Common dictionary

Most players in our world simply use Common as a direct translation from whatever language they speak. However, certain words are different, as demonstrated by the following list.

A

 * Alae : "Fortunate Meeting". A contraction of an elven phrase. It was a greeting and reassurance of peaceful intentions between travelers in the southern and eastern coast lands around the Sea of Fallen Stars. It became a common greeting across all Faerûn during the 15 century DR.


 * Alavairthae
 * "May your skill prevail". A common farewell among the Red Wizards of Thay.


 * Alehouse
 * Tavern.


 * Amarast
 * "Fare well until next we meet!". A common farewell among the sailors of the South.


 * Anyhail
 * Anyhow, anyway.


 * Art or The Art
 * Arcane magic and its mastery.

B

 * Badaulder
 * - Hogwash, nonsense, etc. It originated in the Western Heartlands, but in the late 14 century DR its usage crept into Cormyr, the Dalelands, the Moonsea, and Sembia.


 * 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.


 * Brighstar
 * Could mean either great, exciting, pleasing, marvelous, or superb.


 * Browncap
 * A wild mushroom.


 * Burslake (or simply slake)
 * Trout


 * Bustard
 * Turkey

C

 * Candle-cup
 * A bed paired with a table and an oil lamp.


 * Cantrev
 * Moonshae term for a village, town, or other settled community.


 * Chamberjack or chambermaid, informally jack or maid
 * An employee of a small inn.


 * Clevershanks or clevertongue
 * A know-it-all. The first word refers to men, the second to women.


 * Codloose winker
 * Lecher


 * 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.

D

 * 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.


 * Deepnight
 * Midnight.


 * Doorguard
 * 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. In the 15 century DR, it as also a popular greeting among dragonborn, and traders and sailors of all races.

E

 * 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.

F

 * Fieldings
 * Vegetables (mainly cabbage, leeks, parsnips, and potatoes, but also carrots, onions, and radishes)


 * Fireseared
 * Grilled


 * Flame in the belly
 * A sweet peach jelly made with zzar and red-pepper spices from Calimshan.


 * Flamed
 * Seared

G

 * Galad
 * Heartlands word meaning something akin to "I'm astonished!"


 * Garderobe
 * Bathroom. Another term for a bathroom was jakes. Outdoor bathrooms were called privies, thunderthrones, or gloryhouses.


 * Glim/Glimmer
 * Something beautiful or flashy.


 * Goldenpanned
 * Sautéed.


 * Godswake
 * Predawn.


 * Goodsir and goodwoman, or sometimes fairlady
 * A polite greeting, usually used with strangers.


 * Groundsnake
 * Any edible snake. Typically served chopped into chunks and fried.


 * Gulletfire
 * Bad beer or wine.

H

 * 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.


 * Hardjaws
 * Garrulous regulars of a tavern.


 * 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. 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.


 * Highsun
 * Noon.


 * Highsunfeast
 * Lunch.


 * Hiresword
 * A mercenary.


 * Hold
 * A fortified homestead.


 * Holy-nose
 * A priest. It was a mild-offensive word.


 * Hrast ( or hrammar in the south
 * A non-deity-specific "damn".


 * Hrasting (
 * a mild form of stlarning; not related 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.

J

 * Joint
 * A cut of meat.

K

 * Keghand
 * A waiter.


 * 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.


 * Knuckle or thumbknuckle
 * Brussels sprout

L

 * 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 (except Sembia, as they see it as a word only used by bumpkins).

M

 * Mayhap
 * Perhaps.


 * 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.


 * Morningfeast
 * Breakfast.


 * Murdath
 * A standath without cellars.


 * My hearth
 * My house. A term usually used to refer to a cottage.

N

 * Naeth (, drawn-out "th") or naed in the south
 * Dung (exclamation).


 * Nandra
 * Something mediocre. Usually used to bicker over prices.


 * Navalar
 * Catfish


 * Nightfall
 * Dusk.


 * Nightjack or nightmaid, informally potjack and potmaid
 * An employee of a large inn.

O

 * Oloré "Well met" or "Good day". A common greeting in the lands surrounding the Sea of Fallen Stars.


 * On the morrow
 * Tomorrow.


 * Orbal
 * The Shining South equivalent of naeth.


 * Outlander
 * A foreigner.

P

 * Plounce
 * Squab (young pigeon).


 * Parharding
 * A swear word used as an adjective ("Parharding wizard!")


 * Power
 * Divine magic.


 * Punnet
 * a small basket made of rushes used as a unit for selling vegetables

R

 * Rhambukkya
 * "Ride High". Greeting used by Shaaryan nomads and the inhabitants of Elfharrow.


 * Rivvim
 * Smitten, in love, lusty. As in "I'm rivvim for her".


 * Roofwrack
 * A dilapidated house.

S

 * 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
 * See, goodsir.


 * Sark (, drawn-out "s")
 * A more offensive form of Haularake.


 * Sellsword
 * A well-established or veteran mercenary.


 * Shaeling
 * Minnow


 * Sheelie
 * Bass


 * Shield (food)
 * Pastry crust


 * Silverfin
 * Whitefish


 * Skaether
 * Restaurant


 * Slake
 * Trout


 * Sorn
 * Salmon


 * Spear (food), also known as greenneedles
 * Asparagus


 * 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 (stet-tar VOH)
 * "Gods-power keep you well." A formal, peaceful greeting and parting among merchants in southern Faerûn and in Laerakond.


 * Stlarn
 * Polite equivalent of F-word. About as blasphemous as "darn" used where we might say "screw" or "screwing" (stlarning).


 * 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 (, drawn-out "r")
 * Something akin "go kill yourself, right now and painfully."

T

 * Tallhouse
 * A tall, narrow, tenement-like building sharing side walls with adjacent

buildings. Tallhouses were common in Waterdeep, Athkatla, and the cities of Sembia in the 14 and 15 centuries DR.


 * Tantam
 * A common greeting in the North.


 * Tavernmaster or tankard-tender
 * An innkeeper or the owner of a tavern.


 * Tenday
 * A week.


 * Thael
 * Glad, pleasant or heart-lifting.


 * Thargur
 * Sweet syrup made by adding diced apples and walnuts to molasses. Used in desserts.


 * Tharsun
 * Late afternoon.


 * Throatslake
 * See, gulletfire. Also, a healthy and thirst-quenching drink that wasn't particularly pleasant.


 * This night
 * Tonight.


 * Thulsun
 * Early afternoon.


 * Tindertwig
 * a match


 * Tluin
 * A stronger form of sabruin.


 * Turnshield
 * - Polite cormyrean term for bastard.

U

 * Uluvathae
 * "Fortune bring you joy" or "May your fortune bring you joy". Used by elves and half-elves as an informal greeting or parting.

V

 * 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.

W

 * Waelo
 * Equivalent to "hey, there!".


 * Watchwolf
 * A guard.


 * Wench
 * A barmaid or a waitress.


 * Whitesmith
 * Someone who did light metalwork.


 * Whorson
 * An insult, probably a contraction of "whore's son"

Z

 * Zzar
 * - Ice wine.