Terminology

Even though Peppermint Storm is an entirely English-language website, it contains several obscure terms and references which are often used by fans of Sailor Moon or anime in general. While many of these terms are derived from the Japanese language, they are now commonly used slang words which are often easily recognized by English-speaking fans.

anime	An animated television show, movie, OVA, etc. Specifically used in reference to an animated work from Japan.
baka	Literally means "idiot" or "stupid". Someone who is stupid is baka. A machine that doesn't work is baka. Just about anything can be baka. This can be used playfully between friends or as a harsh insult.
bishoujo	Literally it means "beautiful girl". Refers to a good looking young girl. In the case of "Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon", it can be literally translated to mean "Beautiful Girl Soldier Sailor Moon", although people usually prefer the simpler "Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon".
bishounen	Literally means "beautiful boy". Generally refers to a good looking young man, although in the anime world this more often refers to a young, attractive, usually feminine looking man. Some people argue that the Shitennou are too old to be called by this term, but my own take on it is that, even if they are thousands of years old, they still look like they're under 20.
chibi	Small, tiny. In this case, usually refers to either a person who is very short, or a drawing, plushie, etc. that is somewhat shrunk and deformed to the point of having a squashed, childlike body.
ecchi	Perverted. Sometimes used by anime fans to refer to something that is slightly risque (like mild nudity), but not full-out pornographic.
fanboy	A male who is overly obsessed over something.
fangirl	A female who is overly obsessed over something. Example: Spirit is a Shitennou fangirl.
fanservice	When an anime, manga, etc. uses needless or excessive amounts of nudity, skimpy clothing, etc. Named because it is something that does not add to the plot or characters; it merely exists to please the fans.
genki	Happy, energetic. An especially genki person seems like they have been taking speed or excessive doses of sugar.
ginzuishou	Literally means "silver crystal". Refers to the crystal that Sailor Moon uses, said to be the most powerful sailor crystal in existance.
glomp	Term used by anime fans when referring to a certain fangirl phenomena. It involves a cheerful young female running out of nowhere, jumping, and landing on the back of an unsuspecting (generally male) person in the form of a piggy-back ride. Very few can resist a glomp, and dodging is almost always out of the question.
hentai	Pornography, pornographic material, very perverted person. Hentai is something that is generally avoided on this website.
kawaii	Cute. Very, very cute.
manga	A Japanese comic book, often characterized by black and white images, flowing lines, and great attention to detail. Unlike western comic books, which are usually either humorous or follow some random super hero, manga can vary as much as novels, containing anything from giant robots wars to a day in the life of an average school girl.
OAV	Original Animated Video (also known as OVA, or Original Video Animation). An anime that was never shown on television or in theaters, but instead went straight to video. Unlike in the West where direct-to-video movies are usually lower quality, OAVs usually have higher quality animation, music, etc. because a higher profit is made off of the videos than it would if made for TV.
otaku	Any fan of anything that is horribly obsessed. Generally used in the West to refer to overly-obsessed anime fans. A little like the word "Trekky".
Pocky	The food of the gods. No wait, that's supposed to be rice. ^^; Pocky is a Japanese snack consisting of a long thin breadstick dipped in flavored fudge. Flavors can be traditional like Chocolate, or unique, like Green Tea Mousse.
senshi	Literally means "soldier". In this case, it is a reference to the "sailor senshi", female warriors wearing sailor uniforms, of Sailor Moon.
Shitennou	A word derived from Buddhist mythology referring to four guardians, each representing a direction on the map. In Sailor Moon, this specifically refers to four characters from the Dark Kingdom, known as Kunzite, Nephrite, Zoisite, and Jadeite. See What the heck is a "Shitennou"?
w00t	A term used in l33t (short for elite, language used by gamers, hackers, and Megatokyo fans in which letters are replaced by symbols or numbers). It is usually used when happy or excited about something. I have heard two different explanations for how this word came to be. One is that it's merely a form of "woohoo" or something to that effect. The other is that the letters stand for something that was often used by gamers when they won, which was "We Owned the Other Team".
yaoi	A word used for homosexual relationships between young men.
youma	A monster. In the Sailor Moon universe, youma are usually servants of the badguys, and seldomly have any personality and little or no will of their own.

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