For most students, more learning goes on around the campus than in the classroom. And for freshmen new to the culture and slang of the university, there’s an even greater learning curve.
Here are some of the words and phrases most commonly used on the campus. Master them like the periodic table of elements in CHEM 131 and you may avoid the telltale signs upperclassmen use to weed out freshmen.
Art Attack — Annual campus-wide event that includes events on McKeldin Mall (climbing wall, face painting, petting zoo) and culminates in a concert at Byrd Stadium. Past acts have included Weezer, Ben Folds and Ludacris. If anyone brings it up, just complain about how lousy Nelly was last spring and everyone will think you were there.
Baltimore Avenue/Route 1 — The main drag through College Park. It’s the same road, guys. Come on.
Crime alerts — Emails sent out to the university community by University Police whenever a crime is reported or an emergency occurs. You must subscribe online to receive these.
College Park Cuddler — Colloquial name for the unknown perpetrator of a string of 2008 alleged sexual assaults that appear to have started at Georgetown University. Two College Park victims reported a man snuck into their beds in the middle of night, thus earning this alleged “cuddler” a notorious name.
Duke University — The small private school in Durham, N.C., where former President Richard Nixon got his law degree. Whenever the Terps beat its men’s basketball team, students often get drunk, block traffic on a major U.S. roadway and burn things, like in 2010 and 2004.
Graham Cracker — An area between College Avenue and Knox Road that is home to seven sororities; it’s called such because the map is supposedly shaped like a graham cracker, but it really just looks like a square. Apparently, the Graham Cracker is a better name than “The Saltine.”
Knox Boxes — The cookie-cutter duplex homes between Knox and Hartwick roads across from the South Campus Commons buildings. Occupied mostly by upperclassmen and cockroaches.
MoCo/HoCo — Short for the nearby Montgomery and Howard counties; commonly used when four to six syllables are just too many to use in describing where you’re from.
Natty Boh — Short for National Bohemian, a pilsner beer that people drink when they want their friends to know they are from Baltimore, even though it hasn’t been brewed there since the ’70s.
Turtle/Fe — Short for Thirsty Turtle and Santa Fe Cafe, two bars that closed last year. Fe had live music and underage drinking; Turtle just had underage drinking.
