Shadow Man (Paragons of Queer Speculative Fiction) (46 page)

ColCom
:
Colonial Committee, agency that represents the Concord Worlds'
interests on former colonies.

creole
:
the official language of the Concord Worlds.

demi
:
one of the nine sexual preferences generally recognized by Concord
culture; denotes a person who prefers to be intimate with persons of
exactly the same and one of the two "like" genders.

di
:
one of the nine sexual preferences generally recognized by Concord
culture; denotes a person who prefers to be intimate with persons of
either of the two "opposite" genders.

end-of-season
:
shorthand for surplus harvest not included in existing contracts;
also the period between the end of Hara's biannual gathering cycles
and the beginning of the next, not covered by contracts. Coincides
with the Haran holiday periods of Midsummer and Midwinter.

fem
:
human being possessing testes, XY chromosomes, some aspects of female
genitalia but not possessing ovaries; %e, %er, %er, %erself.

Fifty
:
generic term for the most important pharmaceutical companies that do
business on Hara; analogous to the Haran use of "pharmaceuticals."

FTL
shock
: collective term for the side effects of passage
through jump points, which include disorientation, severe nausea,
blurred vision, impaired or oversensitive hearing, diarrhea, and
incapacitating headaches. Of human beings, 97% experience at least
some of these symptoms for six to nine hours after passing through a
jump point; of that group, 47% experience symptoms lasting 24 to 72
hours after passage.

gay
:
one of the nine sexual preferences generally recognized by Concord
culture; denotes a person who prefers to be intimate with others of
exactly the same gender.

hemi
:
one of the nine sexual preferences generally recognized by Concord
culture; denotes a person who prefers to be intimate with persons of
exactly the same and both "like" genders.

herm
:
human being possessing testes and ovaries and some aspects of male
and female genitalia; 3e,
3er, 3im,
3imself.

HIVs
:
colloquial and somewhat inaccurate term for the cluster of treatable
but incurable immune-system diseases endemic to the Concord Worlds;
as the viruses are genetically unstable, each planet tends to develop
its own set of diseases to which its population develops a certain
level of immunity over time. HIVs are generally transmitted through
intimate rather than casual contact. Of all human-settled planets,
only Hara does not possess a native HIV cluster, nor is its
indigenous population particularly vulnerable to outside exposure.
Significantly, most drugs used to treat HIVs are derived from Haran
sea and land plants; however, the specific factor or factors that
create the apparent planetary immunity have not yet been isolated.

hyperlumin-A
:
original form of the drug used by human beings to control FTL shock.
Hyperlumin-A is 99.8% effective in preventing FTL shock, but is
highly mutagenic; its wide- spread use during the explosive First
Wave of colonization produced a significant rise in miscarriages and
in the number of so-called intersexual births (i.e., of fems, mems,
and herms), and is indirectly responsible for the shape of Concord
culture. Hyperlumin-A remains in use among certain specialist
populations.

hyperlumin-B
:
second-generation version of the drug used by human beings to control
FTL shock. Hyperlumin-B is 78% effective in preventing FTL shock, and
only 48% as mutagenic as hyperlumin-A.

IDCA
:
Interstellar Disease Control Agency. Responsible for preventing the
spread of HTVs between planetary systems, the IDCA rules on
emigration/immigration issues, administers and enforces medical
quarantines, and provides emergency assistance, as well as funding
significant medical research.

indigene,
indigenes
: native-born (indigenous) human population of a
planet not a member of the Concord Worlds.

kilohour
:
standard time unit of the Concord Worlds, equal to 3,600,000 seconds
or one thousand (sixty minute or Earth standard) hours.

Lesser
Twenty
: the "second tier" of pharmaceutical and other
export companies operating on Hara.

man
:
human being possessing testes, XY chromosomes, and some aspects of
male genitalia; he, his, him, himself.

mem
:
human being possessing ovaries, XX chromosomes, and some aspects of
male genitalia but not possessing testes; þe, þis,
þim, þimself.

mu,
mass units
: standard unit used in calculating FTL shipping
costs.

omni
:
one of the nine sexual preferences generally recognized by Concord
culture; denotes a person who prefers to be intimate with persons of
all genders. Considered somewhat disreputable, or at best indecisive.

player
:
one who participates in trade; a person who does not con- form to any
of the culturally recognized patterns of sexuality or who wishes to
indulge in sexual behaviors and roles not acknowledged by Concord
culture, and who is willing to pay professional or semi-professional
prostitutes to take on the reciprocal role(s).

pony-show
:
a one- or two-person company, generally considered to be unreliable
or unethical; derogatory.

ser,
serrem, serray, serram, sera
: honorifics placed before the
surname to indicate the gender of the person (man, mem, herm, fem,
woman), considered in Concord usage to be part of the person's full
name; the generic plural is sersi.

starcrate
:
a metal shell equipped with a stasis generator and/or other
preservative mechanisms, used to package perishable and
semi-perishable goods for interstellar transport.

straight
:
one of the nine sexual preferences generally recognized by Concord
culture; denotes a person who prefers to be intimate with persons of
one of the two "opposite" genders.

trade
:
commercial or "specialty market" sexuality; on Hara, specifically
the practice of paying indigenes of any gender for sexual favors and
to assume sexual roles not usually taken by persons of that
particular gender. Commercial sex is normally regulated by the IDCA,
which provides medical and legal recourse for all parties, but Haran
trade remains outside Concord law. In conversational usage, "trade"
can also refer to the various quasi-legal markets for residence
papers, travel permits, etc. that make it possible for Concord
citizens to remain on Hara.

tri
:
one of the nine sexual preferences generally recognized by Concord
culture; denotes a person who prefers to be intimate with persons of
exactly the same and both of the "opposite" genders.

uni
:
one of the nine sexual preferences generally recognized by Concord
culture; denotes a person who prefers to be intimate with persons of
one of the two "like" genders.

woman
:
human being possessing ovaries, XX chromosomes, and some aspects of
female genitalia; she, her, her, herself.

GLOSSARY II:

Hara

advocate
:
man or woman trained in written and customary law, and certified by
his or her clan as someone who has the right to speak for others
before the clan and Watch courts.

assignat
,
assignats
:
paper currency issued by one of the five Watches and backed by that
Watch's contracts with the various pharmaceuticals; each Watch
currency has a slightly different rate of exchange, which varies from
season to season, but in general White Watch currency is strongest
against the concord dollar, then Red, Blue, Black, and finally Green.

baanket
:
dinner given at Midsummer by one of the fourteen clans to which all
clan members are in theory invited, the original purpose having been
for the clan leader to demonstrate his power by his ability to feed
all his dependents; in practice,
baanket
s
are now hosted by the wealthier
mesnie
s,
and serve to reaffirm status within the clan as well as to renew
lineal ties.

baas
:
informal honorific, used from an inferior to a superior who is in
some sense a friend.

babee
-story
:
fairy tale, fable.

bonne,
bonne-faitou
: female servant, usually related to her
employer by clan or
mesnie
ties.

caleche
:
an expensive, six-wheeled passenger vehicle, with separate
compartments for driver(s) and passengers; used as a status symbol.

Centennial
Meeting
: planetary assembly held once every one hundred
years, counting from the year that settlers first landed on Hara; the
Meeting stands somewhat outside the normal rule of law and custom,
and at least in theory any Haran has the right to attend and address
the Meeting.

chanter
:
man or woman trained to sing the traditional work
chaunts
;
still a valued and high-status position despite the increasing
mechanization of labor.

chaunt
:
traditional work-song used to give the cadence for repetitive
physical labor (hauling lines, chopping wood, etc.).

clan-cousin
:
technically, a man or woman within one's own age cohort in the
shared clan who is not otherwise related; in common usage, a man or
woman of one's clan to whom one feels some tie or obligation, but
to whom one is not more closely related; the use of the term
generally expresses a sense of affection and kinship between the
people concerned.

clan
:
one of the fourteen political, social, and familial groupings that
form the basis of Haran society; although the people within the first
clans were not actually related, but chose to affiliate themselves
with one of the original fourteen founders, at this point the clans
are interrelated in complex and often confusing fashion. Each clan
controls a particular territory, and, as one result, surnames are not
used on Hara, as the majority of people in any one location would
have the same (clan) surname. The original territories varied in the
quality and abundance of their resources, and the Stane clan has
parleyed their original good luck into economic and political
dominance. The fourteen clans are: Aldman, Blithman, Casnot,
Delacoste, Donavie, Ferane, Landeriche, Makpays, Massingberd,
Maychilder, Newcomen, Stane, Stiller, and Trencevent.

counterpoint
:
the highest pitched of the traditional dance drums; as the name
implies, it usually plays variations on the middle or bass line that
carries the dance rhythm.

countre
:
another name for a counterpoint drum.

coupelet
:
passenger vehicle, common in urban areas, used by hire-companies to
carry middle- and high-status passengers.

coy
:
literally, "sweetie" or "darling"; a generic and not
necessarily intimate endearment with ironic overtones.

dance
house, dance houses
: a public or private club, sometimes
also selling food, drink, and drugs, where patrons meet to dance and
frequently to engage in trade.

dandi
:
colloquial term for a mem or the active partner in a homo- sexual
relationship; the implication is "trying hard, but not re- ally a
man."

docker,
dockers
: man or woman who works on the Bonemarche docks,
either as day labor or for the harbormaster himself; this group is
outside most of the traditional kinship networks, and has always been
both marginalized and highly politicized.

draisine
:
small, six-wheeled cargo vehicle with either an open or enclosed
cargo bed, used to gather and transport the land-harvest; requires
minimal roads even in the deep jungle.

Embankment
:
streets overlooking the harbor and Harbor Market of Bonemarche; the
district where most of the city's trade takes place.

entrait
:
the opening bars of a drummed dance, signaling both the dance and the
intended pace.

Equatoriale
:
the area of the main continent on and south of the equator, mostly
deep jungle; the territory was assigned to the Ferane, Newcomen,
Blithman, Aldman, and Trencevent clans at settlement, though Casnot
disputes some of Newcomen's claims. Historically, the area has been
both relatively poor and extremely traditional.

Estaern
:
the northeastern coast of the main continent, assigned to the
Delacoste, Makpays, and Landeriche clans at settlement; Estaern is
also the largest urban area in the district, and both district and
city have a reputation for avoiding politics at all costs.

faitou
,
faitou
s
:
a servant or servants of either gender, usually related to his or her
employer by clan or
mesnie
ties.

franca
:
the dialect spoken on Hara; not closely related to the Concord
Creole.

garce
:
literally an offensive word for boy, used for homosexual women,
particularly women perceived as behaving as men, and for mems.

gellion
:
offensive word for herms, also used for mems and fems, emphasizing
the perceived sterility of any relationship; most common in
traditional areas.

ghost
rana
: an offshoot of the traditional political song-
and-dance groups, conceived as a mirror-image and reversal of their
power; unlike a traditional rana, a ghost rana makes no noise, but
will act, and act violently, to restore its conception of order.
Ghost ranas tend to be traditional in their beliefs.