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Survey Slang

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(@mike-berry)
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For your amusement, the attached pdf is a compilation of survey slang from a post in 2000 on either the original Mark Deal RPLS.com, or the POB iteration of RPLS or on Beerleg. I forget which one was active at that time. These were posted by surveyors from all over the country so there's a lot of regional colloquialisms I'm not familiar with and can't vouch for.?ÿ

.

 
Posted : February 15, 2020 5:40 pm
(@paul-landau)
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Pretty good, Iƒ??ve heard of most of them. Iƒ??ll have to take another look and see if I can add any missed. ???

 
Posted : February 15, 2020 6:13 pm
(@peter-ehlert)
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several are new to me, fun list.

I noted a couple of my old favorites are missing... the ones that get me banned from social media.

 
Posted : February 15, 2020 6:28 pm
(@mike-berry)
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@peter-ehlert

I’ll amend the list with any new terms that aren’t too vulgar. Nudge Nudge, wink wink, say no more.

 

 
Posted : February 15, 2020 6:38 pm
(@rich-roberge)
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Pretty glaring omission:

RCH - meaning "left" or "right" less than a half a hundredth.

Usage: "Left, left a tenth, left a hundredth, left a hair, left an RCH, GOOD!"

I miss those days!

?ÿ

 
Posted : February 15, 2020 7:39 pm
(@norman-oklahoma)
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"a pair" or "balls" to indicate an even foot station or measurement to an even foot.

 
Posted : February 15, 2020 8:46 pm
(@edward-reading)
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Posted by: @rich-roberge

Pretty glaring omission:

RCH - meaning "left" or "right" less than a half a hundredth.

Usage: "Left, left a tenth, left a hundredth, left a hair, left an RCH, GOOD!"

I miss those days!

?ÿ

Me too!

 
Posted : February 15, 2020 9:08 pm
(@mike-berry)
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@rich-roberge

Right. Hence my reply to Peter "I’ll amend the list with any new terms that aren’t too vulgar. Nudge Nudge, wink wink, say no more".

 

 
Posted : February 15, 2020 9:29 pm
(@paul-landau)
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Thought of one, “whammy “ , same as a wing ding or Arkansas 90.  

 
Posted : February 16, 2020 8:40 am
(@dougie)
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I thought "Dark-30" was when we started; and we called a Lufkin tape, in round black case, a "yoyo". When I was green; I was asked to go back to the truck and get the yoyo; I came back with a plumb bob with a gammon reel...

 
Posted : February 16, 2020 9:11 am
(@flyin-solo)
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local (perhaps even down to a specific company, but that has subsequently spread with the comings and goings of people): "flinnin" (think of the bass line/hook of the sanford and son theme song, repeated over and over again).?ÿ flinnin would be the detritus of humanity found in the process of completing a survey, an object of some value to the finder (or one of his fellow crew members), whether that be of economic, sentimental, or ANY OTHER kind of value.?ÿ

money, golf balls (which, once accumulated in a bucket, can provide ample break time fun in the field), arrowheads, old bicycles, jewelry, a jar of 19th century pennies (really, i know somebody who found one buried at a corner), whatever it is.?ÿ my best flinnin- to this day- has been a 4 foot-tall neon Jax beer sign that i dug up from under about 3 inches of cover after the schonnstedt said there was something BIG there.?ÿ turns out way back when there'd been a sign shop on the property- i ended up finding 5 or 6 old signs, but that one was the best one.?ÿ also once found a hunk of what i'd presume was some outer space hunk of metal, again with the schonnstedt (thing sang like the fat lady from several feet away).?ÿ bout the size of a golf ball, must have weighed 7-8 pounds.?ÿ my dumb ass decided to hit it with the sharp shooter and it exploded into about a zillion pieces.

 
Posted : February 16, 2020 9:15 am
(@john-putnam)
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Mike,

Aparently this list has been sanitized for our protection.?ÿ I thought that since you were retired you did not need to be so damn politically correct. ?ÿ

?ÿ

 
Posted : February 16, 2020 9:36 am
(@jp7191)
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ƒ??LOVEƒ? for #69. ?ÿAnd ƒ??Ballsƒ? as already stated for even station or zeros on elevation or measurement, such as, check in after chaining a line, ƒ??ballsƒ? meaning right on for how you checked in. ?ÿ(Except for one chief, ?ÿIƒ??ll decide if it is balls, you just tell me what you measured :)). Jp

 
Posted : February 16, 2020 10:48 am
(@mike-berry)
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@john-putnam

Me, sanitize? What the gosh darn heck are you thinking? Just look back on some of my posts, such as this one (which by the way coins a new survey slang term that's not yet on the list). You know me and I'm crestfallen that you would think of me as a decent, caring human being.

 

 
Posted : February 16, 2020 11:22 am
(@dave-karoly)
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Had a Party Chief that would say naught and naught naught for 0+00

 
Posted : February 16, 2020 6:25 pm
(@csk21)
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BFH.?ÿ When the 4 pounder isn't enough hammer you need to get the BFH.

 
Posted : February 17, 2020 9:05 am
(@squirl)
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I remember hearing eleven referred to as "punk" (on the list) or "elv-en" (not on the list) when I was in the field.

Elv-en was pretty common on our field crew.

I didn't learn punk until surveying in Iowa, turning angles manually, for a pipeline. The chief said, "Turn 38d punk 52" ". I looked at him and he further told me, "punk, you, eleven!".

Great guys and a fun trip to Iowa (though colder than a well diggers posterior in the Klondike).

 
Posted : February 17, 2020 10:24 am
(@daniel-ralph)
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@csk21 The BFH in our rig was a 16 pounder, mainly used in frost conditions. 

 

 

 
Posted : February 17, 2020 10:34 am
(@andy-bruner)
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@squirl

We used "railroad" for eleven.

 

 
Posted : February 17, 2020 2:09 pm
(@holy-cow)
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Hope this doesn't devolve into stories about hand signals and the classic story of "I left it in the box."

 
Posted : February 17, 2020 2:14 pm
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