Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

So the writers of the 40k universe love to Call A Rabbit A Smeerp, and while this does add character to the universe, it does make for a lot of new words to learn... A camera is called a pict recorder, a radio is called a vox caster, binoculars are called magnoculars, a surgeon is called a chirurgeon, and so on.

Has anyone ever bothered to prepare a whole glossary of those 40k terms? My issue is not so much to figure out what they mean (you can usually infer from context), but rather the reverse: when writing 40k fiction, I often want to know if there is an in-universe term for something or other.

Ugh, I hate the Tropes website, so self-referential and loaded with links to other articles that you end up miles away from what you came for without a clue about what it actually means.

I use the Lexicanium, just enter a word and type 40K after it in Google and it is usually the first result. Exercise caution though - many of the sources are obscure, although they do at least cite them. 1D4Chan is also good for a laugh and reasonably informative but they provide no sources, cite some really obscure information which may or may not be completely made up and they use a lot of relatively obscure memes (referring to Abaddon as a man with no arms). Treat everything you read on 1D4Chan with a pinch of salt.

Ugh, I hate the Tropes website, so self-referential and loaded with links to other articles that you end up miles away from what you came for without a clue about what it actually means.

I use the Lexicanium, just enter a word and type 40K after it in Google and it is usually the first result. Exercise caution though - many of the sources are obscure, although they do at least cite them. 1D4Chan is also good for a laugh and reasonably informative but they provide no sources, cite some really obscure information which may or may not be completely made up and they use a lot of relatively obscure memes (referring to Abaddon as a man with no arms). Treat everything you read on 1D4Chan with a pinch of salt.