Here’s a quick list of some McMurdo vocabulary:

Let’s start with Amenomania — “Wind madness” as described by Linda Davis in her book “Sir Ernest Shackleton.” It’s an obsession with the wind; its direction, speed and sound.

Freshies — real food; not frozen or canned.

Wasties — Waste department employees

Stewies — Stewards or galley workers

Fuelies — Fuels workers

Runway — Willy Airfield

LDB — Long Duration Ballon Launch operation and location on the ice shelf

Highway 1 and 2 — the two main hallways of building 155

Galley — the cafeteria

Gerbil Gym — the indoor gym where the treadmills and like fitness equipment live

Big Gym — where the basketball, volleyball, soccer and other large space games are played

Uppercase dorms — buildings 206, 207, 208, 209, 210 and 211; these are labeled as “berthing” buildings on the formal station maps

Lowercase dorms — buildings 201, 202, 203 A/B/C (buildings 204 and 205 no longer exist); these are labeled as “berthing” buildings on the formal station maps

VMF — where the vehicles are maintained

e Foot Plan — the plan you have to submit before you can leave McMurdo for recreational purposes

Admin Break — the 15 minutes a day when you MUST check your email

GSC — Gana-A’Yoo Services (my contractor)

PAE — Pacific Architects and Engineers (another contractor)

ASC — the Antractic Support Contract (the one who hires us all); currently managed by Lockheed Martin Corporation

GHG — contractor that hires IT folk

NSF — The National Science Foundation, the reason McMurdo exists

UTMB — University of Texas Medical Branch — the medical contractor

Best Recycling — the contractor that hires waste and recycling folk

NavChaps — Navy guys

Skua — The free thrift store in town, properly known as Skua Central; also the species name of our only flighted bird; also the action of donating something to the free store

MidRat — those who work the overnight shift

MacOps — the folks who run communications for organized groups leaving town, including science teams and formal recreation trips

Ice Radio — 104.5 FM, the station’s station

USAP — United States Antarctic Program

Con 1 — wind speeds greater than 55 knots, wind chills colder than -100F, or visibility less than 100 feet

Con 2 — wind speeds between 48-55 knots, wind chills between -75 to -100F, or visibility less than .25 miles

Con 3 — all weather that is not Con 1 or Con 2. Considered “normal” weather for McMurdo

ACA — The Antarctic Conservation Act; the U.S. law that supports the Antarctic Treaty in protecting animals and land (surprisingly, does not protect the waters around the land which is why it’s technically not illegal to fish endangered species in Antarctica water — see Japan and Chilean Sea Bass).

The Chalet — offices for the NSF folk

Mammoth Mountain Inn (MMI) and Hotel California (HoCal) — NSF and NavChap dorms

Walk-in — the Berd Field Camp freezer

Tow-Away — the carpentry shop

Hut Ten — Lounge building which requires reservations

The Apples — two red, fiber glass emergency huts along the glacier trail to Castle Rock

Scott Base — the New Zealand station that’s about 2 miles away from McMurdo

Admunson-Scott Base — South Pole station; or, simply, “Pole” as it’s called here. As in, “I just got back from Pole.” No articles needed.

ECW — extreme cold weather gear; this includes parka, boots, fleece jacket, fleece pants, water proof pants, gloves (that are terrible and not warm at all), fleece mittens, balaclava, hat.

Big Red — the down parka issued as part of one’s ECW

Little Red — a wind jacket, minus the down, that you can request but is not automatically given to everyone as part of ECW

Bunny Boots — the big, awkward boots given as part of ECW

Janos — the janitors

Beekers — the scientists

Frosty Boy — the soft-serve ice cream machine in the galley

PQ; NPQ — Physically Qualify (for deployment); Non-physically Qualify (for deployment)

redeploy — to leave the Ice

deploy — to come to the Ice

Galley Rally — the meeting of the galley workers before each meal

BOG — Back of Galley; the only room in the dining area without windows

“Where’s your storage unit?” — a more commonly asked question than “where is your home?” Most ASC employees are so transient, they do not have permanent homes, but almost everyone has a storage unit.

DV — Distinguished Visitor; aka Bridgader Generals, members of Congress, etc.; also the name of events given in the honor of current DVs.

There’s more; I just can’t think of them right now.