Slang Glossary

Twenty-one terms from the family's vocabulary. Use them at dinner and you'll fit right in. Use them at the bank and you'll be escorted out.

Fiction — dramatization
All slang below is invented for this fictional setting. None of it is real-world criminal terminology.

apex

The Don himself. There is only one apex in any food chain.

The docks. Neutral ground; the tariff applies to everyone.

The ruling council of the boroughs’ crews. Meets quarterly. Eats well.

Calm under pressure — a compliment. The Don’s highest praise for an operator.

The Don’s lounge and headquarters. Also used to mean the family itself: “the Scale takes care of its own.”

Cast out of the family. Not dead — just never at dinner again, which amounts to the same thing socially.

The Scaled Syndicate. Capital F, always.

An old-timer. A term of respect, unless said by a Mammal.

Retired from the life — one way or another. Context is everything.

A newcomer. To be taught, fed, and watched.

The Code book, and by extension the family’s accounts. “It’s in the ledger” ends discussions.

The family council at the Copper Scale. Also: Sunday dinner.

Sworn into the family. The medallion is touched; the words are said.

To leave town in a hurry. The family buys the ticket and chooses the destination.

The family treasury. The Professor counts it; nobody else touches it.

Money. “Fifty thousand scales” is a lot of scales.

To lie low; to disappear for a season. Dinosaurs shed; so do associates.

A parley. All parties fed first — house rule.

Caught; exposed. From the borough, not the practice — the family is against littering.

Deep trouble. “He’s in the tar pits” means send help, or a shovel, depending.

Hot-headed; unreliable. What the family calls the Mammals when being ungenerous, and some of its own when being honest.

All twenty terms are invented slang for this fictional setting, written 2026-09-26. None are real-world terms.