inflammatory remarks specifically to elicit heated replies.

YAPIDKA: Yet another park I didn't know about

August 21, 2003

I won't take credit for making this up. When I started geocaching, my mentors (Team CacheCows) tought me the term "BumbleBee Dance". That's when you get close to the cache and you walk back and forth watching the GPSr for the point where you're closest. Resembles the back-and-forth dance a a bumblebee uses to tell other bees where a flower patch is.

2.3k · August 21, 2003

I guess an expert in Geocaching could be called a Geowizard or perhaps we could say they have reached the 3C Level (in recognitioin of CCCooper Agency).

I am obviously just rattling them off and what the rectum do I know anyway!!

---------------------------------------------------

Free your mind and the rest will follow

August 21, 2003

I like the descriptiveness of BumbleBee dance (considering I use a yellow Garmin). I am actually an entomologist and am familiar with that dance. We usually call it a waggle dance (seriously).

2.3k · August 21, 2003

CACHE PIRATE: any individual who steals cache contents; deserving of a quick death at the hands of a very angry mob armed with baseball bats and various other blunt instruments.

December 17, 2013

GeoFlashing: A Geocaching flash mob event. We hosted the 31 Days of GeoFlashing in December 2013.

10.2k · December 17, 2013

GeoFlashing: A Geocaching flash mob event. We hosted the 31 Days of GeoFlashing in December 2013.

I suppose. Personally, I don't like Geocaching Flash Mobs, and would never attend one. But I'm probably just grumpy.

Thread started one day after I started Geocaching. I absolutely do remember this website and others referring to Muggles as Geo Muggles. Even though in practice, I never heard anyone out in the field say Geo Muggle.

Of course tens of thousands of cachers have morphed that into Mugglers. There's even a newer cacher in my area with Muggler in their username.

December 17, 2013

Noob (see also urban dictionary) - A new geocacher who is often slow, unable to learn quickly (stupid) or has no interest in learning. They expect others to do the work. Originally a term used in the gaming world, not mainstream. Different from Newbie or Newb.

10.2k · December 17, 2013

Noob (see also urban dictionary) - A new geocacher who is often slow, unable to learn quickly (stupid) or has no interest in learning. They expect others to do the work. Originally a term used in the gaming world, not mainstream. Different from Newbie or Newb.

Well how about that? I didn't know using the alternate spelling of n00b was any different than newbie, and I have indeed spelled it n00b right here in these forums.

If it's any consolation, I was first called a newbie in 1983 in basic training in Fort Jackson, South Carolina. Imagine that, you get to basic training 4 weeks before someone, and you get to call them a newbie.

7.5k · December 17, 2013

Noob (see also urban dictionary) - A new geocacher who is often slow, unable to learn quickly (stupid) or has no interest in learning. They expect others to do the work. Originally a term used in the gaming world, not mainstream. Different from Newbie or Newb.

This is what you tell newbies when they discover "newbie" is an insult, and you want them to think you were really using some other term back when you called them a newb.

14k · December 17, 2013

GeoFlashing: A Geocaching flash mob event. We hosted the 31 Days of GeoFlashing in December 2013.

I suppose. Personally, I don't like Geocaching Flash Mobs, and would never attend one. But I'm probably just grumpy.

That goes without saying , but I've never heard the terms GeoFlashing. If a terms going to be added to the "official" geocaching lexicon, it probably should be something that's commonly used.

I've only been to one Geocaching flash mob, and actually enjoyed it. It might have been an exception though as it was during a 21 hour layover I had in Zurich, Switzerland. It was also a WWFM event and came in just shy (only 20 attendees or so) of qualifying as a mega event. There was also a CITO event in the city earlier in the day and a more traditional event (which I also attended) later in the day. As a result, there were hundreds of geocachers in the city that day so I ended up meeting a lot of geocachers (and that, to me, is what an event should be about...not a 15 minute gathering for the purposes of obtaining a souvenir).

4.5k · December 17, 2013

Necroposting - bumping a long-dormant thread (10 years in some extreme cases) with a new post.

December 17, 2013

Interesting to see which terms stood the test of time. Unfortunately, some of the ones that I liked don't seem to have survived.

December 17, 2013

Necroposting - bumping a long-dormant thread (10 years in some extreme cases) with a new post.

The Walking Thread, anyone?

10.2k · December 17, 2013

GeoFlashing: A Geocaching flash mob event. We hosted the 31 Days of GeoFlashing in December 2013.

I suppose. Personally, I don't like Geocaching Flash Mobs, and would never attend one. But I'm probably just grumpy.

That goes without saying , but I've never heard the terms GeoFlashing. If a terms going to be added to the "official" geocaching lexicon, it probably should be something that's commonly used.

I've only been to one Geocaching flash mob, and actually enjoyed it. It might have been an exception though as it was during a 21 hour layover I had in Zurich, Switzerland. It was also a WWFM event and came in just shy (only 20 attendees or so) of qualifying as a mega event. There was also a CITO event in the city earlier in the day and a more traditional event (which I also attended) later in the day. As a result, there were hundreds of geocachers in the city that day so I ended up meeting a lot of geocachers (and that, to me, is what an event should be about...not a 15 minute gathering for the purposes of obtaining a souvenir).

There are probably more of us "Geocaching flash mobs are lame, and I wouldn't do one" people out there than you think. :laughing: Actually, although the first WWFM was probably 2006 or 2007, they were getting smaller every year, and interest was waning. Then we had the smartphone revolution, and now they're here to stay. IMO, of course.

Interesting to see which terms stood the test of time. Unfortunately, some of the ones that I liked don't seem to have survived.

Alright NOW I get it. Geoflashing was on the list, the bumper must have done a search, and was suggesting a new definition for Geoflashing. Yeah, there's some strange ones on there. Thank goodness emailing another player never became known as Hedwigging. :laughing: And I actually have read every book, and saw every Harry Potter Movie, and am OK with Muggle. There are people out there who hate the word Muggle, and think it should be replaced, believe it or don't.

January 12, 2014

I would like to know what is a 'small lock and lock'?

2.6k · January 12, 2014

Lock & Lock is a brand of food storage container that is often used as a Geocache container. A bit like Tupperware but with a locking airtight lid.

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