What does that abbreviation/acronym/nickname/inside joke/jargon mean? Introducing DKtionary 2021!

Introducing the DKtionary!

The community pages and comments of Daily Kos are full of in-jokes and jargon that can be confusing for people who are new to the internet and/or new to political commentary.

Is there a term or an abbreviation you see all the time but you don’t know what it means and don’t know whom to ask?  You may find the answer here.

The DKtionary is an (always) incomplete lexicon/glossary of commonly-used blogging abbreviations, shorthand terms and traditions, as well as some standard internet abbreviations for people who are completely new to the world of blogging.

We’ve also included phrases and abbreviations specific to Daily Kos itself.

This DKtionary is NSFW (“not safe for work”) because commonly-used profanity and other offensive words are spelled out here in their entirety to avoid confusion, even if they would normally be flagged if posted on the blog or appearing in an article title.

The DKtionary is a work in progress. This draft is being posted today so that people can make comments and recommendations. Post questions in the comments about unfamiliar terms you have seen. We will tell you what it means and may even add it to the DKtionary in the next revision.

Fair warning: This post is L……...O……...N……...G. I was one of those children who used to sit and read the dictionary or the encyclopedia for long stretches of time but I am aware that is unusual behavior. So if you want to just jump around, or search only for your favorite expressions, be my guest. It’s meant to be a reference page for people at DK (and others on the net).

With each new major site upgrade some new traditions arrive and some old ones inevitably fall by the wayside, so some now-archaic words, phrases, and abbreviations are left out. However, you may run across old articles from previous election cycles containing these terms, so if you think some favorite term from the past should be put back in, please explain in the comments.

If you belong to a subcommunity at DK and newbies are always asking you what the group name means, please post a comment below including a link to the list of diaries published by that group and you will be added to a future draft of the DKtionary.

I am particularly interested in more terms from the current election cycle. There isn’t room for all the insult names for Trump, but if there are any new terms you see frequently, or old terms you think may stand the test of time, please post them in the comments as well.

Last and most important: many, MANY thanks for all the input on this first draft from: FaithGardner, peregrine kate, Neeta Lind, smileycreek, Jessica Sutherland, Christopher Reeves, siab, Jay Cuasay, and countless others who have used these abbreviations, internet idioms, and other insider language terms at DK over the years!

Now the floor is yours:  Look for an abbreviation or nickname you use often, or a political term you have seen that you don’t understand.  Is it missing?  Post a comment asking for it to be added.  Disagree with the way something is defined?  Post that in the comments for the next revision.  Is there another list of abbreviations somewhere that is better or more extensive than this one?  Post a link and it will be referenced in the next revision.  This is a community document we are all creating together!

The fun begins below the fold—see you there!

DK community DKtionary 2021

numbers

0:  When comments were rated from 0 to 4, a “0” was a vote to hide a comment so that only trusted users can see it.  also called troll rating, hide rating, hydrating.  We did not have “flags” during the 0-4 ratings days, but a zero is also the same as flagging now.

1:   When comments were rated from 0 to 4, a “1” was a comment that is really bad/offensive but not worthy of being hidden.

1:   The 1 and the exclamation mark are the same key on many keyboards and a person who is “angry on the internet” will sometimes use so many exclamation points in a row that the hand slips and an occasional 1 breaks through.  When done intentionally, the number appears in the middle of a series of exclamation marks to indicate snark.  On occasion, the number one and/or the number eleven will be spelled out.  !!!1!!one!!1!eleven!!1!!!

3:  A comment that is better than OK but not exceptional; a relic from the time when comments were rated from 0 to 4.  User Carl Nyberg was fond of giving out a “3” which was sometimes considered damning with faint praise and sometimes considered the equivalent of a “B+ but I know you can try harder/do better next time.”

4:   The highest rating from the 0 to 4 days.  Since so many people just gave a 4 to every comment they liked, we now just have the rec/no rec (neutral) option.

270:   the number of electoral votes necessary to win the presidential election.  There are 538 electoral votes available in total; to win a candidate needs to get half of them, or 270.

537:   number of votes by which George W. Bush “won” Florida and therefore the 2000 presidential election

538:   Total number of electoral votes available in the U.S. presidential election.
 

symbols

! (exclamation point)  The 1 and the exclamation mark are the same key on many keyboards and a person who is “angry on the internet” will sometimes use so many exclamation points in a row that the hand slips and an occasional 1 breaks through.  When done intentionally, the number appears in the middle of a series of exclamation marks to indicate snark.  On occasion, the number one and/or the number eleven will be spelled out.  !!!1!!one!!1!eleven!!1!!!

+ (plus sign):   A plus sign or +1 is a way of recommending a comment.  This is *not* a negative comment ranking s on the 0 to 4 scale, but a positive comment on the binary 0/1 scale.  +1 is the opposite of zero, which is negative or neutral.  +1 is good, acknowledgment, recommendation. Sometimes used by people whose recommending privileges are revoked.

A

AF:   as part of a longer abbreviation, AF means “a fuck” or “actual fuck” as in IDGAF (I don’t give a fuck) or WTAF (what the actual fuck).

AF:   is also a G rated way of saying “as fuck” in a longer descriptive phrase.  Among friends one might describe something as being “cool as fuck” or “hot as fuck” or “upsetting as fuck”.  When trying to save characters in texts or on Twitter this might be abbreviated to Funny AF or Broke AF.  In a spoken-word situation where you can’t use profanity, it has become acceptable to say AF, the two letters “A” and “F” instead.  A national television broadcaster said in January 2021 that the Q conspiracy theories are ridiculous AF.

AFAIC:   as far as I'm concerned

AFAIK:   as far as I know

alternative facts:   Lies.  A form of disinformation used by dishonest spokespeople in the hope of confusing voters about the difference between truth and frequently repeated lies.

antifa:    As a word: short for anti-fascist.  As an organization, it is a collection of loosely connected groups of people (using the same leaderless approach as Occupy Wall Street) who share the goal of opposing fascist ideology and fascist trends in local and national government.

AMIIGAF:   ask me if I give a fuck

AOTA:   all of the above

AAPI:   Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.  A way to acknowledge members of this group that would rather be identified this way instead of as white or as People of Color.

Article:   Another name for a story.  post with a title and tags that other DK users can recommend and respond to with their own comments.  The articles with the most recommendations are automatically added to the Trending List (formerly known as the Recommended List or rec list or wreck list), which is considered a community honor.

Astroturf, Astroturfing:   A professional top-down messaging campaign disguised as having come from the bottom-up or the “grassroots” (astroturf is a name for artificial grass).

Autoban:   An algorithm built into the system will ban a user without human moderator intervention if certain conditions are met.  Posting a certain number of hidden comments over a certain number of diaries or in a certain amount of time will trigger the autoban.  Diaries that share characteristics of spam diaries are automatically banned.  If a new user gets a hidden comment within their first few comments, autoban is triggered.

AWM:   angry white men

AYCMAR:   “are you calling me a racist”—as a trope, AYCMAR is a defensive distraction technique during an argument to avoid talking about some other issue being discussed.  Often used by racists who want to avoid the label “racist” while still engaging in behaviors and expressing attitudes that are clearly racist. Every once in a while it is a sign of someone realizing for the first time that his/her actions and comments are interpreted by others as racist.

AYFKM:   are you fucking kidding me

B

Bagel:   A vote to hide a comment so that only trusted users can see it; a relic of the time when comments were rated from 0 to 4 and a zero was bad, so hide rating/troll rating was synonymous with various things that were round like zeros.

Ban/banned:  When you are banned, you are no longer allowed to log in to the site.  You can still read the site (except for hidden comments), but you can’t reply to anything or recommend anything. Sometimes newcomers confuse a “time out” with a banning and will post comments such as “I just got banned for [some severe violation of the Rules of the Road]”, but a person who is banned can’t comment so they are just confused.

Permanent ban means exactly that.  Permanently banned, and you can’t come back, although every once in a great while someone will petition to be reinstated and will be allowed to come back.

Banhammer:  It is unusual to get banned without a warning.  If you are an established user and get close to the line, you will get clues: comments hidden, administrative warning boxes, people suggesting that you check yourself before you wreck yourself, that sort of thing.

However: Violent comments such as rape “jokes”; homophobic/transphobic/sexist/racist comments; obvious right wing talking points; encouraging people to vote for Republican candidates and the like may cause the banhammer to fall without warning, especially on a newcomer since that’s not who we want in the community, period.

Berniecrat:   Someone who supported Bernie Sanders in the 2016 primary and continues to admire his ideas

BIPoC:   Black, indigenous and People of Color.  Inclusive, intersectional term describing many people who do not identify as white.

Birther:   Began as a reference to people who do not believe Barack Obama is a “natural born citizen”, therefore making him Constitutionally ineligible to be President.  Some Birthers refuse to believe any evidence that Obama was born in Hawaii, even after the “long-form birth certificate” they kept demanding to see was posted on the internet.   Other birthers insist he was born in Kenya, or are unaware that Hawaii is part of the United States.

The term Birther in recent years has been expanded to include any political attack, usually on a person of color, casting doubt on their citizenship and allegiance to the United States.  All four original members of The Squad, for example, are American citizens, and three were born here, yet persistent assumptions about their country of origin and country of allegiance are raised by conservative opponents.

Bit heaven:   After a post scrolls off the front page it goes to "bit heaven" where it only exists in cache/electronic archives.

BK:   Black Kos subcommunity.

Black Kos:   The Black Kos subcommunity posts Tuesdays and Fridays and features a history lesson, commentary on contemporary issues, poetry and/or music from a Black perspective.  This community is open to everyone—you do not have to be Black to participate, but you do have to be polite, as BK does not suffer fools gladly and trolls are summarily dispensed with.

Black Lives Matter:   An expression of idea that Black people deserve to be treated as though their lives have the same intrinsic value as the lives of white people.  Usually used in an activist context to highlight the fact that when Black men, women and children are brutalized, shot and/or killed by police officers, the officers involved receive less punishment than they would for giving the same treatment to a white person.

Bless your heart:  This sounds like a compliment but someone saying this to you is NOT wishing you well.  It is actually a passive-aggressive insult originally popularized in the South.  If you can’t say anything nice about someone, don’t say anything at all.  Or say, “Bless her/his heart”.

BLM:   Shorthand for Black Lives Matter movement.  Also a government abbreviation for Bureau of Land Management.  The difference can only be discerned by context.

Blog post:    Another name for a story.  A community post with a title and tags that other DK users can recommend and respond to with their own comments.  The blog posts with the most recommendations relative to the time since they were published are automatically added to the Trending List (formerly known as the Recommended List or rec list or wreck list), which is considered a community honor.

blue:   election strategies and results favoring the Democratic Party

Blue Lives Matter:   This use of “blue” is not a reference to progressive politics.  “Blue” here means law enforcement—“boys in blue”.  People who say “Blue Lives Matter” tend to believe falsely that the term Black Lives Matter means other lives matter less.  So when they say Blue Lives Matter, they mean that Blue Lives Matter more (than Black ones).  Some critics believe the Blue Lives Matter movement is meant to stand in direct opposition to the Black Lives Matter movement and its goals of ending police brutality and institutional racism.

Blue Lives Matter flag:   Similar in design to the American flag, except that the red stripes are black, the star field is black, and the white stripe immediately under the star field is neither white nor the dark blue of the star field but instead a bright, almost royal blue.  Sometimes also referred to as a Thin Blue Line flag.   Some white supremacist groups use the Blue Lives Matter flag to signify opposition to the Black Lives Matter movement and its goals of ending police brutality and institutional racism.  This tweet from 10-24-20 shows the flag being used as a central backdrop at a Republican presidential campaign rally.

Blue Team:   The Democratic Party

Bojo (see also bony mojo):   A user in good standing accrues mojo, measured by the number of bars on their profile page. A user who has been banned shows the orange skull-and-crossbones on their profile page, hence bo[ny] [mo]jo.

But he seemed like such a NICE young man….

BOLO:   be on the lookout

bony mojo:   the symbol that shows a person has been banned and can never return.  it resembles the “skull and crossbones” image long used as a signifier of something that is poisonous or dangerous.

bot:   one form of cyberattack is the posting of automated messages that are not triggered by keywords and not connected to any live person.

But her emails:   snarky reference to the exaggerated media focus on Hillary Clinton’s emails in the 2016 campaign while the serious wrongdoing of other campaigns got much less attention.  when these misdeeds were mentioned, someone would attempt to distract by turning attention to HRC with “but what about her emails”.  Used now in response to horrific events that happened because Hillary lost the election, blaming the leadership crises of the 45th president on people who did not vote for HRC because of the fake email controversy.

Butter emails:   another version of “but her emails”, sometimes indicated visually by posting a stick of butter.

bye Felicia:   goodbye to an annoying/unpleasant person everyone is glad to see go
 

C

C&J:   see Cheers and Jeers

CBC:   Congressional Black Caucus

CDS:   Clinton Derangement Syndrome—people who reflexively criticize everything Clinton does.  If Bill or Hillary recommended breathing they would hold their breath and die.  First became popular during Bill Clinton’s presidency; now only context determines whether Bill Clinton or Hillary Clinton is being referenced.

Cheers & Jeers:  This long-running subcommunity publishes every weekday morning, Monday through Thursday, and Friday evening.  Hosted by Bill in Portland Maine with humor, snark and heart.  An open thread place to connect.

Circular firing squad:  A situation when people on the same side of an issue start taking shots at each other instead of directing their attack at the real enemy, as if members of a firing squad were arranged in a circle instead of all lined up facing the same way.  Said often about the Democratic Party.

Clap Louder:   Refers to the scene in Peter Pan where Tinkerbell the fairy is dying: the audience is asked to clap their hands if they believe in fairies, and are told that if they do not clap loudly enough, Tinkerbell will die.  However, that is not true.  Tinkerbell’s life or death does not depend on the loudness of the clapping, because the script says that Tinkerbell will live, and so it always happens whether people clap or not.  Clapping only gives the illusion of participation, and small children especially may believe their clapping had an effect on the situation when in fact it did not.  “Clap Louder” is used now to accuse someone of not being reality-based or to accuse someone of falsely believing that their enthusiasm or lack thereof can have an effect on a political situation where the outcome has already been pre-determined.

comment:   a response to a story. also sometimes called a post.

Community:   “Came for the news and stayed for the community.”  We discuss many topics other than politics here.  We also want to build a community of like-minded people who care for one another and develop real-world connections along with our virtual friendships and on-line working relationships.  Sometimes people are attracted to DK for the political news coverage and then discover subcommunities of like-minded people discussing other topics.  Then they are attracted to the site for those friendships as well as for political information.

Community Contributors Team:   The Community Contributors Team is an invitation-only writer development program. Community writers work with an editor to craft their stories, and get paid doing it. Community contributors and staff writers are allowed to post articles to the top of the Front Page of the site.

Community Series:   Some stories have very little (or nothing) to do with politics.  Their sole purpose is to build community: let people get to know you and give you a chance to get to know other people. These diaries are usually marked with the “open thread” tag so you know you can post whatever is on your mind. Some community diaries suggest a particular topic: gardening, books, home repair, pooties (cats), woozles (dogs).  Some community diaries are conversation starters:  Cheers and Jeers, WYFP (What’s Your Effing Problem), WAYWO (What are You Working On). Participating in community diaries is a great way to make connections and create a positive reputation on the site.

Community Moderation:   Hey! That’s you!   Community Moderation is why the public comments sections at Daily Kos are not the utter garbage you find in the comments at, say, YouTube. From the moment new users log in, they have the capacity to recommend stories and comments. In doing so, they express their endorsement of said stories/comments, an endorsement that is a matter of public record on the site.

If you are a user in good standing who has accumulated enough mojo, you will become a Trusted User and will acquire the ability to flag comments yourself (see Flag) and to read hidden comments (see Hiddens). Entrusting site users with the capacity to hide comments is a faster and more comprehensive method for quashing offensive comments than leaving that type of site maintenance to admins alone.  Comments that violate the Rules of the Road derail productive conversation in a given post, as well as create a hostile environment for site participants and readers.

No worries, it’s not Clockwork Orange here and it’s not mandatory that you gaze into our underground cesspool. Trusted Users can always turn off their ability to see Hidden Comments on their Profile page.

Community quilt:   Members of the site may commission a quilt as comfort for someone who needs healing, comfort, and/or reassurance.  People make a donation per quilt “square” (which might be any shape) and send in a comment to be written on their square.  The donation covers the cost of materials for the quilts and a modest payment for the time and labor of the quilt creators.  The quilts are handcrafted with great love by longtime DK members Sara R and winglion, who are sisters.  Receiving a quilt is a very high community honor. Sometimes referred to as a “lovecatcher quilt.”  (also see pootie pad)

Community Spotlight:   A Daily Kos group that draws attention to great writing by community members that aren’t getting the visibility it deserves.  The Rescue Rangers read every story every day that is published by Community writers. When they discover a wonderful piece of writing that for some reason didn’t get noticed, they rescue it to their group blog daily, and Meteor Blades includes a link to their work in the “Open Thread for Night Owls” series and publishes a weekly list every Saturday. Rescue priorities and actions were explained in a previous edition: “Community Spotlight: Rescuing your excellent stories for over 14 years.” You also can find a link in Meteor Blades’ “Night Owls” series, which publishes daily between 10-11 PM EST.

Concern Trolling:  An underhanded form of critical commentary wherein the user claims to be interested in helping a campaign or candidate but is really just looking for an excuse to repeat right wing talking points and memes. Typical response: “Thank you for your concern.”

Conspiracy Theory (CT):   Conspiracy theories are not allowed at DK.  You must have a reliable source for anything you post.  Copying what you have seen on social media with no supporting links is strongly discouraged.  There are some common conspiracy theories that will always get your comments hidden or get your account banned.  For example:  9-11 was an inside job, antivaxx (anti-vaccination) literature, Trump won the 2020 election.  See Daily Kos’ Rules of the Road, DO #2 and DO NOT #5.

cuckoo for cocoa puffs:  description of a person, comment or conspiracy theory as so completely unbelievable that anyone who believes it must have a mental deficiency.  From an old advertisement for Cocoa Puffs breakfast cereal where the wacky bird character bounces around wildly while repeating “I’m cuckoo for cocoa puffs”.  Not used as much any more in an effort to avoid stigmatizing people with mental illness.

CYA:   cover your ass.  make a statement that may or may not be true but at least will deflect negative attention away from you and your actions and toward someone else.

D

DBAD/DBAA/DBAJ:   Don’t be a dick (or an asshole or a jerk). Like the One Ring, this edict rules all the other norms of decent behavior on the site.  As kos said when introducing the update to the Rules of the Road:  “The core of the Daily Kos behavior guide is simple: don't be a dick. While we go into some depth [in the Rules of the Road] about sanctionable behavior, it's not an all-encompassing list. There are always types of behavior that while not listed below, rise to the level of "dickishness", and as such are actionable.”  For even more detail, see this post by kos from 2011:  Participating in Someone Else’s Diary (Story).

Dear Socialist Fuckstick:   The greatest piece of hate mail of all time.  click here to see its debut in hate-Mail-A-Palooza.  Click here and go to 7:38 to see the hilarious video performance by mcjoan (Joan McCarter) from Netroots Nation 2009. [is that the right year? Looks like it].

Source of many now-iconic phrases such as:

• allow me to try to prove to you that you are communist scum thrugh something called the scientific method
• Socialism cannot work or russia would still exist
• you, sir, are an illegal immigrant. i dont give two shits whether you are an american citizen or not
• go back to guatemala or whatever fucking middleeastern asshole you came from
• you dont even own a gun because you leftofascists want to repel the second amendent [sic]
• i dont think you are a homo, just a homo enabler

and a personal favorite:

• "no proof, just science and that makes it true for you liberals"

DELETE MY FUCKING ACCOUNT, KOS!   Variations abound on ErrinF's classic original, Delete My Fucking Account, Kos that all subsequent GBCW (Good-bye, Cruel World) diaries are compared to and ultimately fall short of meeting. Warning:  Posting a GBCW will not only get you seriously mocked but also permanently banned after 24 hours if you don’t delete it, so resist the temptation! But if you should succumb, do try to make yours as entertaining as ErrinF's. The rest of us might as well get some fun out of your flameout.

deplorables:   right-wing fanatics, bigots, white supremacists, and other ill-informed/uneducated or willfully ignorant enemies of progressive ideas.  During the 2016 campaign, Hillary Clinton famously said that half of her opponent’s supporters belonged in a “basket of deplorables”.  Some would disagree with that percentage.

Despaminate 2000:   A nickname for the DK system that screens incoming posts/accounts for spam.

DFH:   dirty fucking hippie (this is a term of endearment and pride)

Diary:   Old name for a story, article, or [blog] post with a title and tags that other DK users can recommend and respond to with their own comments.  The community diaries with the most recommendations are automatically added to the Trending List (formerly known as the Recommended List or rec list or wreck list), which is considered a community honor.

digby:   Screenname of Heather Digby Parton, who founded the commentary site Hullabaloo in 2003 and quickly became one of the most influential writers in Left Blogistan.  She won the Koufax Award for “Best Writing” in 2005 and 2006, and was frequently quoted on other blogs with “what digby said”.  digby, whose name is usually styled with a lower case d (digby, not Digby), was presumed to be male until 2007 when she appeared at a conference to accept the Paul Wellstone Award.  Since then she has blogged on various sites including Salon under her birth name.

DINO:   Democrat in Name Only—said by far-left Democrats about moderate Democrats or Democrats who vote/cooperate with Republicans.

DJT:   abbreviation for the name of the 45th president, used by people who do not like to write his name.

DK:   Daily Kos.  Oldtimers will sometimes refer to numbered versions of the site as follows:

• DK1: the original, pre-Scoop days of Daily Kos
• DK2: the Scoop version of Daily Kos
• DK3: updated version in 2005 (?)  2006?
• DK4: updated version in 2011?  [was this when 0-4 numbering went away?]
• DK5: updated version in 2015
• DK6: current version of the site, with multiple front page stories surrounding a main story, and a Trending List instead of Recommended List

Dolt 45:   nickname for the 45th president

Don’t Be A Dick (jerk/asshole):  See DBAD above.

Donut (see also Bagel, Pastry):   A relic of the original rating system of zero to 4.  A vote to hide a comment so that only trusted users can see it is like giving a rating of zero, which is round like a donut.  Only to be used for comments that violate some aspect of the Rules of the Road.   Giving a donut for mere disagreement will subject you to site discipline.

don’t yuck my yum:   don’t rain on my parade, don’t piss in my cornflakes, don’t leave a turd in my punchbowl, etc.

don’t feed the trolls (DFTT):   don’t engage in conversation or arguments with people whose sole purpose is off-topic, unhelpful, intended to incite anger, or shitstirring.

double down:   in backgammon, blackjack, and various other gambling games, you can double your bet if you think you are in such a good position that you are sure to win.  In blogspeak, “doubling down” means insistently repeating your position no matter how many times you are challenged because you are absolutely sure you are right.

doxx, doxxing:   Anonymity is essential for many users here. “Outing” another user, as in publishing any of their personal information on the site, is a bannable offense, regardless of how freely they’ve volunteered information about their Facebook page, Twitter handle, local associations, pootie names, etc. UNLESS the user has posted such information on Daily Kos themselves.

Drink the Kool Aid (or Drink the Flavor Aid):   believe what you are told and obey without question, just as the people in Jim Jones’ cult drank the Flavor-Aid potion he gave them, believing it would lead them to paradise.  Instead, it killed them.

Drive-by:   A story posted by an author who then does not respond to any comments.  Not to be used to refer to Front Page stories, since staff members usually do not respond to comments.

E

edscan:   As in “I miss edscan.” Notorious mad genius, stream of consciousness poet, and CT purveyor, edscan was eventually banned for bizarre CT and anti-semitic ravings. see also hate mail-apalooza where edscan was frequently found, demanding to be reinstated.

ErrinF:   author of the greatest GBCW of all time.

F

“FACTS”:   A signal of strong agreement with what someone has just posted.  Not a criticism or a request for more factual backup.

FakesNewsChannel:   Fox News Channel

FFS:   for fuck's sake

First Nations:   a way of referring to Native Americans or Indigenous people in this hemisphere

first rule of holes:   “When you are in a hole, stop digging.”  Said when someone is making a bad argument and continues to double down and justify it even after being proven wrong repeatedly.

FIFY (Fixed It For You):  Usually a snarky edit to someone else’s comment.

Flag, Flagged:   Trusted Users (people with three bars of mojo or more) have the ability to flag (hide) a comment instead of recommending it.  Should ONLY be used for a comment that you believe should be hidden from casual users of the site because it violates some part of the Rules of the Road.

Once a comment gets enough flags to offset any recommendations it may have, it is hidden from casual readers of the site and only remains visible to Trusted Users.  If you flag, it is a courtesy to other users to post a comment explaining why you think the comment deserves to be hidden, or what part of the Rules of the Road were violated.  This may encourage other Trusted Users to flag the comment as well in order to get it hidden more quickly.  Flagging for mere disagreement may subject you to site discipline.

It is inappropriate to flag someone you have been having an active discussion (argument) with.  In that situation it is better to post a comment asking others to flag.  Also, the system does not allow you to flag anyone posting a comment to a story you yourself have written.  See also Bagel, Donut, Hide, Hydrate, Pastry.

flame:   as a noun, an intensely angry response to a post or comment.  as a verb: a large number of attacking and/or angry responses (see “get flamed”)

flame retardant:   when you post something controversial and don’t care whether you get flamed or not

FLOTUS:   First Lady of the United States.  Currently Dr. Jill Tracy Biden, wife of Joseph Robinette Biden, 46th president of the United States.  FLOTUS can also refer to any former first lady, such as Michelle Obama, so context is important.

Flying Spaghetti Monster:   deity of the parody “religion” Pastafarianism.  Also used as an insult to refer to the idea of organized religion in general.  Also used not as an insult to refer to religion without mentioning any particular deity.

Follow, following:   You can choose to “follow” a person or group by clicking a button on their profile page.  Then every time they publish a story it will be set aside on a special list for you, known as your stream.

Forced Birth/Forced Birther/Forced Pregnancy:   frame replacing “pro-life.”  Such a person only cares about forcing women to take pregnancies to term—forcing them to give birth—but then show no consideration for child or mother after the baby is born.

Free Republic:   a very conservative site, one of the oldest political sites on the net.  “Free Republic is that way” of “Go Back to Free Republic” is shorthand for telling right-wing posters they are not welcome here.

Freedumb Caucus:  used instead of “Freedom Caucus”, the group of maga conservative Republican members of the House of Representatives.

freep a poll:    using internet communications channels to encourage a lopsided conservative response to an online poll.  Members of Free Republic were famous for swarming online polls to make sure they reflected a conservative result. When the same is done by progressives, it is sometimes called "smurf this poll" (turn it blue).

freeper:   as a noun, a participant at Free Republic; as an adjective, views that are extremely conservative and more suitable for that blog than this one.

Front Page:   The main display people see when they first arrive at www.dailykos.com. The Front Page used to be a list of staff stories posted one at a time, with the most recently published/featured story at the very top of the page.

Now the Front Page is one very long Main Page covering every possible area of the site, divided into thematic sections that can all be reached by scrolling down with no click through.  This overview of the Front Page tells you where to find everything on Daily Kos:

• The Top Story  is the center photo and headline at the top of the Front Page. It is always written by a staff member, and is surrounded by other top stories written by Daily Kos staff.
• The next section down from the Top Stories is the Trending List:  the 18 stories with the most recent and active recommendations.  Stories on the Trending List and the top of the Front Page are a snapshot of the topics generating the most engagement on the site at the time, and usually have the most lively conversations.
• Next is Latest Community Stories:  recent stories published by any member of the site appear here first.
• Followed by Recent News:  additional stories written by staff members—a jump/overflow section from the top of the Front Page.
• The next thematic section is Liberation League:  highly recommended stories on inclusive justice topics such as racial justice, gender equality, LGBTQ and disability rights.
• Daily Kos Elections is a comprehensive and frequently updated section with campaign news about races all over the country, including downticket/statewide elections and local/municipal races.
• The next section features the work of PRISM, a BIPOC-led 501(c)(3) nonprofit news outlet that gives priority to people, places, and issues underreported by national media.
• This is followed by More Community Stories, an overflow section from Latest Community Stories.  Look here to see what is currently on people’s minds.  This section is where new writers get discovered, get recommended, and eventually find themselves on the Trending List.
• Next is Featured Community Groups.  There are dozens of activism and affinity groups here at Daily Kos.  Whatever special area of interest you have, someone here shares it!  We are not all politics here—it is in the Groups that like minded people make friends and create on-line communities with bonds strong enough to offer genuine support to each other in their life and work outside the blog.
• The most recent public opinion polling from CIVIQS is in the next section.  Watch long-term trends and see new trends as they develop.  If this interests you, sign up and be a part of the Civiqs research panel and answer short opinion surveys about issues, candidates and current events.
• Current Daily Kos Petitions come next.  Add your name and make your voice heard along with tens of thousands of other petition signers!
• Our founder, who started this whole thing by writing political commentary every day (daily kos, get it?) has a special section here for the most recent stories From Markos’ Desk.
• Saving the best for last, the bottom of the Front Page is DAILY KOS COMICS, with a different award-winning and nationally-published political cartoonist featured each day of the week, including: Tom Tomorrow, Jen Sorensen, Brian McFadden, Keith Knight, Mark Fiore, Matt Bors, Ruben Bolling, Nick Anderson and Lalo Alcaraz.

Frothy:   Rick Santorum.  Right-wing former presidential candidate whose last name was turned into a slang term for the aftermath of anal sex.  Back now as a CNN commenator.

FSM:   see Flying Spaghetti Monster.

FWIW:   for what it's worth

G

GBCW:   Literally, Good-Bye Cruel World.  See: ErrinF’s classic of the genre. Refers to overly dramatic diaries announcing one’s intention to never darken our doorstep again.  Admin will take you at your word and ban your account so that you can’t return to write yet another hand-wringing GBCW. And no, your account will never be deleted. Everything you write here is for the permanent record.

A diary saying you are leaving but plan to come back is sometimes called Ta-Ta For Now (see TTFN).  However, kos decided in 2013 that TTFN is also bannable when it is clearly a “pathetic way to collect community accolades and pleas to stay” or a “dramatic exit” designed to “create community drama”.

get flamed:   attract a large number of angry comments disagreeing with you

GFY:   go fuck yourself

GMTA:   great minds think alike—when you post the exact same thing as someone else (often by accident)

GNR (Good News Roundup): A series of good news posted daily to help keep people’s spirits up

Good news for John McCain:   An event that is bad news for a particular Republican or the Republican party in general, that Rs will attempt to give a positive spin anyway.

Google is your friend:  a comment meaning it would have been faster for you to seek the answer via Google instead of asking someone else for the answer or complaining about not knowing what something meant

GOS (Great Orange Satan):   Appellation bestowed on Daily Kos by Bill O’Reilly some time in 2007, wherein he believed we were the hate site.

gopasaur:   a Republican who shows inadequate adjustment to the 21st century, or a symbol of why the R party is dying

GOTV, GOTFV, GOTMFV (Get out the (mother) (fucking) vote):  Shorthand for the effort by campaigns to ensure that their voters return absentee ballots/early vote/go to the polls on Election Day. Formerly associated with the last weekend prior to Election Day, but now a protracted effort over a longer stretch of time.

GQP:  alternative term for the GOP, acknowledging that leadership of the Republican party is highly influenced by QAnon (see Q, Qanon).

Grammar Nazi:   term used when complaining about someone who corrects people’s grammar.

Grammar Patriot:   term used when thanking someone for correcting other people’s grammar.

Grassroots:   a form of politics that starts in local communities with small groups of voters and builds larger, as compared to top-down political action that starts with elected officials and people with money and power.

Groups:   One of the highlights of the DK community is the affinity and activism groups, organized around almost every category you can think of.  Benefits of joining a group are: receiving kosmails intended for that group, permission to write diaries under the group name.  If you can’t find a group about an area of interest that excites you, you can start one.  This community is so large and diverse that, no matter what you are interested in, there are others here interested in it as well, including long-established experts in the field (posting anonymously).

GTFO(H) Get the fuck out(ta here):  Said ironically when something is exciting or cool or wonderful; said literally to trolls and spammers.

GUS (Give Up Smoking): Subcommunity of DK users encouraging one another to stop smoking and sharing tips that help them quit.

H

h/t:   hat tip; thanking someone for bringing something to your attention or to the attention of the blog as a whole.  Back when it was the custom for men to wear hats, a tip of the hat was a way acknowleging someone’s presence in a pleasant way across a short distance—while passing in the street, for instance.

Hate mail-aPalooza:   A former regular Saturday morning feature where kos posted and mocked his hate mail until the level of trolling became repetitive and boring. A few classics of the genre can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFPXHrp_quM see also: dear socialist fuckstick or mousetits!

HDS:   Hillary Derangement Syndrome.  Descriptor for people with irrational knee-jerk total opposition to everything about Hillary Rodham Clinton.  If she recommended breathing they would hold their breath and die. Highly correlated with sexism. Similar to ODS, TDS, etc.

Help Desk (HD):   A place to ask questions about your DK account if you are having trouble with the site or with your user account.  The Help Desk can be accessed without logging on to the site.  Helps with password resets, emergency deletion of comments, information for candidates.  Can also be used to draw administrative attention to someone who is causing trouble with stories, comments, or any kind of post.

Hiddens:   see also Hidden Comments. Comments that have acquired enough flags to be hidden from the general public, available for viewing only by Trusted Users. Hidden Comments earn flags when community members believe the comment violates the Rules of the Road.

HR (Hide Rate, hiderate, hydrate):   Trusted Users (people with three bars of mojo or more) have the ability to flag (hide) a comment instead of recommending it.  Should ONLY be used for a comment that you believe should be hidden from casual users of the site because it violates some part of the Rules of the Road.

Once a comment gets enough flags to offset any recommendations it may have, it is hidden from casual readers of the site and only remains visible to Trusted Users.  It is a courtesy to other users to post a comment explaining why you think the comment deserves to be hidden, or what part of the Rules of the Road were violated.  This may encourage other Trusted Users to flag the comment as well in order to get it hidden more quickly.  Flagging for mere disagreement may subject you to site discipline.

It is inappropriate to flag someone you have been having an active discussion (argument) with.  In that situation it is better to post a comment asking others to flag.  Also, the system does not allow you to flag anyone posting a comment to a story you yourself have written.  See also Flag, Bagel, Donut, Pastry.

HOS (hide(rate) on sight): Term to describe a troll whose site behavior has been so egregious that people hide rate all his/her posts automatically without regard to content in an attempt to trigger an automatic ban.

hotlisted: Now obsolete, this site feature allowed users to mark posts for personal future reference.  Some users create a personal hotlist, group or tag, where they save favorite stories for easier sharing.

HRC:  almost always means Hillary Rodham Clinton.  Occasionally Human Rights Campaign.

HTH:   hope that helps.  Sometimes said sarcastically.

Hullabaloo:   prominent progressive blog founded by digby (also see Digby)

hydrate:   to vote to hide a comment instead of recommending it: a blending of the words "hide rate".  Hide rating is only for comments that violate the Rules of the Road.  Hide rating for mere disagreement will subject you to site discipline. (also see “hide” or “flag”)
 

I

I/P:   Israel/Palestine post, discussion or comment about that Middle Eastern conflict.   Arguments in these diaries and among these kogs can get very heated.  I/P arguments are often so intense, that other intense site arguments are compared to it.

IAN:   Itzl Alert Network subcommunity.  Itzl is a companion animal of user Noddy, who would check up on her.  IAN is a daily check-in group, especially for those who are feeling isolated, lonely, or who have some other need to let people know they are OK every day.

IANAD:   I am not a doctor, usually followed by amateur medical opinion or advice, or a medical question

IANAL:   I am not a lawyer, usually followed by amateur legal opinion or advice, or a legal question

ICYMI:   in case you missed it

Ignore the circular firing squad:  Don’t pile on to an argument where Democrats are attacking each other. (see circular firing squad)

IGTNT (I Got The News Today):  On-line memorial to honor active duty military whose deaths are announced by the Department of Defense.  Founded by i dunno and sustained all these years by the IGTNT Advisory Group.  These posts were daily when the Afghanistan and Iraq wars were more deadly. Now they are less frequent, but every military death announced by the Department of Defense is still covered.

IIRC:   if I recall correctly

Image Library:  Daily-Kos hosted repository for still images and GIFs, for use in stories and comments. Title photos (the large image underneath the headline) must come from the DK Image Library, while images eslewhere in stories and comments may come from a very limited list of hosts, including Flickr. All logged-in users in good standing may upload images to the site’s library. We encourage users to consider the license for the image, which defaults to “Daily Kos use.” We also urge users to provide meaningful descriptions of the images, so that screen readers can pick up and convey the significance of the image to visually-impaired readers.

IMO, IMHO (In My (Humble) Opinion): Sometimes used to qualify a statement that is primarily a matter of preference, not of evidence

IOKIYAR: It's OK if you are Republican—snarky explanation for why Rs get away with behavior that Ds are criticized for.

I see what you did there:  This is something one comedian would say to another if Comedian A made a really good joke by referencing something Comedian B was familiar with and did it in an interesting way.  It’s similar to: I see how you crafted that joke with skill and finesse—well done!  However, over the years it has become mostly sarcastic, something you say when a person makes a joke that is really obvious or a bad pun or intended to be sophisticated and clever but is not.  It is still used in positive way also, as a compliment to a well constructed joke or well crafted turn of phrase.

“I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.”   This term is almost as old as the internet: it comes from a 1997 Simpsons episode entitled “Mountain of Madness.” At the end of the episode, Homer listens to Bart rattling off random opinions, and then says “I find your ideas intriguing and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.”  It quickly was adopted as a snarky response to anyone claiming to be a political expert who is clearly just spouting random opinions.

IYKWIM:   if you know what I mean

J

jooooos/joooooz:   a snarky way to mimic the way anti-semites and other bigots might refer to Jewish people

Jotterville, jotterites, jotterbugs:   Jotter's High Impact Diaries track more statistics than I can begin to figure out, and on a daily and weekly basis, no less.  It's a loyal community and you just have to wander in and look around to really "get" it.

Justice Handmaid:   snarky nickname for Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett.  She belongs to a religious group that used to refer to women and female leaders as “handmaids” until the television version of Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel A Handmaid’s Tale made them reconsider the term.

K

k/o:   kid oakland, a long-time respected blogger at DK (recently resurfaced for the 2020 campaign).  When both he and Keith Olbermann were posting here regularly, k/o stood for kid oakland and KO stood for Keith Olbermann.

Khive, K-hive:   enthusiastic fans and supporters of Kamala Devi Harris, 49th Vice President of the United States.

Kiddie pool:   Another name for Cheers and Jeers subcommunity, or any blog post that is basically people just playing around and socializing with each other.

KITM:   Kagro in the Morning Show—LIVE progressive talk show hosted weekdays by long-time DK member David Waldman at 9AM Eastern on Netroots Radio.  Also available on Stitcher and wherever you get your podcasts.

KTK, Kitchen Table Kibitzing: Community-building series, always an Open Thread, posted daily at 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT.

KB, Knowledge Base:   A searchable collection of archived posts that help newcomers learn to navigate the site, address Frequently Asked Questions about site features and community expectations, and cover basic aspects of how to write a story for the site. Available 24/7/365, it can answer many common user and reader questions.

KO:   Keith Olbermann.  Host of Countdown when it was the flagship news hour on MSNBC from 2003-2012.  Very popular blogger here when he was on the air.  More than a dozen of his blog posts got more than a thousand comments and almost 20 of these blog posts got more than a thousand recommendations.  More recently known for his YouTube shows The Resistance (2017) and Olbermann vs. Trump (2020).

kog:   Member of the site—someone who has signed up for an account and can post comments

kos:   Nickname of Markos Moulitsas Zúniga, founder of Daily Kos

kosmail, kmail: the internal mail/message system accessible by Daily Kos users only. It permits users to send private messages to individuals and to activism/affinity Groups.  Go to anyone’s profile page and click on “Send Message” (near the top center of the profile page) to send a message to that person through the kosmail system.

To find out whether YOU have kosmail, look at the top right corner of the Front Page and you’ll see a little envelope icon.  A little number in an orange box tells you how many kosmail messages you have waiting. Clicking that envelope is another way to go to the kosmail system.  

kossack:   Member of the site—someone who has signed up for an account and can post comments.

You, too, are a kossack

Koufax Award:   An award recognizing excellent writing on the internet from a progressive perspective.  Named after Sandy Koufax, one of the greatest left-handed pitchers in the history of Major League Baseball.  The Koufax Awards were given between 2003-2007.   Daily Kos won Best Group Blog in 2003, Best Blog in 2004 and 2005, and Best Blog Community in 2006.   Meteor Blades won for Best Commenter in 2004 and 2005.

L

LBNL:   last but not least

Left Blogistan:   all the liberal/progressive websites on the internet

LGF, Little Green Footballs: once an ultra-conservative blog, it has been more moderate lately as its owner had a change of heart with respect to the Republican party

Lovecatcher or lovecatcher quilt:   A handmade, individually designed quilt, with messages from members of the DK community, given to someone in physical or emotional need as a tangible form of community support.  (also see community quilt)

LSSC:  The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

M

Maxwell’s Silver Hammer:  see banhammer

MB:   see Meteor Blades

Meatspace:   In real life.  As opposed to what happens in virtual space—on the internet.

Meta:   A self-referential story about the process of blogging in general, or a commentary about political commentary in general. Many would call this the ultimate example of a self-referential meta diary:  INAPPROPRIATE CAPS: Misleading title 4 exclamation points.  Hundreds of comments to this diary keep the ultra-meta theme going.  Here’s a similar story published more recently: [UPDATED] Fake Headline Pretending I Just Picked Or Switched My Candidate

Meta can also mean a conversation about the way a particular discussion is being conducted, rather than engaging the underlying topic being discussed.  Sometimes called a “process argument”, such as talking about whether the articles of impeachment were intentionally delivered to the Senate after the president became a private citizen, as compared to talking about whether the president deserves to be disqualified from holding future office for inciting a riot and attempting to overthrow the results of a fair election.

Meta Jesus:   Invoked when there is too much meta/self-referential posting specifically about Daily Kos.  From the 2005 classic Hunter post Stop Making MetaJesus Cry.

Meteor Blades:   A Senior Political Writer who is one of the very first members of the Daily Kos community (as indicated by his very low user number:  UID #6).  Highly respected for outstanding writing, decades of hands-on political activism, and even-handed judgment during the time he was acting as site admin.  Author of the Green News and Views series, executive editor of the Native American Netroots series, and editor of the Open Thread for Night Owls. An honored elder who is not to be messed with!

Mini Profile Page:   You can hover over or click on a user’s name to see their mojo, length of engagement, sig line, number of diaries, comments, and followers.

Mittens:   Mitt Romney (when criticizing him)

Moderation:   Admins can’t see every comment and read every post, and must rely on Trusted Users to provide Community Moderation—flagging content that violates the site’s Rules of the Road.  Thank you for all you do, Trusted Users.

Mojo:   When your comments and diaries get recommended you get mojo—credit for community participation.

Mojo is measured from zero to five bars.  Everyone starts with zero and can earn as many as five depending on site longevity and constructive participation. You can also lose bars of mojo if you become inactive on the site or become subject to site discipline.

Trusted Users have accumulated three bars of mojo or more, which means they can hide comments (and view hidden comments) as well as recommend them.

Staff members have infinite mojo: their mojo is not affected by their level of participation or by how many recs their comments and diaries get.  In place of bars of mojo on their profile page, an infinity symbol appears. ∞

Highly respected kogs who leave this life receive RIP mojo.  In place of bars of mojo on their profile page, a gravestone with an infinity symbol appears.

The mojo symbol from an early and much loved kossack who has moved on

Mojo party:   a story posted for the sole purpose of giving and receiving mojo to everyone who participates.  Mojo Friday is a community participation series with this purpose.  Everyone is expected to recommend every comment, and in return, they will receive recs from every other person participating, and everyone adds to their mojo.

mooslim:   misspelling of Muslim that appears frequently in Right Blogistan.  An intentional misspelling when used here.

moran:   misspelling of moron from a RW protest sign. When used on DK, the misspelling is intentional, referencing the persistent grammar/spelling/logic deficiencies of right-wing trolls.

MOT, Morning Open Thread: Community-building series posting daily at 7:30 AM ET/4:30 AM PT. Always an Open Thread; typically features music of the author’s choice.

More and Better Democrats:   Daily Kos is dedicated to electing more Democrats, but at the primary level we are interested in electing the better Democrat of the leading contenders, or the best Democrat out of a large field.  So sometimes we do not support or endorse one Democratic candidate because the site has decided to support another Democrat who is better: more progressive, more of an activist, or who shows more in-your-face leadership.

Moscow Mitch:   Addison Mitchell McConnell, Jr. (R-Kentucky).  Currently Minority Leader of the Senate.

is there a copyright problem with this photo?

Mousetits:   An image of a naked plastic torso with large breasts that each resemble an earless Mickey Mouse.  Posted frequently in mail diaries to reference a piece of hate mail that used Mousetits for Markos’ last name. (How does one directly contact Markass Mousetits, the founder of the Daily Kasshole?)

MSM:   MainStream [corporate-controlled] Media, which most definitely do NOT have a liberal bias.

muslin:   misspelling of Muslim that appears frequently in Right Blogistan.  An intentional misspelling when used here.

N

n00b:   Very new member of the site.  usually styled with a numeral 0 rather than a letter o.

NAN:   Native American Netroots

NDN:   How some American Indians/Native Americans refer to themselves.  An abbreviation of “Native Indian”.

Netroots:   grassroots politics that begins with small groups of people on the internet who may never have met in real life

Netroots Nation:   A yearly gathering of progressive bloggers, reporters, activists, and political campaign figures.   An opportunity to connect in real life with bloggers whose work you have enjoyed online.  Participants may hear speeches, watch movies, attend panels and workshops that encourage activism, and build networks.  It is an outgrowth from an event organized by and for Daily Kos regulars who wanted to meet in person (see Yearly Kos).  A video about the early history of NN can be seen here.

Meets over a long weekend (Thursday-Friday-Saturday) in a location that varies each year, rotating from region to region:

Yearly Kos / Netroots Nation locations

2006—Las Vegas (as Yearly Kos)

2007—Chicago (as Yearly Kos)

2008—Austin

2009—Pittsburgh

2010—Las Vegas

2011—Minneapolis

2012—Providence

2013—San Jose

2014—Detroit

2015—Phoenix (partial DK boycott over “papers please” legislation in Arizona)

2016—St. Louis

2017—Atlanta

2018—New Orleans

2019—Philadelphia

2020—Netroots Nation AT HOME.  Virtual convention due to COVID-19.  Access to recordings of all the sessions are available on-line until June 2021 for a fee of $75.00.

2021—???

New Day Café:   A community-building series, published every morning at 10:30 ET. Always an Open Thread, its authors often feature images and discussions of food.

newb, newbie:   Very new member of Daily Kos.  Same as n00b.  Can be applied to anyone who is a new arrival to any organization or group.

Night Owls series:   Meteor Blades publishes Night Owls seven days a week (Sunday Night Owls, Monday Night Owls, Tuesday Night Owls, etc.) between 10-11 pm Eastern time.  This post always has a theme and includes links to articles on that theme that you may have missed during the day.  It also includes these recurring features: Tweet of the Day; a link to Top Comments of the Day; a link to the Community Spotlight rescued diaries; and Blast from the Past—something from the DK archives that was originally posted here on the same date several years ago.  Night Owls is an Open Thread, meaning that comments are allowed on any topic.  It is a gathering place for people who are awake late at night or early in the morning, and welcome the reassurance that there is always someone awake and commenting here no matter the hour.

NOTA:   None of the above.

NPP:   No party preference.  Used in some states for people who do not want to be registered as Democrats or Republicans or members of any other political party.  Not to be confused with swing voters, since many NPP actually lean toward one party or another.

NR: (“No Rate”):   A person who uprates comments that violate the rules of the road, or who flags comments that do not violate the rules of the road, may have their ability to recommend and flag removed by admins.  The letters NR appear on your profile to show you are in “no rate” status.  Users in NR status can still make comments and recommend diaries (but not comments).

Nyberg 3:   A rating from the old 0-4 rating system.  Carl Nyberg was known for giving out very few 4s and an abundance of 3s.  3 meant your comment was better than OK but nothing to write home about.  A means of damning with faint praise.

NYT:   The New York Times

O

Obamacare:   Another name for the Affordable Care Act of 2009.  It was originally intended to have a negative connotation when it was coined by Republicans.  Over time it has developed a positive connotation when used by Democrats.

Obot:   passionate supporter of President Obama.  Sometimes used by non-Obama supporters as an insult, sometimes claimed by Obama supporters as a badge of honor

Ocare:   Obamacare.

ODS, Obama Derangement Syndrome:   Irrational knee-jerk total opposition to everything that has anything to do with Barack Hussein Obama.  If he recommended breathing they would hold their breath and die.  Highly correlated with racism.

Old Timer:   someone with a low UID number on the site.

OP:   Shorthand for the “other poster”.  When a conversation is going on in a thread with several nested comments connected to each other, a reference to the “OP” means the other poster/other person with whom you are having the back and forth conversation.

Open Thread:   Most comments to a story are expected to relate to the topic of the story.  An Open Thread, in contrast, has no specific topic, so comments can be made about anything without being called “off-topic.” Open Thread posts are places for general conversation and sharing about whatever is on your mind.  Open Threads are also a good place to ask general questions about politics in general and Daily Kos in particular.

Open Thread for Night Owls:   see Night Owls series

OTOH:   on the other hand

P

PA/GA hats:   Blue hats in response to MAGA hats.  PA/GA stands for Pennsylvania/Georgia, two critical states that gave Joe Biden the election victory in 2020.

Parent comment:   When a user replies to a comment, the original comment and the response are attached to each other in nested form.  The relationship between the two is described using the metaphor of “parent-child” to facilitate discussion of them. The “parent” comment is the initial one, and the “child” comment is the reply to it. The name of the author of the parent comment appears in grey letters in the upper left corner of the comment right beside the name of the author of the child comment. This linkage permits others to follow the string of comments and replies.  Clicking on the grey letters will take you to the comment that is being responded to, also called the “parent comment.”

Partners & Mentors/P&M:   Experienced site users who welcome newcomers when they publish their first story or make their first comment at DK.  The Daily Kos Partners and Mentors group (P&M) posts a special message when new users make their first comment, offering helpful links and guidance about how to find their way around the community.  Other DK members may welcome new users in their own way as individuals, but the P&M “welcome box” is considered an official welcome from the site.  (see: Welcome Wagon)

Pastry:   A vote to hide a comment that violates the Rules of the Road.  A play on the idea that a donut is a piece of pastry and donuts are round like the number zero, the original hide rate number.  Hide rating for mere disagreement will subject you to site discipline. See also: Bagel, Donut.

PEBCAK:   problem exists between chair and keyboard—don’t blame the software or the internet, the problem is something you yourself are doing wrong.

Pie Fight:  (See DKos History: The Pie Fights)

The original pie fight, followed by the DKos pie fight.  R.I.P., Dawn Wells (on the left).

The term "pie fight" is derived from a June, 2005 event on Daily Kos, a liberal and progressive issues web site, in which site administrators accepted an advertisement that showed two scantily-clad women throwing pies and smearing each other with whipped cream and pie filling. This advertisement was for the TBS reality series The Real Gilligan's Island.

Despite the fact that the advertisement was only marginally related to the regular subject matter discussed on Daily Kos, it dominated blog psots and comments for several days. The animosity generated by the acceptance of this advertisement caused some established members of the Daily Kos community to cease participation in the forum that it provides.

The Daily Kos pie wars even rated a more detailed Wikipedia entry, now sadly defunct, replete with the full history—including all related diaries, and the original commercial. Kos did ultimately apologize for sniping at “the women’s studies set.” Ever since, arguments that devolve into irrelevant sniping are known as Pie Fights and the last irrelevant option in any decent poll is some form of pie.

This episode became so iconic that someone actually wrote a thesis on the topic:  An Examination of Conflict Conversation in an Online Community: the Pie Fight at DailyKos.com.

PITA:   pain in the ass

PITB:   pain in the butt

PoC:   people of color

pootie:   cat or kitten

pootie pad:   a tiny version of a community quilt, infused with catnip, as a present for the pet cat of a person receiving a community quilt.  Also sold/commissioned separately.

Pooties, Pootie diaries, Pootie pics (see also Woozles and PWB Peeps):   Pootie is a DK insider name for cats.  Pootie diaries are about people’s pets: pooties (cats), woozles (dogs), and other furbabies and companion animals.  Do not antagonize the pootie people or cause trouble in their community.  They take care of their own.

Post:   A word that can be used to describe a Story or a Comment.

poster:   a person who writes a story or comment

POTUS:   President of the United States

preview is your friend:  you might get this response if you are upset about not being able to edit your comments after posting, or if you accidentally send an answer to someone who has no idea what you are talking about because you meant to answer someone else.

The preview feature allows you an unlimited amount of time to re-read and edit your comments.  If you see a typo or other error, you can click “Return to Edit” and make the changes.  Also in preview, the name of the person you are answering appears in grey letters at the top of your comment box.  If no name appears there, your comment is for the author of the main story.

It is a time saver to check these things in Preview while they can be fixed, instead of clicking “Submit Your Comment” and spending time complaining that you submitted before you doublechecked and now it is too late.

pro tip:   a signal you are about to give an obvious piece of advice that a person with more experience on the subject would already know.

process argument:  (see meta)

Profile Page:   You can hover over or click on a user’s name to see a mini-profile page with their mojo, length of engagement, signature line/sig line, number of diaries, comments, and followers.  Click the user name in the mini-profile page to see the complete DK profile including more detailed personal information and all the DK groups a person belongs to.

pr0n:   snarky way of referring to non-sexual "porn" (food porn, political porn) the "o" is sometimes styled as a numeral zero

PUMA, Party Unity My Ass: said when your preferred candidate did not win the primary and you are so upset you refuse to support the person who did win the primary.  Originally from HRC supporters in 2008; occasionally applied to Bernie Sanders supporters in 2016 and 2020.

purple:   states that are not reliably Blue or Red; election strategies that result in only a small margin of victory between the parties.

PWB Peeps:  Community group and series hosted by people who enjoy writing about their animal companions, furbabies, and pets.  PWB comes from Pooties (cats), Woozles (dogs), and Birdeez (birds). Originally founded by the much-beloved and long-mourned triciawyse, the Pootie Queen, the group has many editors now, with The Marti as the Pootie Princess. The group publishes at least one post/day.

Q

Q:   Q is a mysterious, perhaps non-existent or fictional figure, who has a Master Plan to keep Republicans in power forever.  Q is presumed to have access to high level/classified information because “Q clearance” is thought to be the highest level of access Top Secret Highly Restricted goverment records.

Q reveals tantalizing bits and pieces of this plan every now and then in a cryptic way on social media and then the adherents attempt to figure out the clues and carry out the plan.  Q supposedly had figured out a way to ensure that Donald Trump would get a second term and be the savior of the right, but whatever was supposed to happen before January 20, 2021 did not happen, which has caused some QAnon followers to question whether the whole thing is a hoax.  Not to be confused with the John deLancie character on Star Trek: The Next Generation, who actually was all-seeing, all-knowing, and all-powerful (but maybe the alt-right named their Q after the STNG character?).

Q-[name of state]:   When Members of Congress are mentioned in the press, their names are often followed by one letter indicating their party affiliation and two letters indicating the state they represent.  Using a “Q” in this designation instead of an “R” is a snarky way of indicating that a member of the Republican Party is beholden to or closely aligned with QAnon.  Made popular by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi whose February 3, 2021 press release referred to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy as Q-CA instead of R-CA.

Q Klux Klan:   nickname for Q adherents who are also white supremacists (presumably most of them).

QAnon:   self-chosen name for a group of extreme right-wing conspiracy theories and those that believe them.  The theories are so cuckoo for cocoa puffs that they will not be repeated here.

QOP:  alternative term for the GOP, acknowledging that Q adherents are in a powerful position in the Republican party.

Quistian:   person who claims to believe in Christianity as well as QAnon conspiracy theories, even though these belief systems contradict each other.

R

Ratfucking:   One of the oldest terms on this list, made popular during the Nixon Administration, but engaged in for much longer than that.  Ratfucking is more than just the average political dirty trick: it means engaging in dirty tricks so vile that you must make sure it isn’t blamed on your organization, so the act itself is combined with misdirection clues that lead the media to believe someone in the opposing party is responsible for the act.

Rating Abuse:   Rating abuse means BOTH of these things:  hiding a comment that does not violate the rules of the road or recommending a comment that does violate the rules of the road.  Will eventually result in an NR status: losing your ability to recommend and flag comments.  

Reading is fundamental:   An insult to imply that the information you are asking for is already available in the comment or post and you should read it more closely.

Reality-Based Community:   Any place that operates on science and facts and evidence, as opposed to the RW world where they create their own reality. (See alternative facts.)

rec:   to recommend a blog post or comment

Rec List (Recommended list):   Former name of the Trending List—the 12 posts currently getting the most attention, determined by an algorithm using the number of recs acquired relative to the time elapsed since publication.

recced:   recommended (a story or comment)

Recent List:   The complete list of every article posted by a member of the DK Community or Staff.  The most recently published blog posts are at the top of the Recent List and are moved one spot down the page each time a new post is published.

Recipe:   When a person posts something so outrageous that it is not worth responding to seriously, sometimes a recipe will be posted in response to their comment.  It may be a real recipe, or a joke recipe (the more outrageous the better).  It is confusing for newly arrived trolls and a sign to regular users that this person is suspected of being up to no good.

recommend:   Logged-in users indicate their approval of a post or comment by recommending it.  Stories are recommended by clicking on the recommend button under the title of the story, or by clicking the star in the left margin underneath the tag list.  Comments are recommended by clicking the recommend button underneat of the comment.

Stories get on the Trending List based on an algorithm comparing the number of recommendations to how quickly they come in.  A story may be unrecommended, but once unrecommended can never be re-recommended by that same user.  Stories can be recommended for an indefinite period of time.

Comments, with the exception of the Tip Jar, may only be recommended for 24 hours.  Comments may be recommended/unrecommended an unlimited number of times during the 24 hour window.
Tip Jar comments can be recommended for seven days.

red:   election strategies and results favoring the Republican Party

Red Team:   The Republican Party

RedState:   a conservative blog

Reply button:  Daily Kos uses nested replies which may be confusing to people who are used to long strings of chronological replies on other blogs.  If you are responding to a specific person’s COMMENT, start by clicking the reply button at the bottom of his/her comment.  This way the system will link your answer to the person you are answering and you will not have to use @personsname to draw their attention to your answer.  That person’s name will appear in grey letters next to your name at the top of your comment.  This is a very good thing to check in preview.  If you see a different name than the name of the person you are answering, your comment is about to post in the wrong place.  If you don’t see any name at all, you are answering the author of the main story everyone is commenting on.

When you want to respond to the author of the main story, there is no reply button to the tip jar.  You could search for a comment by the author, but sometimes there isn’t one.  What do you do?  The best choice is to use the full-width comment box right at the bottom of the main story. (A similar comment box appears at the very bottom of all the comments, but in a popular diary with hundreds of comments that means a LOT of scrolling down to find it!)

There are two clues to let you know you are responding to the author of the main story:  (1) your comment box is as wide as the whole story and is not indented in any way, (2) no name appears at the top of your comment box when you check your comment in preview.  One of many reasons to always check your comment in preview.

Republicon:  alternative spelling of Republican.  A response to the slur “Democrat Party” (instead of Democratic Party).

Rescue Rangers:  see Community Spotlight

Right Blogistan:  all the conservative websites on the internet

RINO:   Republican in Name Only—said by far-right Republicans about moderate Republicans or Republicans who vote/cooperate with Democrats

RKBA, Right to Keep and Bear Arms:   DK subcommunity strongly in favor of generous interpretations of the 2nd Amendment.  Arguments in RKBA posts can get very heated.

Rmoney:   Mitt Romney (when criticizing him)

ROFL:   rolling on the floor laughing.

ROFLMAO:   rolling on the floor laughing my ass off.  There are many variants of this so you may see an extra letter you can’t figure out.

Rock Crushers:   An unusual but amusing product that appeared in spam posts. See: Welcome New Users: "Don't crush me bro!", a spam history and New Users Lounge. Ask away!  Also used as a general name for posts by persistent spammers.

RotR: see Rules of the Road.

Rox/Sux:   Tribal behavior engaged in by rival factions during primary season, where competing diaries for your candidate who rox (rocks) versus an opponent who, obviously, sux (sucks).  Also occasionally used in arguments about the Democratic Party or Democratic Leadership in general.

RTFD:    “read the fucking diary” —  the answer to your question was posted in the main blog post itself, so asking the question is proof you did not read the article first.

Rules of the Road:  the guidelines for appropriate behavior at Daily Kos.  The RotR include DOs to encourage supportive community interactions and DO NOTs to explain the sort of discourse that is not allowed. Comments violating the Rules of the Road can be flagged by trusted users.  Enough flags lead to hidden comments and/or other site discipline.

A link to the RotR may be found in the site footer, the section at the bottom of every page, under the About category. Welcome messages from the Partners & Mentors team to new users also include such a link.

Basically, DBAD

RW:   right wing

RWNJ:   Right wing nut job.  Not used as often lately in an attempt to avoid using words like “nutty” and “nut job” as insults.

RWTP:   Right-wing talking points, as disseminated daily on Fox News or other coordinated conservative outlets. Citing RWTP as part of your argument or linking to RW sources will get you ridiculed, if not flagged, hidden or even banned.
 

S

/s:   signal that the immediately preceding words or comment(s) are snark, not to be taken seriously.

SCLM:   so-called liberal media.  There is no such thing as the “liberal media”.  What Liberal Media by Eric Alterman is a good book for more on this.

self-servatives:   conservatives whose political actions address only their selfish personal interests

shameless article promotion:   An attempt to get more eyeballs for a piece by posting comments in multiple threads that say some version of “Please go look at my post!” followed by a link.  This is not an insult and there is nothing wrong with this if such comments are in related threads and open threads and are not repetitive to the point of being spam.

shitstirring:   comments that only serve to cause trouble and inflame argument.  (sometimes spelled shytstirring.)

sig line/signature line:   an earlier version of DK allowed each user to have a signature line printed beneath each post.  This could be a personality descriptor, a personal motto, a favorite quote, a piece of poetry, or a reference to an upcoming event that needs attention.  Old-timers miss the sig lines dearly.  They survive on the profile page and the mini-profile.

SMH:   shaking my head.  When something happens that is so completely off the wall you can’t think of anything to do in response except shake your head slowly from side to side in utter disbelief.

smurf this poll:   using internet communications channels to encourage a lopsided liberal response to an online poll.  Instead of "freeping" a poll (turning it red—the color associated with Ronald Reagan and the Republican party), turn it blue (the color of a smurf—the color of the Democratic party).

Snark:   Snark means saying something in such a sarcastic, satirical way that everyone knows you don’t really mean it.  Sometimes /s will appear at the end of a snarky comment just to make sure everyone knows it is not meant seriously.

sneck:   Obsolete but fondly remembered term for the 100th comment in a post, or a multiple thereof (200th comment, 300th comment, etc.).  Harder to do now that comments are not numbered in the same way.  A fun thing to do in popular community series was making a deliberate attempt to be the 100th comment (or multiple of 100), which would bring you sneck badges and congratulations.  (Bring back the sneck!!!)

Socialist Fuckstick:   greatest hate mail letter of all time (see Dear Socialist Fuckstick)

Sock, SockPuppet:    Creating a duplicate account and posting from both at the same time.  These terms refer to the account and the person using the account. Creation and use of sockpuppets are forbidden at Daily Kos; see RotR DO NOT #22.

SOTU:   State of the Union address.  A speech given by the President once a year (except in inaugural years, and usually given in January) to all the members of Congress and the Supreme Court.

Spam, spamming: Off-topic advertising in a free-standing post or a comment, often posted by bots attempting to get more internet presence for products or services. The promoted wares may range from relatively innocuous ones like travel timeshares or rock crushers to NSFW ones such as escort services.  Also may mean a post that links to a dangerous (virus-infected) site, or a site attempting to scam people in some way.

Often spammers will attempt multiple posts within a short period of time, so “spamming” has also come to mean the act of posting the exact same content repeatedly. Obvious spam, such as foreign language posts, is easy to spot. Less obvious spam includes posts that may appear to have legitimate and relevant content but contain strategic links to businesses or services. Trusted Users who see spam posts or comments can trigger a ban of the spammer via flags on the comment or Tip Jar.

Spambot:   Part of the DK system that tries to identify spam postings and remove them automatically.  When such a blog post is caught by the spambot, the author is automatically banned without need for human moderator intervention.

Squad, The Squad:   Four members of the House of Representatives who were elected in November 2018:  Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), Ilhan Omar (MN-05), Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), and Rashida Tlaib (MI-13).  Each one is a woman of color and a pioneer in some respect: Ocasio-Cortez is Latina and the youngest woman ever to serve in Congress; Omar is the first naturalized citizen of African birth to serve in Congress; Tlaib is the first woman of Palestinian descent to serve in Congress, and Pressley is the first African-American woman to represent Massachusetts in Congress.  Omar and Tlaib are the first Muslim women to serve in Congress.  Ocasio-Cortez and Tlaib are the first female members of the Democratic Socialists of America to serve in Congress.  Because of these reasons, and for their progressive views generally, the four members of the Squad were frequently attacked by conservative politicians and pundits when they were in their first term.  In 2020 two additional people were added to The Squad:  Cori Bush (MO-1), the first Black woman elected to Congress from Missouri; and Jamaal Bowman (NY-16) a Black male progressive candidate who, similar to AOC, primaried a long term Democratic incumbent to win his seat.

Srs Bns:    Serious Business.  Not a joke.  Not to be played around with.

Staff Writers:   Staff writers are employed by Daily Kos and are paid contributing writers are allowed to post articles directly to the Front Page of the site.

State TV:   Fox News Channel, during Republican administrations.

STFU:   shut the fuck up

stolen/so stolen:   “what you said was exactly right and I am going to start saying it also as if it were my own, without crediting it to you, and I hope that’s ok!”  This is a comment, not an insult.  It is also not an accusation that what you said was stolen from someone else.

Story:   Name for a blog post with a title and tags that other DK users can recommend and respond to with their own comments.  Community stories with the most recommendations relative to time-since-publication are automatically added to the Trending List (formerly known as the Recommended List or rec list or wreck list), which is considered a community honor.

Stream:   The list of all posts by people and groups you follow.   Your stream can be reached from your profile page.

Subscribe:   If you subscribe to DK (purchase an annual site subscription) you can read the site without ads. Anyone who is not staff and not banned with a username may subscribe to the site. Anyone may purchase a gift subscription for a Daily Kos user who is not already a lifetime subscriber, a staff member, or banned. “Subscribe” is an ambiguous term because people whose emails are on the Daily Kos Recommended Email list are considered “subscribers” as well.  DKRE subscription is completely independent from site subscription.

T

T&R:  See tipped and recced.

Ta-Ta For Now:   See TTFN

Tag/tags:   A tag is a keyword created/chosen by an author of a post to be associated with that post. The system of tags exists to help people in searches for particular subjects or help tabulate which issues are getting the most discussion/attention on the blog at any given time.  Trusted Users may edit tags applied to other people’s stories. Tag Librarians have permission to organize the system of tags.  User tip: Articles will not be publishable without at least one tag, so if you are writing a draft you don’t want to post by accident, leave the tag line empty.

Tag Abuse:   Altering tags without justification.  One form of tag abuse is adding the “Trending” tag to your own post.  The “Trending” tag is automatically generated by the system when your post accumulates enough recommendations to hit the Trending List, which is a special DK Group. You don’t get to add it yourself!  If you do, you will be subject to site discipline.

TDS:   The Daily Show with Trevor Noah

TDS:   TDS when used to mean “Trump Derangement Syndrome”  is a red flag, since that is a term right wingers use to deflect from reasonable criticism.

teh:   way of spelling "the" that indicates snark of some kind is to follow

TGR:   The Grieving Room subcommunity.  Grief diaries are republished to this group.

“Thank you for your concern.”    Response to a troll who claims to just be concerned about helping a campaign or candidate but is really just looking for an excuse to repeat right-wing talking points and memes.

Thanks, Obama:   Snarky way of blaming Obama for everything, especially things that he definitely did not cause or control:

Time travel—still not an option.  Thanks, Obama!
You know what, I’m probably going to die someday.  Thanks, Obama!

There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch:  Often attributed to Robert Heinlein, but was in wide use decades earlier, during the Great Depression.

Thin Blue Line flag:   See Blue Lives Matter flag.

This:   means “I agree with the comment above” — same as ditto.

This helps:   "This helps" when standing alone should always be dryly read as "This does NOT help at all." Attributed to Bob Johnson (or his dog Rex).

thread:   When you reply to a comment using the “reply” button at the bottom of the comment, the original comment and the response are attached to each other in nested form.  A series of comments and replies nested together like this are called a thread.  The name of the user you are replying to appears in grey letters in the upper left corner of the comment right next to your name, so others can follow the history of comments and replies.  Clicking on the grey letters will take you to the comment that is being responded to, also called the “parent comment”.

Time Out (TO):   A time out is an administratively enforced but limited time away from the site.  It is NOT a permanent ban. During a time out a user can’t post comments or recommend or flag them.  Some time-outs are automatic. If three of your comments are Hidden in a 24 hour period an automatic time-out kicks in. The first time is for 3 days, the second time is for 30 days, the third time is for 300 days, and after that you are autobanned.

Admin can also time you out at their discretion and will tell you the duration of your time out in your warning. A clock icon appears on the profile of someone who has been timed-out.

Tip Jar:   The first comment to any article with one set of exceptions: Stories posted directly to the Front Page by DK staff writers do not have a Tip Jar. Since late 2015 (DK5), Tip Jars are automatically generated by the system, but prior to that date it was possible to compose a custom Tip Jar. 
Recommending the Tip Jar gives mojo  to the author of the article.

If the content of the post violates the site’s Rules of the Road, flagging the tip jar is a way for Trusted Users to bring trolls or spam to the attention of admins. Tip Jars are open for recommending or flagging for seven days after publication of the post.

tip, tipped:  recommending the first comment by the author of the post.

tipped and recced: Tipped means you recommended the first comment by the author (the Tip Jar, an automatically-generated comment) and recced means you recommended the entire story. Tipped and recced means you liked it a lot.  “Tipped recced and shared” means you also shared the article on social media, usually Twitter or Facebook.

The Brief:   a weekly show on Tuesday afternoons 1:30 PT/4:30 ET, co-hosted by Markos Moulitsas and Kerry Eleveld.   Available live on YouTube and Facebook, and recorded versions remain available after each show ends.   Also available as a podcast and repeated on Netroots Radio on Sundays.

thritto:   a response to ditto or THIS—when you are the third person agreeing.

TL;DR, too long; didn't read:  This shorthand reaction may be given to a comment or post that the reader deems too long or complex for consideration. Sometimes it’s offered as a constructive comment but usually it carries the suggestion that the author should understand the audience expectations for DK posts and comments.

TPTB:   the powers that be

Trending List:   List of the 50 diaries getting the most engagement on the site at any given time. The top twelve on the list are listed in the Trending section. Any post qualifying for the top twelve, no matter how briefly, acquires the Trending tag.

Troll:   Someone whose only purpose in posting is to start argument, stir up strong emotion, and/or waste people’s time.  “Don’t feed the trolls (DFTT)” means do not engage with them or rise to their bait or post replies to their comments.  Do not accuse people of being trolls, Russian or otherwise.  If you suspect someone of being a troll or a paid poster, take your evidence to the Help Desk and let admins follow up on it.

trumpstink:   an association with the 45th president of the United States that makes it difficult for a person to get professional employment, personal respect, social invitations, or any position of public trust.

Trusted User, TU:   Someone who has at least three bars of mojo has Trusted User status on the site. This level of permissions enables a TU to “flag” comments as well as recommend them.  A comment that gets enough flags is hidden from casual users of the site and only visible to other Trusted Users.  This is an essential part of Community Moderation.

TTFN:   "Ta-Ta For Now" is a post announcing you are leaving the site for some period of time but plan to come back.  This is usually OK if you have a legitimate reason, “like surgery or a vacation or ‘work is too heavy’ or the like”, but in general, if you want to go and come back, it’s better not to make a big pronouncement.  kos decided in 2013 that TTFN is also bannable when it is clearly a “pathetic way to collect community accolades and pleas to stay” or a “dramatic exit” designed to “create community drama”. Compare with GBCW.   There is a classic Bob Johnson post mocking the TTFN genre here.

Turtle or Turtleman:   Mitch McConnell

Tweety:   Nickname for former MSNBC commentator Chris Matthews.  Some believed the shape of his head bore a resemblance to the Tweety Bird cartoon character.  Also a reference to his tendency towards inane/irrelevant commentary.  Appears in older stories and comments since he is not currently employed as a newscaster.

U

UID:   Not to be confused with a birth control device, this refers to the user number assigned when you register a Daily Kos account. Can be viewed on your profile page.  People with lower UIDs joined the site earlier.  Site founder Markos Moulitsas has UID #3.

Uncle Joe:  Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr., 46th President of the United States

V

VEEP:   Vice President of the United States

VP:   Vice President of the United States

VPOTUS:   Vice President of the United States

VRWC:   vast right-wing conspiracy.  A term popularized by Hillary Clinton in 1998, referring to the network of interconnected right wing communications/propaganda outlets that reinforce each other by sharing/repeating the same framing and talking points: Fox News Channel, talk radio/hateradio, conservative pundits who appear on mainstream news outlets, conservative columnists who write for newspapers and magazines, conservative book publishers.  HRC has been severely criticized for repeating this phrase, and it is often referred to as a conspiracy theory, however there is a great deal of evidence that it was true when she said it and is equally true now.

Villagers:   Supporters of Hillary Rodham Clinton.  From her book title, It Takes a Village.

W

w00t:   Abbreviation for “we own(ed) the other team!”  Usually styled with a zero instead of a letter o.

WaPo:   The Washington Post

Warnings:   Users who post comments or engage in other site behavior that violates the site’s Rules of the Road sometimes receive discipline from site admins such as a time out, or an NR (withdrawal of rating privileges).  Users are informed about these disciplinary actions by receiving a warning explaining what they did and what the punishment will be.  It appears at the top of the screen and a user can’t perform any site functions like commenting or recommending until the warning is acknowledged by clicking on it.  Acknowledging a warning simply  means you have seen the notification; it does not require you to agree with it. Some warnings carry no associated penalty, but serve to alert a user to a violation of site policy and the possibility of additional sanctions if the behavior is repeated. Warnings can be appealed at the help desk.

WAYR, What are you reading?:  A community series posted by the Readers and Book Lovers Group.  A place for people to discuss books they are reading.

WAYWO, What are you working on?:  This community series is a gathering place for people to share progress reports, ask for encouragement, and exchange other information about hand-made and home-made creative projects in a variety of media.  If you knit, crochet, sew, embroider, make jewelry, do metalwork or other sculpting, build furniture, or create anything with your hands and heart, look for the WAYWO every Sunday evening between 7-8pm Eastern.

Welcome Wagon:   An organized group created in the early 20th-century that formalized a previously unofficial custom of sending a few people to visit a family shortly after their arrival in a new neighborhood.  Since this began in the pre-telephone era, the Welcome Wagon would just show up unannounced, a day or two after the move-in date, with a plate of delicious goodies and helpful printed information about the community, sometimes including advertisements and coupons from local businesses.  If requested, members of the Welcome Wagon would sit for a while and answer questions the newcomer might have about the area.  The idea was to make a new neighbor feel welcome and feel as though s/he knew a few people nearby.  The Daily Kos Partners and Mentors group (P&M) posts a welcome message when new users make their first comment.  Other DK members may welcome new users in various ways, but the P&M “welcome box” is considered an official welcome from the site, and older users sometimes call it the “Welcome Wagon”.

“what digby said”:   shorthand for: “see digby's recent writing on this topic, I cannot say it any better”.  see also “digby”

Who?^TM :   originally a reference to Sarah Palin.  Is now also used for pretending you have not heard of other famous people.

WJC:   William Jefferson Clinton (avoids the problem of whether you mean him or HRC when you write "Clinton"

woozle:   dog or puppy

wreck list:   slang term for the trending list back when it was called “the recommended list”

WSJ:   The Wall Street Journal

WTAF:   what the actual fuck

WTF:   what the fuck

WWC:   white working class.  It is a good idea to avoid saying “working class” if what you mean is “white working class”.

WYFP:   "What's your fucking problem"  said to trolls who are acting out for some reason.  Also the name of a subcommunity for checking in.

X

Xian:   abbreviation for Christian.  Used by early church scholars, students of New Testament Greek and others within the church, it is not considered an insult.  X is the Greek letter Chi and has been used as a abbreviation for “Christ” for centuries.  The X in Xmas has the same origin.

XINO:   Christian in Name Only

Y

YCMTSU:   You can’t make this stuff up.

Yearly Kos:  In 2006 a group of Daily Kos regulars organized the mother of all meetups—gathering as many DK regulars as could make it to a gathering in Las Vegas for four days of connecting in person with people who only knew each other as blogfriends.  In 2007 the conference was moved to Chicago, and had already achieved iconic status.  By 2008 it was attracting people from all over Left Blogistan and was restyled as Netroots Nation to include participation of progressives outside of Daily Kos.  Netroots Nation has mushroomed into the largest progressive political gathering outside of the DNC nomination convention.  Although Daily Kos is no longer the organizing group or the only organization present at the event, DK member activities have become a sub-community within the larger event.  The night before the conference begins, Daily Kos hosts a private party for the DK community, known as the “Cheers and Jeers dinner”.  Orange feather boas are optional.

YGTBKM:   you’ve got to be kidding me

YMMV:   your mileage may vary.  When attached to an opinion, means: this has been my experience, I acknowledge that other people including you may have a different experience.

YOLO:   you only live once

“You seem nice.”   Not a compliment.  Tongue in cheek response to trollish diatribes or comments, when a person is behaving badly.  A backhanded insult roughly equivalent to the Southern expression “Bless your heart.”

Z

zero:   A vote to flag a comment—from the old 0-4 rating system.  Only to be given for comments that violate the Rules of the Road.

Zombie:   Banned users who attempt to return under a new user ID, under the misapprehension that their behavior, ideology or other “tells” won’t result in subsequent banning. Banned users are not allowed to return unless they privately petition the Help Desk for reinstatement and receive it.

Do not publicly accuse others of being zombies.

Do report suspects in a private ticket at the Help Desk, where they will yet again be summarily banned until they eventually lose interest in reanimating.