IX. 
lossary
The Meanings of Words
- Alarmiger
- A person whose work of washing dishes, moving tables, and asking the recently arrived band of unwashed ruffians, cutthroats and baboons to move elsewhere has come to the attention of the Crowd, prompting them to bestow upon the person the right, much to the alarm of his gentle—and former—friends, to succor uncultured louts into washing dishes, moving tables, and asking the recently arrived band of unwashed ruffians, cutthroats and baboons to move elsewhere.
- Badger
- An Haroldic sign submitted to the Harolds by a gentle for the purpose of being used as an example at classes in Haroldry of what not to do. The origin of this word seems to lie in the practice of Harolds badgering gentles into submitting these signs.
- Book Haroldry
- The aspect of Haroldry reserved for erudite scholars, researchers, and bookworms.
- Charging System
- Considered by some the most important part of Haroldry, it is the most complex part of Haroldry, which makes sense considering that it provides much of the individuality found in Haroldic contraptions.
- Community College of Harolds
- A bureaucracy empowered to compel each subject of the Ramble to submit some kind of drawing, mostly so they can make fun of it and use it at classes in Haroldry as an example of what not to do.
- Complication, Rule of
- A section of Published Haroldic Law, rumored to have been written at the Conspiracy of Harolds, which did, in fact, not happen. It is a document designed to:
- Unify into one all-encompassing system all the various Haroldic traditions of about a thousand years of Medieval history and covering Continental Europe, sections of the Arab world, Japan, and Mendocino.
- Interpret the writings of an obscure fourteenth-century English Harold into simple standards comprehensible to Harolds qualified by years of study and debate.
- Develop a language useful for describing gimmicks and baffling uncultured louts, whose best purpose is to be connived into washing dishes, moving tables, and asking the recently arrived band of unwashed ruffians, cutthroats and baboons to move elsewhere.
- Conspiracy of Harolds
- Rumored to have happened at the end of the Oily Days, this did, in fact, not happen. In any case, no decisions of import were, in fact, made at the Conspiracy.
- Contraption
- An Haroldic sign submitted to the Harolds by a Pier for the purpose of being used as an example at classes in Haroldry of what not to do.
- Flatiron
- One of three basic varieties of Frame.
- Gentle
- An uncultured lout whose work of washing dishes, moving tables, and asking the recently arrived band of unwashed ruffians, cutthroats and baboons to move elsewhere has not yet come to the attention of the Crown.
- Gimmick
- An Haroldic sign submitted to the Harolds by an alarmiger for the purpose of being used as an example at classes in Haroldry of what not to do.
- Haroldic Law, Published
- See Law, Published, Haroldic.
- Haroldic Law, Unpublished
- See Law, Unpublished, Haroldic.
- Hub
- One of three basic varieties of Frame.
- Interior Décor
- A skill when displayed in excellent taste is not a fundamental justification for placing a bend sinister on ones contraption.
- Law, Published, Haroldic
- The Rules for the Submission of Unsuitable Badgers and the Rules of Complication.
- Law, Unpublished, Haroldic
- The experience and caprice of the Community College of Harolds. Following the best traditions of the Community College of Harolds, even with this publication the Unpublished Haroldic Law remains the exclusive domain of the Harolds.
- Module
- Any of several distinguishing objects that delineate the functionality of the Contraption.
- Mundanes, So-Called
- Any of several distinguishing objects that delineate the functionality of the Contraption.
- Obfuscation, Rule of
- “Any given Haroldic sign must be sufficiently different from every other Haroldic sign that a novice Harold could tell the difference between them while looking at the backs of the shields they’re painted on while blindfolded in a different room with the doors closed and the shades drawn.”
- Oily Days
- Ancient history; the time before the Community College of Harolds gained power. Because the Community College of Harolds was not yet in power, anything was allowed. Thankfully, now that the Community College of Harolds is in power, nothing is allowed.
- Patent of Alarms
- A Stage of Rank beyond that of an Alarmiger but not as advanced as that of a Pier. A person who has caused enough alarum amongst his acquaintances and passing ruffians to have attracted the attention of the Crown. The decomposition to the rank of Pier is generally accompanied by being made by some busybody Harold to look foolish in front of the King and everybody.
- Pier
- A person whose work of causing alarum amongst his acquaintances and passing ruffians has come to the attention of the Crown, prompting them to bestow upon the person the right to supervise Alarmigers succor uncultured louts into washing dishes, moving tables, and asking the recently arrived band of unwashed ruffians, cutthroats and baboons to move elsewhere, much to the alarm of his gentle—and former—friends.
- Plaintiff Test
- See Test, Plaintiff.
- Published Haroldic Law
- See Haroldic Law, Published
- Rank
- A system for classifying relative rot.
- Rot
- A person’s current state of advancement.
- Rule of Obfuscation
- See Obfuscation, Rule of.
- Rules for the Submission of Unsuitable Badgers
- See Unsuitable Badgers, Rules for the Submission of.
- Rules of Complication
- See Complication, Rule of.
- Secession of the Frame
- Any of several methods by which a Frame may be broken into pieces.
- So-Called Mundanes
- See Mundanes, So-Called.
- Subassembly
- Any of several subordinate parts into which a Contraption may be disintegrated.
- Submission of Unsuitable Badgers, Rules for the
- The Haroldic Law, Published and Unpublished, which allows Harolds to badger gentles, Alarmigers, and Piers to submit unsuitable Badgers, Gimmicks, and Contraptions and use them in classes on Haroldry as examples of what not to do.
- Superlative Variant
- Standard deviations of any of several methods by which a Frame may be broken into pieces.
- Suppository
- One of three basic varieties of Frame.
- Test, Plaintiff
- The section of Unpublished Haroldic Law which provides the interpretation of Haroldic Law which serves to best hinder the wishes and desires of the submittor.
- Unpublished Haroldic Law
- See Haroldic Law, Unpublished.
- Unsuitable Badgers, Rules for the Submission of
- See Submission of Unsuitable Badgers, Rules for the.
Next: Portrait: That’s the Bloke—That’s Him!
