Common Dictionnary
In order to better understand the Common, here is a list of words and expressions that are used throughout Faerûn.
alae
"Fortunate Meeting". A contraction of an elven phrase. It is a greeting and reassurance of peaceful intentions between travelers in the southern and eastern coast lands around the Sea of Fallen Stars.
alavairthae
"May your skill prevail".
alehouse
tavern
amarast
"Fare well until next we meet!". A common farewell among the sailors of the South, originally a word from Turmic.
anyhail
anyhow, anyway
to appet
to desire greatly
Art or The Art
Arcane Magic or its mastery
badaulder
nonsense, hogwash
battlebud
dyke
bindworthy
"You are weak or wrong or stupid or rash enough to be easily bound by a mortal, and fittingly bound" Mainly used by devils.
blood of the night
the essence or nature of what it is to steal for a living.
bluefin
tuna
blusterwing
grouse
blynndur
a small loaf of bread with a hard crust and fireseared herbs and greens inserted for flavor. Often used as a bowl for soup or stew when dining away from civilization.
brightbirds
a pair who are courting but not necessarily intimate.
brightcoin
a successful and socially rising person. Can be turned to an insult by combination with other words that give context.
brightheart
the person your heart is set upon after courting in public.
brightstar
great, exciting, pleasing, marvelous, or superb.
browncap
a wild mushroom.
bullyblade
an opportunistic thug for hire, often hired in gangs
burslake (or simply slake)
trout
bustard
turkey
candle-cup
a bed paired with a table and an oil lamp.
cantrev
village, town, or other settled community. A term from the Moonshae Isles.
cask-smasher
a vandal
casking
the act of vandalizing.
chamberjack or chambermaid, informally jack or maid
an employee of a small inn.
clack
gossip, rumors, news, or current affairs.
clevershanks or clevertongue
a know-it-all. The first word refers to men, the second to women.
cod-loose winker
tireless woman-chaser or a "Casanova".
coin-lad
male prostitute
coin-lass
female prostitute
croft
an isolated farmstead.
crofter
the owner of a croft, or a worker of said croft (usually, kin to the owner). Can also be used as substitute for farmer.
darburl
angry
darchains
suites of linked rooms in a house, usually three.
darkback skewer
meat from rodents (rats, voles, sometimes mice, weasels, or mink) fried and served on a needle of wood with onion.
darkblade
a mercenary with dubious morals and/or loyalty.
darkhall
any rundown house.
dathna
male homosexual
dayblood
a novice thief, who "doesn't have the blood of the night in them"
deepnight
midnight
doorsword
a guard that guards a doorway of a building.
durgos
"peace". A corrupted form of the orcish greeting "Durgreos". Used by mongrelmen and human slavers.
dusk
"masochistic man"
dusk rose
"masochistic woman"
elsun
late morning
emerald eyes
a Calishite dish made from small green fish, squid, snails, and mussels, all chopped together, hotly spiced, and pickled.
evenfeast
dinner
eventide
gloaming
faement
enchantment, more specifically done by Faes.
fairlady
a polite greeting, usually used with strangers. Typically for young ladies.
fieldings
vegetables (mainly cabbage, leeks, parsnips, and potatoes, but also carrots, onions, and radishes)
filidar
a dainty food item, picnic, or feast. Derived from the name of Prince Filidar.
fireseared
grilled
flame in the belly
a sweet peach jelly made with zzar and red-pepper spices from Calimshan.
flamed
seared
fumblehands
an incompetent or clumsy thief.
galad
Heartlands word meaning something akin to "I'm astonished!"
garderobe
bathroom.Outdoor bathrooms were called privies, thunderthrones, or gloryhouses.
glim/glimmer
something beautiful or flashy.
gloryhouses
Outdoor bathrooms
goldenpanned
sautéed.
godswake
predawn.
goodsir and goodwoman
a polite greeting, usually used with strangers.
greenneedles
aspargus
gripper
a thief known for being quick at stealing.
groundsnake
any edible snake. Typically served chopped into chunks and fried.
gulletfire
beer or wine that isn't pleasant to drink, but does not cause illness, either.
haelhard
office worker.
hand-tart
hand-sized pastry filled with meat (usually bustard with other game) and a strip of boar fat (boar bacon). Baked.
harbright
full morning.
hardjaw
a garrulous regular of a tavern; a barfly.
harnor
”butch”.
haularake
god-damnit. It was an all-faith polite insult.
hawksnarl
a man who always yelled or was nastier or more aggressive than prudent or necessary.
hay-nose
a hick or bumpkin is also used for this term.
High Tongue
The standard magical script used by wizards for recording spells in spellbooks and scrolls.
highborn or high-nose
a noble. The second word was a pejorative.
highmantle
someone who is politely haughty and superior, rather than rude. A compliment to their manners and bearing.
highsun
noon.
highsunfeast
lunch.
hiresword
mercenary.
hold
fortified homestead.
holy-nose
a priest. A mildly-offensive term.
honey paw
bear
hrast or hrammar in the south
a non-deity-specific "damn".
hrasting
a mild form of stlarning; different meaning to hrast.
hykyath
prance. It is used by satyrs as a parting word. It is frequently used by elven or half-elven poets. Orcs are known to use the term in battle.
jakes
bathroom
joint
a cut of meat
keghand
a male waiter, or other serving staff
kell
to try. It was a derisive, cynical or disbelieving word, used only when the thing you were trying to do seemed to be impossible. Kell never changed due to tense
knife ears
a pejorative term used for Elves and Half-Elves, due to their pointy ears. It can be used on other races as well, though it is less common.
knucklet
brussels sprout
lalandath
agile, sleek or lithe, often used to describe female dancers whose beauty was accentuated by their movements.
lammath drios
"Fortune find you." Parting used in Essembra and the surrounding lands.
lifeblood
women's periods.
mayhap
perhaps.
marraskh
"Get gone!" or “Get lost!”
marrado beans
seeds (presumably of the marrado plant) that resembled kidney beans except blood-red in color, typically dried for export from Tethyr and eastern Amn.
message tart
a hand-tart with a concealed message inside, usually engraved on a clay disk to survive the baking process.
moonblood
women’s periods.
morningfeast
breakfast.
murdath
a standath without cellars.
my hearth
my house. A term usually used to refer to a cottage.
naeth or naed
dung (expression)
nandra
something mediocre. Usually used to bicker over prices.
navalar
catfish
newcoin
a newly-wealthy person who spends to show off. A pejorative term.
nightblood
a general term for a professional thief.
nightfall
dusk.
nightjack or nightmaid, informally potjack and potmaid
an employee of a large inn.
oloré
"Well met" or "Good day". A common greeting in the lands surrounding the Sea of Fallen Stars.
on the morrow
tomorrow.
orbal
Dung. It is the Shining South equivalent of naeth.
outlander
a foreigner.
poised
term used to refer to an individual in the process of transitioning between genders.
plounce
squab (young pigeon).
packsaddle son, packsaddle daughter, often shortened as packsaddle
bastard.
parharding
a swear word used as an adjective (ie:"Parharding wizard!"). Used to call someone clumsy and idiotic.
Power or the Power
Divine magic.
punnet
a small basket made of rushes used as a unit for selling vegetables.
rhambukkya
"ride high". Greeting used by Shaaryan nomads and the inhabitants of Elfharrow.
rivvim
smitten, in love, lusty.
roofwrack
a dilapidated house.
rose
"submissive female".
sabbas
"Run free." A parting used by centaurs, and by many nomads and riders of many races.
sabruin
"Get lost" or harsher similar words.
scorchkettle
a woman who always yelled or was nastier or more aggressive than prudent or necessary. Sometimes, it was used to refer to both genders.
saer
sir, goodsir.
sark
a more offensive form of haularake.
screamdream
An erotic dream.
sellsword
a well-established or veteran mercenary.
Selûne's kiss
women's periods.
shaeling
minnow
sheelie
bass
shield (food)
pastry crust
shitting
used before a term to express antipathy, or intensify something already bad. "It's cold. It's shitting cold."
sildur
an Elven loan-word, this term referred to individuals that had settled into a gender other than their birth gender.
silverfin
whitefish
simpering man-lover
"effeminate male homosexual" (derogatory)
skaether
restaurant
slake
trout.
softshadow
a veteran, skilled thief.
sorn
salmon
spear (food)
aspargus
spurnarmor
a good-looking man or woman with a spectacular figure.
standath
a rectangular stone building with cellars. Common across the Dragon Reach and Moonsea.
steading
an isolated farm.
stettar voh
"Gods-power keep you well." A formal, peaceful greeting and parting among merchants in southern Faerûn[1] and in Laerakond.
stlarn
polite equivalent of F-word. About as blasphemous as "darn" used where we might say "screw" or "screwing"
stonebolt
a lidless, small clay pot with a long handle, often sealed with wax and used for selling, storing, and transporting food items. Size and capacity ranged from a human fist to a human head.
straek
something akin "go kill yourself, right now and painfully.”
tallhouse
a tall, narrow, tenement-like building sharing side walls with adjacent buildings.
tantam
a common greeting in the North of Faerûn and among the worshipers of Waukeen, meaning "peace, and hello," a greeting of joy, given with devotion.
tasmar
a bisexual man
tavernmaster or tankard-tender
an innkeeper or the owner of a tavern.
tenday
a ten day period, a week.
thael
glad, pleasant or heart-lifting.
thargur
late afternoon.
throatslake
see, gulletfire. A healthy and thirst-quenching drink that wasn't particularly pleasant.
this night
tonight
thruss
a lesbian
thruster
a tireless social-climber. Sometimes imply a willingness to demean themselves or perform dark deeds.
thulsun
early afternoon.
thumbknuckle
brussels sprout
tindertwig
a match
tluin
a stronger form of sabruin.
turnshield
polite Cormyrean term for bastard.
uluvathae
"Fortune bring you joy" or "May your fortune bring you joy". Used by Elves and Half-Elves as an informal greeting or parting.
under the moon
can be said of a woman during her menstruation
vasark
horsemeat.
vlandranna
"Gods grant". Used in conjunction with with whatever you wanted the gods to grant you. A corrupted Dwarven word used by those living on and around the Sea of Fallen Stars.
waelo
equivalent to "Hey there!".
wanton
"promiscuous female" (derogatory)
wench
a barmaid or a waitress.
whitesmith
someone who does light metalwork.
whorson
an insult, a contraction of "whore's son"
wild one
A term to designate someone who enjoys having (shapechanging) spells cast upon them as part of sexual play. (derogatory)
wine bag
drunkard
winker
"lecher" (derogatory)
zzar
ice wine
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