Abbreviations

AGR: Shorthand for 'Appropriations and Government Regulations Committee,' a committee in the House of Representatives. The best Committee in all of USGS. Just ask Jen.

ALL: Shorthand for 'Alleghenies.'

APP: Shorthand for 'Appalachia.'

AS: Shorthand for 'Atlantic Seaboard.'

BELI: Shorthand for 'Budget, Economy, Labour, Infrastructure Committee,' a committee in the House of Representatives.

BG or BLU: Shorthand for 'Bluegrass.'

BSC: Shorthand for 'Big Sky Country.'

CAS: Shorthand for 'Cascadia.'

CS: Shorthand for 'Co-sponsor' as in "Senator Smith is a Co-sponsor of the 'Everyone Loves Puppies Act of 2010.'"

DAC: Shorthand for 'Domestic Affairs Committee,' a committee in the Senate.

DS: Shorthand for 'Deep South.'

FRAS: Shorthand for 'Foreign Relations and Armed Service Committee,' a committee in the House of Representatives.

FRID: Shorthand for 'Foreign Relations, Intelligence and Defense Committee,' a committee in the Senate.

FRM or FB: Shorthand for 'Farm Belt.'

GC: Shorthand for 'Gulf Coast.'

GL: Shorthand for 'Great Lakes.'

GRAC: Shorthand for 'Government Regulations and Commerce Committee,' a committee in the Senate.

HRT: Shorthand for 'Heartland.'

IC: Shorthand for 'In character.'

IG: Shorthand for 'In Game.'

IRL: Shorthand for 'In Real Life.' As in, any news that happens in reality as opposed to in the game.

JUD: Shorthand for 'Judiciary Committee.' Could refer either to the House or Senate Committee on the Judiciary.

LW: Shorthand for Lake Wobegon

MID: Shorthand for 'Mid-Atlantic.'

NE: Shorthand for 'New England'

MW or MWS: Shorthand for 'Midwest.'

NOR: Shorthand for 'Northeast.'

NW or NWS: Shorthand for 'Northwest.'

OOC: Shorthand for 'Out of character.'

ORG: Shorthand for 'Campaign Organization.'

PAC: Shorthand for 'Political Action Committee.'

PES: Shorthand for 'plain English summary.' Refers to a brief summary attached to the end of long bills or bills with excessive legal jargon in them.

SEM: Shorthand for 'Seminole.'

SHEE: Shorthand for 'Science, Health, Education, Environment Committee,' a committee in the House of Representatives.

SUN or SB: Shorthand for 'Sunbelt.'

SV: Shorthand for 'Shenandoah Valley.'

SW or SWS: Shorthand for 'Southwest.'

THOMAS: Refers to the Library of Congress database of bills in the real life current session of Congress (thomas.loc.gov) where most players obtains bills or bill ideas from to submit in game.

UC: Shorthand for 'Unanimous Consent." A motion used in either the House or the Senate to pass non-controversial measures, as in "I ask UC to pass the 'Everyone Loves Puppies Act of 2010' and to be added to the list of co-sponsors."

WAB: Shorthand for 'Wabash Valley.'

Terms - General

Campaign Organization: More commonly referred to as simply 'ORG.'

Chen: to in lieu of writing an actual campaign event, post merely a brief description of what your character talked about; the bare minimum possible to avoid defaulting (Nelson Chen spoke to Democrats about health care in Sacremento.) origin: Named for former player Nelson Chen. Mr. Chen won the election in which he "Chenned"

Default: shortened form of the expression, "to lose by default," i.e., to lose an election by reason of not posting election events.

DINO: "Democrat in Name Only". Democratic members that tend to vote more conservatively than normal for the mainstream Democratic caucus. Most often will vote with Democrats on economic issues, but switch on social issues. Ex: Ed Wyatt of Texas

In character: Actions taken by your character that will affect events in the USGS universe. Go here for the rules on this subject.

Lake Wobegon: A forum where various in character, non-public events take place. Go here (#3) for the rules on this subject.

Neg Bomb - When a player spends a significant portion of his or her campaign funds, usually on the last day of an election, on a really big, highly funded negative attack ad.

Out of character: Actions taken by you, the player, that will not affect events in the USGS universe. Go here for the rules on this subject.

PAC Whore: A player who receives a significant amount of contributions from Political Action Committees (PACs).

Permaban: Lit.'permanent ban'. A permaban is an irreversable removal from the game. It can be instituted by Admins for gross misconduct or can be requested by a player who wishes to leave without the possibility of crawling back to the game in a moment of weakness."

Reset: The specific period of time that the game is currently in. There have been Six Resets thus far (the last one running from the year 2008 until 2024). We are currently in Reset 7 which diverted from real life after elections 2008 and began play with the 2010 elections.

RINO: "Republican in Name Only". Republican members that tend to vote more liberally than normal for the mainstream Republican caucus. Most often will vote with Republicans on economic issues, but switch on social issues. Ex: Jackson Watkiss of California.

Uncontested Org Monster - The phenomenon where a player racks up a huge lead in an election due to their ability to spend more on campaign organization in comparison to their opponent.

Terms - Geographic

Alleghenies: A region consisting of the states Pennsylvania and Ohio.

Atlantic Seaboard: A region consisting of the states New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland

Appalachia: A superregion consisting of the regions of Bluegrass and Shenandoah Valley.

Bluegrass: A region consisting of the states Kentucky, West Virginia, and Tennessee.

Big Sky Country: A region consisting of the states Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Alaska.

Cascadia: A region consisting of the states Hawaii, Washington, and Oregon.

Deep South: A region consisting of the states Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.

Farmbelt: A region consisting of the states Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma.

Gulf Coast: A superregion consisting of the regions of Seminole and Deep South.

Great Lakes: A region consisting of the states Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan.

Heartland: A superregion consisting of the regions of Texas and the Farmbelt.

Mid-Atlantic: A superregion consisting of the regions of Alleghenies and Atlantic Seaboard.

Midwest: A superregion consisting of the regions of Wabash Valley and Great Lakes.

New England: A region consisting of the states Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, and New Hampshire.

Northeast: A superregion consisting of the regions of New York and New England.

Northwest: A superregion consisting of the regions of Big Sky Country and Cascadia.

Region: A subdivision of the United States adopted for USGS game mechanics purposes. Consists of one or several states. Represented by two Senators in the United States Senate. See the map for further explanation.

Seminole: A region consisting of the states Florida and Georgia.

Shenandoah Valley: A region consisting of the states South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia.

Southwest: A superregion consisting of the regions of Sunbelt and California.

Sunbelt: A region consisting of the states Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico.

Superregion: A subdivision of the United States adopted for USGS game mechanics purposes. Consists of two regions. The governments of the states have been replaced in USGS by superregional governments consisting of a legislature, judicial system, and governor. See the map for further explanation.

Wabash Valley: A region consisting of the states Indiana and Illinois.