The Harrier International Online Glossary of Hash Terms

These terms appeared in Tim MAGIC Hughes' book "On On!" Hash House Harriers 1938-1988, A Golden Jubilee and also the revised edition "On On!" Hash House Harriers 1938-1992, "G" A 50th Anniversary Tribute to our founder on the 50th anniversary of his passing.

In addition to words found in the text, some others and Malay terms of dubious relevance are included.

Would you like to add some more of your own?

Simply append to the Harrier International Online users' Glossary page.

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Alphabetical Shortcuts

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

A

AGM - Annual General Meeting
AGPU - Annual General Piss Up
amah - Chinese maidservant, nurse
amok - violent homicidal condition. Hashing is jogging run amok!
are you? - usually called when checking for trail. A call for help from a similarly lost hound
atap - nipah palm-leaf thatch
ayah - Indian or Malay maid, nurse

B

baju - Malay open shirt with long sleeves
ball checker - tests Harriettes
barang - things, thus luggage
Bash - bike hashing. A bike hash. Mountain bikes, dirt bikes, younger brother's bike, servants' bike.
batu - rock
Beer Master - organises the beer after a Hash run
besar - great, thus tuan besar - great gentlemen
bimbo - American Harriet
bomoh - Malay medicine man
box-wallah - derogatory term for British businessman derived from Anglo Indian term for door-to-door salesman
boy - native servant, traditionally summoned by the vocative `boy!'; thus cook boy; Number One boy; boy besar
bucket - beery session at the end of a Hash run
bukit - hill as in Bukit Timah

C

check - abrupt termination of trail
check back - act of backtracking to locate trail
checking! - utterance during the act of looking for paper
chin-chin - salutations
chit - note, signed bill
chokra - young man, boy
chop - seal, brand
chummery - shared household of bachelors as was the "Hash House" Selangor Club Chambers
circle - convivial post-run session at which down-downs are usually presented to hares, visitors, returners, sinners and leavers.
co-hare - hare's accomplice
compound - enclosed area round house
comprador - buyer, steward, thus Chinese manager of a hong
concession - Chinese treaty port open to foreign traders
conductor - head overseer on rubber estate
coolie - Indian or Chinese labourer paid on daily basis
creeper - trainee assistant on tea or rubber estate; dawdling dickhead

D

dead hare - Pre-laid trails which for some do not hold the same excitement as a live hare trail.
dhobi - washerman
Dog - see Spotted Dog
down-down - non-stop act of drinking dry a vessel of beer; Chug-a-lug

E

Eastern Cadet - junior civil administrator recruited to the British Colonial and Foreign Office, Eastern Cadetships, comprising India, Ceylon, Hongkong, Malaya and Borneo
elections - usually rigged
erections - usually ligged Japanese erections

F

False trail - designed to turn pack around, falsie
FBAC - Fat Boys' Athletic Club, a subgroup of really lazy (not necessarily fat) hashers
FMS - Federated Malay States, comprising Perak, Selangor, Negri Sembilan and Pahang
FMSVR - Federated Malay States Volunteer Reserve force
FRB - front-running bastard

G

gin-sling - John Collins or gin and lime cocktail topped up with liquers (not to be confused with Singapore sling, made with whisky)
godown - warehouse, bimbo instruction
Grand Master - Supreme leader of a Hash chapter
Grand Mattress - female version of above
Grand Mistress - alternative for above

H

HPA - Hash Publishers Association
Hare - lays the paper trail, usually with a co-hare. Responsible for the run and accepts all blame for a foul-up, and willingly accepts the Hashit, if awarded.
Harrier - male hasher, hashman, hashlete
Harriet - female Hasher, first coined by Ipoh Ladies
Harriette - French Harriet
hash bucket - the beer at the end of the trail and the reason you run
Hash Cash - club treasurer
Hash Fash - another term for Hash Haberdasher
Hash Flash - photographer on the run
Hash Haberdasher - vendor of Hash apparel, insignia and ensemble
Hash Hole - warning to following hashers of potential hazardous subsidence on trail, foxhole, warren etc.
Hash Horn - rallies the pack. Remember, short toots for `checking'; a long blast signals On-On! The hasher who carries it.
Hash House Horrors - a Hash for the youngters
Hash Hymn - song "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot"
hash-l - an Internet discussion group
Hash Law - dispatches pack; of hounds after live hare; sorts out trespassing charges
hashlete - afficionado of the Hash House Harriers
Hash Master - leader of a Hash chapter, sometimes elected
Hash Music - leads the membership in song, usually bawdy
Hasheet - club newsletter, circular or Hash Sheet, media
Hashit - awarded to hares for gigantic screw-up of a run invented by Brunei HHH in April 28, 1966. Later adopted worldwide. Sometimes awarded automatically if it rains
Hashoholic - if discovered, administer beer immediately
Hashoholism - highly infectious condition first reported in South East Asia in the late 1930s
Hash Piss - organises the beer: most important
Hash Quack - assists bleeding Hashers!
Hash Rags - also Hash haberdasher
Hash Sniff - responsible for finding the start of the trail
Hat Basher - teaches wearers of hats in the circle a firm lesson (of Medan HHH, Indonesia, origin)
haversack - original bags for carrying paper
HHH - Hash House Harriers, H3
hong - house of business, thus firm
hound - Hasher, Harrier, Harriet, Harriett, Harriette or Hashlete

I

J

JB - Johore Bahru where Frederick "Horse" Thomson ran hares and hounds followed by beery sessions in 1932, fully six years beore the Hash House Harriers was established in Kuala Lumpur.
Joint Masters - two, originally President and Vice-President in The Hash House Harriers, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia aka KLH3.

K

kampong - area of cleared land, thus village settlement
Kempeitei - Japanese Secret Police, arseholes
kennel - another name for HHH club or chapter
KL - Kuala Lumpur
kota - fort, thus Kota Bharu
kris - Malay wavy-bladed dagger
kuala - river mouth, thus Kuala Lumpur - muddy estuary

L

law - waiting period before hounds set after live hare
live hare - How it used to be and in many kennels is the only way to hash trails.

M

makan - eat, thus dinner; food
MCS - Malayan Civil Service
mem - honorific, European woman (sometimes horrific!)
merdeka - freedom
Mismanagement - club committee
missie - European girl or woman
MOM - Master of Musique
MOP - Master of the Pot
MOTH - Master of the Hymn
monsoon - seasonal winds blowing northeast across South China Sea November-February and southwest May-September

N

negri - state, thus Negri Sembilan
note - as in "Can we have a note?" instruction from GM to Hash Music

O

Oh dear! - It's a men only hash
Oh shit! - It's a mixed hash
on back - sometimes called to indicate back check situation; fallen harriet
On Disk - San Diego HHH mail merger
on in - last kilometer or so, final stretch of a run. Often inscribed as such in flour.
On, on - or "On, on!; "On-On!"; On! On!; ON-ON; ON-ON! ON! ON!; On2; On squared etc.
On On - social drink after the down-downs
On On On - social eating and drinking after the On On!
On out - good bye
On paper! - call by Singapore hashers when on trail
On Sec - Honorary Secretary
On Sec's Ass - On Sec's assistant usually
orang - people, thus orang puteh - white people, orang utan - forest people, thus ape

P

padang - open land, thus playing field or parade ground
padi - growing rice
paddy - rice field, Irish Hashman
paper - shredded paper used for marking trail, traditionally 4" square
pasar - bazaar or market
passing - indicates competitiveness and rewarded with a down-down
peon - office messenger
piss - amber nectar, beer
poofter - poof, poofta, not welcome on the Hash
pulau - island, thus Pulau Tioman
punkah - fan, originally suspended from ceiling and pulled by hand
punkah - wallah - poor bastard who operates a punkah

Q

R

R U? - Are you? Are you on? What's going on up front? Is anyone solving this check?
Religious Adviser/Advisor - responsible for overall tone and style, emcee
Resident - senior British administrator in Federal Malay States
rattan - rotan cane or creeper
respect - to be shown to the Hash Master, Religious Advisor, or whoever is running the circle
rule 6 - no poofters! But do check the Yes, Rules! on HI Online's Gateway Page Features.

S

sampan - small boat
sarong - covering, thus wraparound skirt worn by Malay Hashers
SCB - short-cutting bastard
selamat - peace, thus greeting
selat - Strait
shiggy - mud, any foul-smelling goo
Siam - Thailand
sola topee - sun helmet, made from sola pith
Spiritual Adviser/Advisor - responsible for overall tone and style, emcee
sponsors - help provide Hash apparel and ensemble
Spotted Dog - Selangor Club in Kuala Lumpur, also known as the `Dog'
stengah - half measure of whisky
syce - groom, thus chauffeur

T

taipan - European head of a hong
tapper - rubber forest worker who taps rubber trees
tin bath - original container for post-run drinks of beer and ginger beer
topee - hat, solar topee
Trail Master - in charge of runs calendar programme, sometimes checks runs
tuak - rice wine, toddy
tuan - honorific, sir, for men of rank, thus Europeans
tutup - closed, thus tutup jacket - white jacket buttoned to the neck

U

ulu - headwaters of river, thus upriver region, jungle
UMS - Unfederated Malay States, comprising Kelantan, Terengganu, Kedah, Perlis and Johore

V

verandah - open-pillared gallery round house or club. (Portuguese. verandas - balcony)

W

WebMaster - one who manages or maintains a home page or web site for the hash i.e. Zippy or Flying Booger
Web Mattress - A female who manages or maintains a home page or web site for the hash i.e. "Teats de Swamp" at Carolina Trash Hashers, Fayetteville, North Carolina, U.S.A.
whipper-in - traditionally organised the act of "checking" for paper trail in the game of hare and hounds

X

Y

YWHMH - Your Worshipful Hash Master Himself

Z

to Harrier International Online.