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This article details minor Discworld concepts: concepts and ideas from the Discworld of novels by Terry Pratchett which only appear in the background, or are not well fleshed out.
Anorankh
An anorankh is a pseudo-mystical symbol, consisting of an ankh wearing an anorak. It stems from a discussion on alt.fan.pratchett, a newsgroup for fans of Terry Pratchett. One user mistakenly used the word "anorak" to refer to the ancient Egyptian symbol of life, the ankh. A series of puns ensued which was eventually joined by Pratchett himself, who commissioned the first Holy Anorankh from Clarecraft, the company responsible for creating the series of official Discworld figurines. Clarecraft eventually made two designs commercially available, one silver and one pewter. Both designs are generally worn as necklaces or earrings, and they have since become an unofficial symbol of Pratchett-fandom.
In Maskerade, Granny Weatherwax remarks that a girl named Colette is wearing "fascinatin' earrings." This is a reference to a fan that Terry met at a convention; being impressed with her Anorankh earrings, he offered her a cameo in his next novel.
An image of the Holy Anorankh design is available here.
The L-Space Web's A.F.P (alt.fan.pratchett) Timeline
Martin Walser's anorak post
Anti-crime
Described as a rare, inverse form of crime. According to Reaper Man, an anti-crime must:
... be done in such a way that it causes outrage and/or humiliation to the victim. Merely giving someone something is not enough. Examples of this type include breaking-and-decorating, proffering-with-intent, and whitemailing (for example threatening to reveal a mobster's donations to charity).
Even on the Discworld, anti-crime has never really caught on.
Battle of Koom Valley
Central to the plot of ', the inhospitable Koom Valley was the scene of an ancient battle between dwarfs and trolls that both species came to use as an excuse for the mutual enmity related throughout the Discworld series. It was said to be the only known battle in which both sides ambushed the other, and acted as inspiration for the development of the game of Thud.
Later engagements have led to a total of sixteen battles of Koom Valley (seventeen counting a "fracas" in Vilinus Pass), only three of which took place in the valley itself. This is in part due to the battle being a convenient patch for rips in time often used by the History Monks, although the History of Thud suggests that something about the valley itself encourages violence (this might be related to the Summoning Dark). Over time, as Vimes notes in Thud! the Battle of Koom Valley ceased to be tied to any one location, and tended to appear anywhere and everywhere as a justification for any conflicts whatsoever between dwarfs and trolls.
Koom Valley's story is eventually revealed in the novel Thud!: The intention was to sign a treaty, but heavy fog came down, and when it lifted some took the sudden sighting of their mortal enemies for an ambush and tried to attack. Both sides fell on their own to keep this from happening, and fought until a flash flood washed them all away. The only word to come from the valley was exactly the wrong one.
This led to the continuation of the enmity until the efforts of Commander Vimes of the Ankh Morpork City Watch revealed the truth thousands of years later, in the process uncovering the last resting place of , the first Low King. He was playing an early form of Thud with Diamond, king of Trolls.
The name "Koom" is a reference to the Welsh word cwm, which is pronounced "koom" and means "valley". Thus "Koom Valley" means "Valley Valley." Pratchett has an admitted fondness for tautological place-names, such as "Cheetwood", which literally means "Woodwood," and Torpenhow Hill, which means "Hillhillhill Hill."
Boffo
Boffo is described in Wintersmith as "the power of expectations"; the strength one gains from behaving exactly as someone expects you to. It is introduced by the witch as a means by which she ensures people take her seriously. It gets its name from the Boffo Novelty and Joke Shop, no. 4, Tenth Egg Street, Ankh-Morpork, from which Miss Treason purchases most of her interior decorating supplies. It is possible that the shop is run by a clown called Boffo, a minor character in Men At Arms. Frequently purchased items include fake skulls, fake spiders' webs and her hat (Wicked Witch #3- "A must for scary parties"). No witch actually has spiders' webs in her cottage or keeps skulls for any reason, but people expect witches to do so and Miss Treason obliges them, the better to ensure that when people come calling they don't see what is really there (a tired, blind 111-year-old woman), but what they expect (a venerable, terrifying 113-year-old witch). She also ensures that many of the rumours about her (that she has a demon in her cellar, that she eats spiders, that she has a clockwork heart) are kept current and circulating, to ensure the presence of "Boffo thinking" among her clients.
Dark light
Introduced in , dark light is described by Otto Chriek as being the original form of light from which all other forms of light came. Otto was experimenting with dark light in order to take "obscurographs", iconographs using dark light given off by the Uberwaldean Land Eel (see Olm) instead of normal light given off by salamanders. There are at least a couple of unintended side effects from using dark light. The first stems from the fact that dark light is detached from time, resulting in iconographs that show not only the present but the past and even the future. Dark light is also said to be "seen by the dark eyes of the mind." The result of this is that anyone exposed to dark light feels like they've had an icicle hammered into their head. Iconographs taken with dark light apparently show either a dark part of the subject's psyche (such as Mr. Pin's past murders) or hidden motivations (such as William De Worde's urge not to be like his father), though there may be other effects not revealed in the book.
Dark Morris
The Dark Morris is a form of Morris dance, described in a number of Discworld novels, beginning with Reaper Man as a counterpart to the traditional Morris dance (because in the Discworld, everything must have its opposite)—according to Reaper Man, one is not performing a Morris dance correctly unless one performs both dances. In the setting of the novels, it is performed primarily to welcome the winter. It involves rhythmic stepping and the execution of choreographed forms by a group of dancers, who may wield sticks, swords, and black handkerchiefs. It is done while wearing only black clothes, and with octiron bells: these are distinct from normal bells in that they emit audible silences. Thus, this form of Morris dancing is unusual, as it is silent: traditionally, there would be accompanying music.
Since its first literary appearance, the Dark Morris has been adopted by a few Morris sides. Pratchett, in an 'Author's Note' at the end of Wintersmith, describes how a Morris side turned up at one of his book signings dressed in black, "just for me" and "danced the Dark Morris in silence and perfect time." "It was beautifully done," he said, "But it was also a bit creepy."
Dimwell Arrhythmic Rhyming Slang
Dimwell arrhythmic rhyming slang (DARS) is the only known rhyming slang that does not actually rhyme. It has so far (2009) appeared only in Going Postal, where it is spoken by Tolliver Groat, the elderly Junior Postman. On their first introduction, the new Postmaster Moist von Lipwig is disconcerted by Tolliver's denial of his toupée, when he asserts "It's all mine, you know, not a prunes". Explanation reveals that in Dimwell slang, "syrup of prunes" means wig. (In Cockney rhyming slang, the expected derivation would be "syrup of figs".)
There are only a few examples of the slang system in Going Postal, and we are not vouchsafed the specific meaning and derivation in each case. Some are:
*cup-and-plate - no definition is given, but "cup and spoon" rhyme with loon. "He's a bit cup-and-plate in the head" implies it means "not quite right."
*syrup of prunes - wig
Figgin
The figgin first appeared in ' as part of the rituals of a secret society called The Elucidated Brethren of the Ebon Night. Despite typically being interpretable as a body-part (Havelock Vetinari's predecessor as Patrician of Ankh-Morpork, Mad Lord Snapcase, was noted in Interesting Times as having been hung up by his figgin following a revolt), according to the Dictionary of Eye-Watering Words it is in fact a small short-crust pastry containing raisins.
Fingles
Insinuated, in Eric, to be an important part of human psychology. Their absence, according to the Creator, can cause psychological problems. "On the surface they were all right, but deep down they knew something was missing," as he put it, referring to the inhabitants of a world where he forgot to include any. (Compare "Slood".) Since Fingles do not exist on Earth, it is implied that Earth is the planet the Creator is referring to, and humanity is the species that is fundamentally incomplete because of its absence.
Insorcism
First seen in Making Money, this is the opposite of an Exorcism. Basically it causes the summoned spirit to haunt that which it is cast upon. It uses a circle of chalked runes, which is vertical rather than the usual horizontal. It is used near the end of Making Money by Dr. Hicks of Unseen University and four of his students to banish the spirit of the late Professor Flead to a striptease club as a sort of payment for his help to Moist von Lipwig. Insorcism is not legal under the college rules of the University.
The 'Jerk Syndrome'
Described in '. This is a condition that may be experienced by a woman who is so beautiful, so alluring, that, as Angua describes it, any man with half a brain isn't even going to think about asking her out, because it's obvious she's too grand for the likes of him. This leads her to believe that the problem is at her end, and that there must be something wrong with her. This persists until she meets a man who does not have half a brain (i.e. is too stupid to realize she'll likely reject him, or is so used to rejection that it doesn't bother him, or has some other flaw that stems from an even more major flaw), who does in fact ask her out, and she is so grateful that she says yes. It is implied that problems ensue because she is, as it were, going to a fancy, lavish restaurant and only ordering a bread roll and maybe a small salad. The concept is used in reference to Tawneee, who is a quintessential example of this in her relationship with Nobby, although the strange part is that she actually likes him.
Knurd
Recurring in various novels Knurdness is described as the opposite of being drunk: not sober, which is merely the absence of drunkenness, but just as far away from sobriety in the opposite direction, resulting in a terrible, existential clarity. According to Sourcery, being knurd strips away all the comforting illusions in which people usually spend their lives, letting them see and think clearly for the first time. This is a very traumatic experience, although it is noted that it sometimes leads to important discoveries.
Although knurdness is a state usually only obtainable by drinking Klatchian coffee, Samuel Vimes, one of the Discworld's most notable characters, is described in ' as being naturally two drinks short of actual sobriety. This makes him slightly knurd by default, which partially accounts for his depressive nature and tendency towards alcoholism—he started out looking for a cure to knurdness. Once he starts drinking, however, he can't stop and always gets the dosage wrong. Another character in the series who might be considered "knurd" is Tiffany Aching; by dint of her First Sight, she often sees things "as they are", rather than how she wishes to see them, although she retains a certain romanticism because of her youth.
Knurd written in reverse spells "drunk"; compare the entry in the Jargon File.
Octarine
The colour of magic on the Discworld, also often called the eighth colour. Octarine is strongly indicative of magic and can only be seen by wizards (who sometimes describe it as resembling a fluorescent greenish-yellow purple) and cats. As in conventional human colour vision, colour opponency prevents the perception of reddish-greenish or yellowish-bluish colours; it would therefore be impossible to perceive a colour as "greenish-yellow purple"; if greenish-yellow and purple lights were shone together a shade of grey would result, with pigments the result would be brown. The normal human visual system works by the presence of cones and rods in the eye; the ability of wizards to see octarine is explained by the additional presence of octagons. The colour octarine appears as black or invisible to ordinary people; this leads to a common conception of the colour as the colour of an incandescent filament when viewed through black-light film, a fluorescent white or ultrablue.
The term octarine has become part of Pagan theological vocabulary. The occultist Peter J. Carroll referred to octarine in his book Liber Kaos Octarine, in the lexicon of chaos magic, is associated by Carroll with "pure magic," as distinct from specializations of magic such as ego magic, love magic, sex magic, war magic, and wealth magic, which specializations he also associates with traditional planetary colors. This has also led to an association of the octarine with "Ouranian" power, and therefore with Uranus, among some chaos magicians. Other chaos magicians, following Anton Channing in his work 'Kaos Hieroglyphica,' associate Ouranos/Uranus, and therefore the Octarine power, with Chaos itself, and replace it in the magical color spectrum with the "white," or alternatively, "turquoise" magic of Neptune, the psyche.
Quantum
Both quantum mechanics and the uncertainty principle have appeared in the Discworld in some form or another; however, neither concept even remotely resembles their real world counterparts.
Quantum isn't explained at all; in fact, it serves much the same function as "magic" does on Earth, as described in The Discworld Companion, "a sort of get-out-of-half-understood-explanation-free card" — essentially, an explanation that does not, in fact, explain anything. It should be noted that just "magic" by itself would not be appropriate as such a non-explanation on the Discworld, since magic is a more or less fully-understood phenomenon (as in The Last Hero, when Leonard of Quirm attempts to explain weightlessness in a spaceship as "er ... magic" and Rincewind asks, "What kind of magic?"). Another explanation of Quantum is given in Pyramids as "add another nought" (in regards to accounting).
The Uncertainty Principle is used as a "scientific" or "professional" way of saying "I don't know"; Death uses it in The Fifth Elephant as an excuse to appear when people are possibly going to die, apparently in addition to their actual deaths, even though he himself isn't clear what it is. All attempts to explain it outright, such as in The Last Hero, appear to be misunderstood versions of Schrödinger's cat. A slightly more accurate version has been used to explain the peculiar habits of the puzuma, and the unreliability of teleportation magic without assistance from Hex. A related concept is called the 'Theory of Thaumic Imponderability', which says it is impossible to tell exactly what a given spell will do, until it's too late.
It is implied in the books that Ponder Stibbons may have a better understanding of both concepts, but has given up trying to explain them to anyone.
Retrophrenology
Derived from the real world concepts of phrenology and physiognomy; mentioned in Men at Arms. Retrophrenologists take a less predictive approach than these, however, and seek to give customers whatever traits they desire to have by moulding their heads directly. What actually happens is that the customer is hit with a selection of different sized mallets, a treatment that can be said in complete honesty to not hurt 'a bit'. The efficacy of such treatments is unknown, but at least it provides employment and keeps the money in circulation.
Slood
First mentioned in The Last Continent, Slood is a natural substance that could be discovered by intelligent beings, but that humans on Earth have been too unintelligent to find; one of Rincewind's many accumulated positions is Reader in Slood Dynamics. It is said to be much easier to discover than fire, and only slightly harder to discover than water. The General Theory of Slood was discovered by Archchancellor Sloman, and a stained glass window representing this event is in the meeting room of the Unseen University college council.
Thaum
The Thaum is a measuring unit used in quantifying on the Disc, first described as equal to the amount of mystical energy required to conjure up one small white pigeon, or three normal-sized billiard balls. Several SI-modifiers have been applied to it (e.g. millithaum, kilothaum) in the books. Magic can be measured with a thaumometer, which looks like a black cube with a dial on one side. A standard thaumometer is good for up to a million thaums - if there is more magic than that around, measuring it is not going to do any good, as this level of magic will have broken a hole in reality.
An alternate measurement is the "Prime." It measures the amount of mystical energy required to move one pound of lead one foot. An attempt to put magic measurement into a logical framework never really caught on, as wizards are natural traditionalists.
Confusingly, the thaum also appears to be a particle; the magical equivalent of the atom. "Splitting the thaum" revealed that it was in fact composed of numerous sub-particles, called resons ("thingies") which in turn are created from a combination of up to five "flavours": up, down, sideways, sex appeal, and peppermint (see quarks). Note that since even before this discovery magical fields of less than one thaum were described (The Light Fantastic), the particle known as the thaum must either represent less magic than one thaum on the measuring scale, or the measuring unit of the thaum must consist of one particle-thaum in a given unit of space.
The term thaum is based on the Greek term thauma (marvel), which is often used as a prefix meaning "magical" on the Discworld. It also suggests the non-SI unit of energy therm.
Tick
Also called the "quantum cosmic tick", is described in Thief of Time as the shortest interval of time in which anything in the universe can occur. To the History Monks, it is the time it takes for the universe to be broken down and rebuilt by (or the time it takes for "now" to become "then"). The tick itself, however, cannot be measured since it actually occurs outside the perception of those within the universe. Attempting to measure the tick results in a paradox that is equated to "opening the box with the crowbar you will find inside" (perhaps referring to a Spike Milligan line): the instrument measuring the tick is supposed to be broken down and rebuilt during the tick.
See Planck time for the Roundworld equivalent.

Christopher Michael Beer is an independent filmmaker known locally in Minnesota, where he lives and works. He has also attended FAMU film school in Prague, CZ. In 2008, Beer was part of the 'Weekend of Emmerging Filmmakers' at the Oak Street Cinema, which featured two Minnesota made projects dealing with existential philosophy.
The film that was featured, , is described as an Orwellian drama lifting from the cultural theories of Louis Althusser, and is now used in graduate philosophy courses. It was compared to Gus Van Sant's film Elephant and has been praised for its visuals by screenwriter D.B. Gilles.
In October, 2009, Beer was interviewed on KFAI radio to discuss his upcoming projects and viewpoints on sexuality.
Filmography
* (2008)
*Liška (2009)

Social Work and the History of Relationship Education Efforts
The effectiveness of social work and broader social services efforts in addressing the special needs of individuals and groups can be assessed in two ways:
1) Are the methods and techniques used in assisting disenfranchised individuals and groups suitably efficacious in promoting and allowing a physically and emotionally healthy life?
2) Are social work and broader social service efforts to promote public and private social welfare policies meeting high standards?
Family problems contribute in so many ways to larger, society-wide problems, lending importance to strict standards of evaluation. The growth, complexity, and severity of these problems may require new methods and means. Past approaches appear to be far from universally effective and well-known.
Overwhelming evidence from all countries indicates that incarceration rates, poverty rates, infant mortality rates, domestic abuse rates, rates of academic incompletion, unwed (and especially teen-aged) pregnancy rates, and numerous other negative socially dysfunctional markers are statistically tied to inadequate or absent parents (and dysfunctional parenting methods). Two biological parents are far more likely to fulfill a lifelong commitment to their children than any other parenting arrangement. Parenting in the early 2000s is often addressed without both biological parents. Yet, noting the value of both the mother and father working together for the welfare of their children is assumed, by those unwilling to study the benefits, to disrespect the efforts of single parents.
The recent growth of single parenthood (40% of births in 2009 in the U.S. are to unmarried mothers) has not come from an increase in the death rate of mothers and fathers. Rather, it has come from a drop in the marriage rate while the birth rate has remained steady. Co-habitation has been climbing and the divorce rate has remained steady, as well. Simply, more children are living in homes without the social, financial, and emotionally rounded benefits that their biological mother and father can jointly bring to them.
Western societies have attempted to remedy the financial hardships for single parent families through more aggressive child support enforcement. The success of this effort is limited by the need for the mother and father to financially maintain two household constellations instead of just one.
It is easily noted that research or the compilation and organization of healthy family building and maintenance information has been mostly absent from social science course work and practice. Typical textbooks offer very few entries on marriage or means to promote healthy parenting with the mother and father team working together for the benefit of children. This dearth is surprising, since useful relationship skills generalize across family types and have application in employment and other community relationships, too. Since a healthy, functioning biological family is normative and optimal, under most circumstances, what are the elements and practices needed to promote their development?
The Idea of Relationship Education and Development of Relationship Resources
An informal organization of relationship education began in the USA in the late 1970s. A diverse group of professionals noted that the outcomes from traditional marriage therapy resulted in no appreciable reduction in the elevated rate of divorce and out-of-wedlock births.
The motivation for relationship education was found in observations of the elevated rates of marital and family breakdown, school drop-outs, incarceration, drug addiction, unemployment, and other negative social factors when either or both divorce or out-of-wedlock pregnancy were noted. In all negative categories mentioned above, statistical over-representation of adults whose childhood did not involve both of their parents was present.
One of the first comprehensive relationship education classes was developed in a semester-long course for graduate students in the counseling program at American University in Washington, D.C. in 1977. Like several Another notable relationship education program was initiated in the same period at the University of Denver. A variety of research and programs which described themselves as relationship education subsequently formed conferences or coalitions. Specific membership group qualifications were not identified as the basic philosophies employed were not specific to any one profession or group, but were seen to be of value more broadly in social service venues.
Health and Human Services (and the Coalition for Marriage, Family, and Couples Education)
By the late 1990s, the coalition, including social workers, psychiatrists, psychologists, clergy, counselors and others interested in couple and family health had been formed to hold a national conference to prepare a basis for reform. They meet annually in the early summer in a major U.S. city. Customarily there are 2,500 participants, often from as many as 25 foreign countries. The conference serves as both a training vehicle (various cerifications are offered) and as a general, public information sharing of marriage and family relationship research.
Initial planning for the field of relationship education involved the participation of psychologists, counselors, social workers, marriage and family therapists, psychiatrists, clergy from various faith traditions, policy makers, academicians in the fields of social science, attorneys, judges, and lay persons. The goal was to seek the broadest possible dispersal of research and marriage education skills courses which could improve interpersonal relationship functioning, especially with married and pre-marital couples.
By 2006, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services began funding significant multi-year demonstration projects through the Administration for Children and Families to expand the availability of marriage education classes in more than 100 communities nationwide. This project, known as the "Healthy Marriage Initiative," is designed to improve the well-being of children by providing tools and education to strengthen marriages and families. More information is available online. Oklahoma was among the first to adopt a statewide marital initiative. Relationship education classes are now available in every Oklahoma county and are offered to incarcerated persons preparing for return to community life. They are using PREP (University of Denver) materials at this time.
Basic Principles and Practices
* all men and all women can learn improved means and methods of relating to each other;
*all men and all women can learn to manage inevitable differences much better and can accept and plan for the numerous incompatibilities which are inevitable in all relationships;
*there is likely to be far more satisfaction from learning to play complementary roles well than from perpetually nursing the desire for that ideal and perfectly compatible individual;
*humorous responses and the ability to develop and select light-hearted interpretations of lifes inevitable awkwardnesses are of great value in aborting downward emotional spirals (interpretations where blaming the other person can cause great harm);
*great couples and failed (failing) couples have disagreements in identical areas but creating the proper environment to honor the right to differences without perpetually allowing them to rise to the level of conflict is the key behavioral difference, and this can be learned;
*more communication or communication, alone, is never the exclusive answer to a problem situation, but respectful exchange of ideas while noting the preferences of the other thus showing concern and respect for them (including the validation of their importance) is valuable and essential. Building a connection is the goal—not a word count increase;
*to personalize (blame the other) in your difficulties is almost always the wrong thing to do as very few "man mistakes" or "woman mistakes" are exclusive to your personal circumstances (dramatically high percentages of other couples have had your same, exact battles and the ones who accepted this fact graciously and worked to resolve them amicably remain together, in love);
*there is great value in accepting the influence of the other graciously--and in offering one's own influence gracefully and gently;
*keep the ratio of positive over negative comments overwhelming, in the nature of at least 10:1, while remembering that any negative response or outburst is likely to be remembered far longer;
*in tense moments, "soft starts" to any potentially conflicted conversational exchange is mandatory;
*always seek healing tones and methods and never give resentment a foothold (allow for human foibles and errors when observing the “mistakes” of others and remember that you are daily and perpetually seeking to build a loving and caring home life);
*it is essential to recognize difficulty as early as possible--and to tread lightly until the very best moment arrives to address a matter (note that far less than all items need to be addressed--time will allow most potential squabbles to disappear on their own--dying of unimportance in the larger context of the active cultivation of a longer term, enduring love);
*every couple can benefit from the active pursuit of fun and friendship (obviously, this takes special effort while caring for small children);
*recreational companionship should be cultivated and recreational compatibility should be pursued;
*nearly every woman will respond well to the direct promotion of her emotional safety and comfort;
*nearly every man will respond favorably to positive note or validation of his efforts or contributions;
*it is always valuable to choose warmth over grumpiness in responding to lifes annoyances;
*the identification and the elimination of as many bad habits as possible can begin immediately;
*the identification of and the practice and repetition of as many good habits as possible can begin immediately;
*the near universal practice of assigning a mental illness diagnosis to persons experiencing relationship distress is quite likely to be iatrogenic. Boisvert, C., & Faust, D. (2002). Iatrogenic symptoms in psychotherapy: A theoretical exploration of the potential impact of labels, language, and belief systems. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 56, 244-259. ;
*there are many positive and romantic ideas and habits to cultivate--and to not seek them, to not learn them, and to not practice them is to risk missing some of life's greatest pleasures and enjoyments;
*there is great value in scripting, practicing, and faking improved expressions of new knowledge, methods and facts (this is the routine in all new learning—bicycling to bread-making, to being the best spouse that you can be);
*researching what others want, desire, appreciate and enjoy is essential. Know that what is of high importance to your spouse may be of lesser importance to you. Accommodate these preferences to the highest degree that you can—fully expecting that numerous day-to-day preferences and desires of men and women are likely to be different. Harley, Willard in His Needs, Her Needs;
*women may be more likely to reveal their annoyances regarding a variety of domestic concerns but they can learn that some of their standards may be beyond a man's interests and negotiate accordingly;
*men may not be fully sensitive to a woman's domestic standards but can learn higher levels of respect and participation, thus displaying concern for fairness in the promotion and maintenance of complementary and loving home life;
*repair mechanisms must be prepared and used regularly, before significant deteriorations can be observed. All repairs involve softened tones and absolutely no harsh words or presentations. If you cannot stage an optimal recovery initially, arrange for a break until you can review essential principles and return to attempt a loving recovery—a repair. Gottman, John in Seven Principles;
*exposing children and youth to these basic principles is compatible with the majority of socialization fundamentals in numerous religions and societies.