Lingo
Hashers have developed many weird and wonderful words and phrases over the years. To be fair you will only hear a small selection of them on a didcot hash. In the interests of furthering our collective knowledge of all things hash related here is an abridged 'Hash Dictionary' for the Didcot Hasher. Those highlighted are the most common to be heard on a Didcot Hash Trail.
| Annual General Meeting (AGM) | Iin many hashes, the occasion for annual election of hash mismanagement; in others, an excuse for a party |
| "Are You?" (R U?) | Question shouted by the pack to FRBs, meaning "Are you on trail?" |
| Arrow | Directional trail mark; also see True Trail Arrow, Pack Arrow |
| A-to-A | Trail that ends where it starts (practially all of them in the UK) |
| A-to-B | Point-to-point trail |
| Back Check (BC) | Trail mark indicating that runners should turn around and retrace their path while looking for true trail, which branched off somewhere before the BC; sometimes accompanied by a number indicating the number of marks the pack should go back before looking for true trail |
| Beer Stop | 1) beverage stop; 2) trail mark indicating a beverage stop. |
| Beer Master | Mismanagement member in charge of ensuring an adequate beverage supply for hash events; also "biermeister" |
| Chalk | Basic substance used for marking trail; see also Flour, Paper |
| Check | Trail mark indicating an intersection where true trail may take another direction |
| "Checking!" | Answer shouted by FRB to pack when asked "Are You?", indicating that FRB has not determined whether the trail he's following is true or false |
| Circle | Assembly of hashers at trail's beginning or end, normally for the purpose of briefing the pack before a trail. |
| Co-hare | Hare's assistant . . . in many hashes it is normal to have two or more hares laying trail together; in others it is a rare event. |
| Down-Down | The ceremony of quaffing a beverage (an honor). We don't do down downs on Didcot. We award the Down Down vest instead. |
| Down-Downs | The ceremony of honoring deserving hashers after the trail with a beverage. As we do not do down downs on Didcot Hash the down down vest is awarded instead and should be worn for the duration of the next hash! |
| False Trail | A section of trail going nowhere, designed to slow down the pack and give the hare more lead |
| Flour | A basic substance used to mark trail; see also Chalk. |
| Front Running Bast*rd (FRB) | Faster member of the pack, also the one member of the pack who finishes trail first (and is normally "honored" for same, since one should not be competitive) |
| "G" Day | February 11th. A.S. Gispert ("G"), the father of hashing, was killed in action defending Singapore from invading Japanese forces on this date in 1942 |
| Grand Master | Mismanagement member, ceremonial leader of the Hash; also Hash Master; GM |
| Hare | Hasher who lays the trail |
| Hare Raiser | Mismanagement member in charge of lining up hares for future trails |
| Harrier | Any hasher, male or female; in some hashes, a male hasher |
| Harriette | Female hasher |
| Hash | 1) The Hash House Harriers, as in "I run with the hash"; 2) an individual kennel, as in "I run with the Didcot Hash"; 3) the actual event, as in "I'm hashing tonight"; 4) trail marks, as in chalk, flour, or paper |
| Hash Cash | 1) Mismanagement member; the treasurer; 2) financial resources of the hash |
| Hasher | Any Hash House Harrier |
| Hash Etiquette | Euphemism for "rule"; also see Rule # 1 |
| Hash Haberdasher | Mismanagement member in charge of T-shirts, hats, mementos, etc |
| Hash House | 1) The Selangor Club in Kuala Lumpur, meeting place of the Mother Hash; 2) any hash hangout, usually a bar |
| Hash House Harrier | Any hasher |
| Hash House Harriers (HHH or H3) | 1) hashers; 2) the hash |
| Hash House Horrors | Hashers' children |
| Hash Hymn | Song sung by the pack during down-downs; see also International Hash Hymn |
| Hashing | The act of running a hash trail |
| Hash Master | Mismanagement member; see Grand Master |
| Hash Name | Nickname, usually bestowed after a set number of runs (3 for Didcot) or in honor of a notable incident |
| Hash Scribe | Mismanagement member normally in charge of writing the hash trash |
| Hash Sh*t (Hash-It, Hashit) | Offensive or embarrassing object given to a hasher for notable on-trail accomplishments, normally carried by the awardee on subsequent trails until it is awarded to someone else; sometimes also used as a nickname for the awardee. One could argue that the Didcot Down Down vests are exactly that. |
| Hash Trash | Newsletter containing writeups of past runs and announcements of upcoming events |
| Hounds | The body of hashers in pursuit of the hare, see also Pack |
| Interhash | Regional, national, or world hash gathering |
| Intersection | See Check |
| Kennel | Hash House Harrier chapter or club |
| Live Hare | Hare who gets a nominal head start and is pursued by the pack as he lays trail |
| Mismanagement | Hash officials; sometimes elected, sometimes appointed |
| Mother Hash | 1) The first hash you ever run; 2) The hash that gave birth to the current hash; 3) the mother of all hashes, Kuala Lumpur Hash House Harriers, first organized in 1938, still going strong and an inspiration to us all (except for the bit about "no women") |
| M-word | Euphemism for "marathon" |
| Nash Hash | A national interhash |
| New Boot | See Virgin |
| "On-Back" | Shouted by FRBs to the pack when FRBs encounter a back check |
| On-Inn | 1) Trail's end, also On-Inn; 2) trail mark indicating proximity to end |
| "On-On" | 1) Shouted by FRBs or hounds to indicate they're on trail, sometimes used only to indicate true trail; 2) trail mark in lieu of a true trail arrow |
| "On-One" ("On-Two," etc) | Shouted by FRBs or hounds to indicate the number of flour blobs they've seen on an unexplored trail, usually after a check. Three blobs and you are on with Didcot. |
| On-Up! (or down, under, over, through, etc) | What hounds sound to let those following know that the trail has become a challenge and the type of challenge being encountered |
| Pack | Hashers in pursuit of the hare, also Hounds |
| Red Dress Run | Theme hash where hares and pack wear red dresses; variations include lingerie runs, mini-skirt runs, etc. Oxford Hash have one every year near Valentines day. |
| Regroup | Trail mark used in some hashes, where FRBs must wait for all members of the pack to arrive before setting out again |
| Religious Adviser/Advisor (RA) | Mismanagement member normally in charge of blessing the hash and settling disputes over tradition; sometimes in charge of down-down ceremonies |
| Respect | Reverential attitude of right-thinking pack members toward the GM during the circle and down-downs |
| Rule | Universally-understood tenet of acceptable hash behavior; never called a "rule" but often euphemized as "tradition" or "hash etiquette" |
| Rule # 1 | "There are no rules" |
| Rule # 2 | "See Rule # 1" |
| Shiggy | Jungle, thick vegetation, rocks, cliffs, streams, etc; especially mud |
| Short-Cutting | The act of attempting to short-cut the trail |
| Short-Cutting Bast*rd (SCB) | Habitual short-cutter, a title of esteem in most hashes |
| Violation | Any infraction of hash etiquette or tradition, on- or off-trail |
| Violator | He or she who must be punished, normally by down-down |
| Virgin | First-time hasher; also applied to first-time hare |
| Virgin Lay | A virgin hare's first trail |