Every new culture has both technical language and in-house slang that an outsider needs to learn. Here are some definitions to put you in the know from day 1…
CC0 – That’s a number 0, not the letter O (pronounced “C C Zero”). A formal and legal copyright term that stands for Creative Commons Zero. It basically means the thing created can be used by anyone for free, without asking, in any way they want. This is a hallmark of the Nouns and a somewhat revolutionary approach. Nouns art and anything created by Nouns builders that is CC0 can be used by others, free of charge, without asking. There is much discussion about CC0 in web3, but the Nouns believe it helps “proliferate the brand” by getting more and more people freely using Nouns art and content.
“Clean” – If there was an urban dictionary for The NounSquare this would be the lead entry because it’s so frequently used. It’s used mostly in playing FOMO NOUNS to refer to Nouns that people like. “That’s a clean couch” or “Wow, what a clean unicorn”…it’s kind of a slang catch all for “looks good” often related to color combination, overall look, the noggles matching the shirt, or maybe some unique combination of traits.
DAO (pronounced DOW) – stands for Decentralized Autonomous Organization, which is a fancy way of saying an organization with no strong centralized leadership. The community takes ownership and leadership. The Nouns is a DAO. Many web3 and NFT projects also take this new form of structure. The idea is that a DAO helps avoid the pitfalls of the big web2 organizations. It helps distribute ownership and leadership among the community in a grassroots way instead of a top down structure.
Discourse – A Nouns message board where “props” are developed, shared, and discussed in preparation for putting them up for a formal vote for funding. https://discourse.nouns.wtf/
FOMO NOUNS (or just FOMO) – a game The NounSquare audience plays to choose the next Noun by voting thumbs up or thumbs down if you like the Noun. 60% needed for success.
Mint – If you are new to web3 and NFTs it means to formally finalize the NFT on the blockchain. When you create something that you want to become an NFT (art, music, etc) you have to mint it (put it on the blockchain) so that others can buy it.
Noggles – the funky glasses on every Noun—the signature trait of Nouns.
Nouncil – a leadership council (i.e. Nounish Council) of “Nounish” builders and creatives.
Nouncillor – a member of the Nouncil.
Nounder – a Nouns founder, there are 10.
Nouner – a Noun owner.
Nounish – a description of people who love Nouns, the whole Nouns ecosystem, and anything Nouns related. It has an inherent meaning to insiders of kind, sharing, and generous.
Nouniverse – the whole world of the Nouns and Nouns ecosystem.
POAP – (pronounced like PO-App, not Pope) stands for Proof of Attendance Protocol. A free NFT/Token that shows you attended an event. They call them “bookmarks of your life.” The NounSquare has great artists doing killer POAPs.
Proliferate – a Nouns adopted word to explain their main goal. It just means spread far and wide. “Proliferate Nouns” or “Proliferate the meme” means to spread the Nouns brand–the priority of the Nouns project.
Prop – short for “proposal.” The Nouns fund great ideas by having builders and creatives submit props to be voted on for funding.
Prop House – A website that organizes and runs funding rounds for anyone who has an idea for proliferating the Nouns and submits a “prop.” There are several different “houses” and various weekly rounds of contests. https://prop.house/
Rugged – a web3/NFT slang for a project taking your money and disappearing—think ”getting the rug pulled out.” But in The NounSquare it’s commonly used when a speaker can’t be heard on Twitter….”Twitter rugged me.” Also used in the unusual case during FOMO when the crowd is taking too long to choose the next Noun. Someone goes behind the scenes on the blockchain and settles the next Noun apart from the FOMO vote. FOMO out of nowhere says “attempting to settle” on a Noun and someone says, “I think we’re getting rugged!” or when it’s taking long on FOMO and someone says, “I think we’re going to get rugged any minute.”
Who are the speakers?
A quick intro to some of The founding NounSquare team members (The Knights of The Noun Table in discord) who you regularly hear from, or about, on the show. They are now joined by an incoming team called the Squires.
“142” (@1fortytwo) aka Noun 142 – The resident “Nouner” (Noun owner) and a pivotal reason The NounSquare exists. The show is funded by the Nounsdao, which requires a Noun to sponsor and take ownership of the venture. Noun 142 is also the reason that the audience gets to cast real, live votes on “props” to build great things and spread the Nouns brand. He has actually delegated his vote to the audience of The NounSquare.
@toady_hawk – Along with 142, a founding partner of The NounSquare. Toady doesn’t own a Noun but he has served the Nounsdao from early on and in many ways. He’s a regular host on The NounSquare. You can probably recognize him by his Canadian accent, eh. (He actually never says eh, but he is from Canada)
@aubtoshi – A regular host. She is the “Nouns on the Ground” founder….meaning she travels around the world bringing Nounish fun to places where there are conferences, and introduces new people to the Nouns. Tidbit: You know how people always tease the person everybody loves—that’s aubtoshi on The NounSquare team.
@benbohdi – Resident NounSquare Aussie, that makes him easy to recognize. You’ll hear him often as a co-host, and as the contest or POAP guy. Ben, like Toady, wears many hats in serving the Nouns and in the Nouniverse.
@supertightwoody – Woody is a grammy nominated producer who brought his mad skills to The NounSquare. The theme song? His. The soundboard? His. First ever musical POAPs? His.
@xargs – Involved in all things Nounish—hard to count how many things. You’ll hear her some, but most of her time is spent behind the scenes making things go smoothly. She’s also camped out in the international channels helping everyone.
@joshuafisher – Josh is a Nouner and a founder of SharkDAO (they own 6 Nouns). He’s regularly a part of the show and has his hand in all things Nounish.