Based on and still consisting mainly of the SFBMA Dictionary (by America Meredith) which appeared in the "Messenger's Guidebook to San Francisco" prepared for CMWC '96, and published by the San Francisco Bike Messenger Association.
| Aerotank | n. yellow cargo bikes supplied by Aero, that, w/o their wheels weigh exactly 66.6 pounds |
| Aggro | adj. aggressive and agravating |
| Alcoholocaust | n. mass destruction inspired by C2H60 |
| Amateur | = one step above muppet. "What do you mean you came to work without your pump, you amateur" |
| Are ya 10-8? | = Do you have any of the drugs that I am looking for? (Are you holding?) |
| The Bar | n. The Covered Wagon Saloon |
| Basket Case | n. someone who rides a bike with a basket |
| Bike Geek | n. A person excited by titanium spoke nipples and purple anodized headsets |
| to Blank | v. to ignore on the radio, also to ignore another rider when passing in the street. ("I was trying to call empty for an 'alf 'our but the Fat Man just blanked me".) |
| Bob Marley | n. a large joint (one that Bob Marley would be proud of) |
| Boonda | n. low paying deliveries |
| Box | n. two-way radio base station used by controllers (to be on the box - the act of controlling. "Whenever the Fat Man's on the box, all he ever does is stitch me up." ) |
| Breakfast | n. a marijuana break |
| Bunny Hop | v. to gracefully jump up with one's bike while in transit |
| Call | n. a delivery (also Tag) |
| The Can | n. the First Canadian Place Tower |
| Check, Checkay, O Checko | =1. Yes, I understand that. 2. (a clorful remark that doesn't mean anything) |
| Cheese Grators | n. the metal grates above the BART tunnels on Market St. and Mission St. |
| Civilian | n. non-messenger |
| Clean | adv.to be without deliveries (also Clear and Empty) |
| Coby | n. King Cobra (an American malt liquor) |
| Coffin | n. car |
| Controller | = dispatcher |
| Commuter | n. a non-messenger on a bicycle |
| Commie | n. The Commerce Court Towers (North, South, East and West) |
| Copsicle | n. a policeman on a bicycle |
| The Court | n. St. Anne's Court Soho (the former location of the infamous Court Caff, the greasiest spoon in London) |
| The Cut | n. The Commercial Union Tower at the Toronto Dominion Centre |
| Da | = You made a mistake! also, n the unexplainable force that drives us from rookiedom to messengerdom to messengerdom; also = of course! |
| Da Shrite Gee | = that's right boy, girl |
| the Dance | n. back and forwards movement of pedestrians |
| Dead Run | = no pickup or call was cancelled; charge the client anyway |
| Death Monster | n. car |
| Dick Scratcher | n. dispatcher |
| Docket | n. tag, call |
| Donkey | n. slow old messenger "you're slower than a crippled donkey on valium" |
| Door(doored) | n. to open one's car door on an oncoming cyclist (also doored) |
| Double-up | n. two seperate dockets going in the same direction allocated to the same rider |
| The Dub, C-Dubs, C&W's, the Chuckwagon | n. the Covered Wagon Saloon |
| The Dunce Cap | n. the Transamerica pyramid |
| The Dungeon | n. the courier depot in the underground of BCE Place |
| Eat it | v. to crash one's bike |
| Empty | = clear, clean.(no packages left) |
| The Evacuation. | n. office workers daily rush to their trains and cars |
| Exercise | = sarcastic remark to dispatcher for low paying calls ("I'm just here for the exercise today!") |
| Eye Newt | = I knew it! |
| False call | = to give untrue information on the radio. Usually relating to location, or status in the expectation of getting desirable dockets. Also sometimes to avoid being given undesirable dockets (eg rider might say that they had puncture when given a stitch-up.) |
| the Fat Man | = Lee Smith, legendarily one of the most brutal, foul-mouthed controllers in London. The inventor of the Post Haste double-up "we can double-up anything, including your invoice", and several previously unknown swear-words, too vile to repeat here. |
| to Feed a rider | = controller allocates a lot of work to particular rider ("that 27, he gets fed") that might otherwise be given to other riders, in those riders' opinion. Generally considered a bad thing. |
| Five - O | n the Police |
| Fluffbo | n. marijuana that has been carefully fluffed up to make it look bigger |
| Full Metal Basket | n. the large steel wire basket on the front of a bike |
| Funky Chicken | = the dance that jaywalking peds do when they see a messenger unexpectedly headed right for them - 'you put your left foot in, your left foot out etc'. The cause of much consternation to most messengers |
| Get Hot, Slug | n. Go faster, slow person! |
| Get it burnin, fire it up, your turn, quit holding back | = I want to smoke some of your marijuana! |
| Goddamn, I Love Summer! | = I love this job!, also Look at all the beautiful ladies out today! |
| Glow in the Dark | n. a cyclist that wears really bright spandex clothing |
| Gravy | n. high paying deliveries |
| Gravy Dog | n. a messenger doing high paying deliveries |
| Gravy time | = paid waiting time |
| Gristle | n. low paying deliveries |
| The Hall of Injustice | n. the Police station at 850 Bryant St. |
| The Hanx | n. a messenger gang named after Hank Remus, a friendly security guard |
| Holding | v. to be in possession of a package or drugs |
| The Hole | n. The Standby Cafe or Breadspreads (Toronto); Moorefields EC2 (London) - the hole in the London Wall |
| Hortons | n. police (as in Tim Horton Donuts) |
| House of Pain | n. the labyrinth of office cubicles at 1 South Van Ness |
| Houston | n. dispatcher, or the messenger office base |
| Huffbo | n. marijuana |
| Huffbo Chente | n. 1. strong marijuana; 2. a defunct messenger zine |
| Indo | n. 1. strong marijuana; 2. an independently employed messenger |
| Jackson Park | n. Sydney Walton Park |
| The Jaks | n. an intelligent skateboard gang, whose members include the Day Glo Abortions and many S.F. messengers |
| Jerry Mahony | n. a stupid person ( named after a 1950's ventrilliquist and his doll) |
| Messenger Shower | n. rain during work hours |
| Messenger Vacation | n. an accident on the job that gets you a disability check or settlement |
| Messengerdom | n. the world of messengering |
| Milk | n. beer |
| Moody call | = false call |
| Monsoon Season | n. rainy windy S.F, wintertime |
| Muppet | n. rookie, or useless messenger "62, you muppet, what are you doing out there?" |
| Murphy | n. police |
| Neg! | = No! |
| North Shore | n. the parking lot @ 5th St. and Folsom |
| Nosmosis | n. the absorbtion of alcohol to the point of saturation |
| Oh easy Butchkins! | = (a clorful remark that doesn't really mean anything) |
| On the circuit | = to work as a messenger. "How long has that muppet been on the circuit for?" |
| On the plot | = empty and on the list of empty riders "got you on the plot, there 27" |
| O.T. | = (an abbreviation for overtime) |
| Panties | n. nylon helmet covering |
| The Park | n. Sydney Walton Park |
| Ped | = (an abbreviation for pedestrian) |
| The Penguin March | = the daily rush of commuters to their trains and cars |
| Pigeon | n someone who wants to smoke your marijuana |
| POB | = parcel on board. |
| P.O.D. (or Pod) | = proof of delivery, the signature of the person who received the package |
| P.O.W. | = pedestrian on wheels, a non-messenger cyclist |
| Proj | n. 1. marijuana; 2. to smoke marijuana |
| Puff | n. grass, hash, proj. |
| Punkrock! | = (an enthusiastic interjection) |
| The Rat | n. the Royal Trust Tower at the Toronto Dominion Centre |
| Reggie | = regular service or low paying delivery |
| Roadrash | n. painful, slow healing surface wounds from crashing |
| Roger | = 10-4 (if you say 10-4 on the radio in London you get laughed at) |
| Roll down your window | = Clear your head and pay attention! |
| Rollers | n. police in cars |
| Rookie | n. someone who just started messebgering, or acts like they just started messengering |
| Run | n. a collection of deliveries dispatched at one time |
| Say again | = 10-9 |
| Salad | n. some of my marijuana & some of yours |
| Scoobs | = That's cool! |
| Scratch | v. dispatch |
| The Shaft | v. receiving low paying deliveries from your dispatcher |
| Skonski | n. beer |
| Slap | = a job that goes a long way with little prospect of doubling up. "Fuck me, that's a bit of a slap!" |
| Slug | n. slow rider |
| The Square | n. Soho Square, Soho. |
| to Stack | v. to crash |
| Startled deer | pose adopted by jaywalking peds when they unexpectedly see a messenger headed right for them. (only slightly less dangerous that the funky chicken) |
| The Steps | the steps outside 11 Marshall St Soho |
| Stitch-up | = situation where a rider is allocated a docket that does not fit in with work that s/he already has, or has to go a long way to get on board. "That's a stitch-up, that job." "It's a total stitch-up". "I bin stitched-up like a kipper." |
| Spoke Poker | n. the game of finding cards in the street and putting them in your spokes, to hopefully come up with a royal flush |
| Spun | n. adj. suffering from the adverse effects of long term meth amphetamine use |
| Stand-by | n. a break in working resulting from a lack of deliveries |
| to Step on | v. to call across another rider who is already talking on the radio. ("shut up 62, you complete amateur, you keep stepping on 27") see also walk |
| Suit | n. office worker (also penguin) |
| Surfing | v. riding one's bike, standing on the top bar |
| Tag | n. 1. a delivery; 2. a graffiti pseudonym; 3. to write one's graffiti pseudonym |
| The Tag Catalyst | v. opening an beer (as soon as you do your dispatcher will call you) |
| Tattoo | v. dispatcher gives a rider a call that requires riding a long way for low pay (as in "sorry I have to tattoo you") |
| Talking out of a hole in my foot | v. making no sense, babbling |
| Techno Weenie | n. one whose obsession with buying bike parts eclipses their enjoyment of actually riding a bike |
| Top Dog | n. the messenger who makes the most money at a company |
| Touch | n. easy job |
| 10-9? | = What? |
| 10-Q | = Thank you |
| 10 - 100 | = to pass water (D.C.) |
| 10 - 200 | = to pass solids (D.C.) |
| That's Raw | = That's not enjoyable |
| 2Can | = 2 First Canadian Place |
| Urban Food Log | n. burito |
| the Wall | n. the sitting wall at Sansome St. and Market St. |
| to Walk | v. to interrupt someone on the radio ("these rookies are doing more walking than riding") |
| Zxeische | n. the sound of a raincoat or spandex rubbing between two street cars |
| Zitty Gritty, the Geist | n. Zeitgeist |
| Zo Bag | n. single shoulder messenger bag |
Thanks to Buffalo Bill for additional definitions
Any more to add? Contact me.
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