Forum: Author Hangout

Lazeez has quoted a figure to me that about 70% of hits are from North America.

That's readers, not authors, although I've documented readers from all across the world, including China, Saudi Arabia, Iran and other sites you wouldn't expect to be visiting a sex-story site. That 30% figure can cover a broad, complex landscape of readers.

They may be different. The site does seem to be "blessed" with the presence of a lot of Aussies. :-)

I'm not so sure about that. Aussies represent a very respected—though stubborn—contingent of SOL authors, though I have no clue how many Aussie readers we have. 'D

Mostly just the one, whose presence seems like many. ;-)

Do I bow, now or later?

I don't know the percentage of American users on this site, but I suspect it is less than what you believe. If you continue here in the Forum, you will find that many of the posters are not Americans.

Like you, Fraxo, many here are like Ernest, who's Australian but sets his stories in American settings merely to reach a broader audience (though he typically places Australian characters in American settings).

are like Ernest, who's Australian but sets his stories in American settings merely to reach a broader audience (though he typically places Australian characters in American settings).

Much of that is true, CW, but my major reasons for the US settings for some stories are to do with how much easier it is to research locations, and also how much easier it is to have a large bank of assumed knowledge by the readers due to the US culture being so well know via films and TV shows. In the stories I set in Australia I have to go into more detail in providing the cultural background.

Much of that is true, CW, but my major reasons for the US settings for some stories are to do with how much easier it is to research locations, and also how much easier it is to have a large bank of assumed knowledge by the readers due to the US culture being so well know via films and TV shows. In the stories I set in Australia I have to go into more detail in providing the cultural background.

Sorry, Ernest, I didn't intend to imply you did it merely to cash in on a larger audience, only that you represented a tendency by many foreign authors to write stories about American rather than their native cultures—though technically that's not completely true, since you include details about Australia as well.

Sorry, Ernest, I didn't intend to imply you did it merely to cash in on a larger audience, only that you represented a tendency by many foreign authors to write stories about American rather than their native cultures—though technically that's not completely true, since you include details about Australia as well.

That's OK, and no offense was taken. I was simply pointing out there are other very practical reason for doing it the way I do. It's like when I spend hundreds of hours researching something to get it right I'll reuse what I researched in more than one story. Which is why you'll see Yuma, Arizona turn up in a few stories, ditto with Albuquerque, New Mexico, etc. I did the research, so I use it again to save time.

That's OK, and no offense was taken. I was simply pointing out there are other very practical reason for doing it the way I do. It's like when I spend hundreds of hours researching something to get it right I'll reuse what I researched in more than one story. Which is why you'll see Yuma, Arizona turn up in a few stories, ditto with Albuquerque, New Mexico, etc. I did the research, so I use it again to save time.

Ha-ha, that reminds me of certain unnamed authors who 'save effort' by continually reusing their own names for the names of most of their lead characters.

It is not uncommon practice, in particular in the United States for people to get their "4 year degree" at one school, and then pursue their Masters/PHD at an entirely different school.

Yes, that doesn't happen here to. And one reason given for the credentials being seen as better is they're exposed to two different sets of teaching staff and subject knowledge - I don't know how valid that concept is. I've worked with a few people who've studied at two US colleges, and they usually have a very strong preference for the sports teams of only one of them. But my sample is too small to draw any sensible conclusions from.

It is not uncommon practice, in particular in the United States for people to get their "4 year degree" at one school, and then pursue their Masters/PHD at an entirely different school. While not party to this myself(didn't complete my 4 year), I'm given to understand that it is widely held that having such a split provides a "stronger credential" for the person who does so.

Few 'graduate schools' sponsor their own nationally ranked football teams, so most people will continue to champion their 'college' teams, even if their graduate school has an associated team as part of their 4-year program.

Another expression closer to your 'prosperity supporter' is saying someone "came out of the woodwork" and claimed to be a fan only after the team started winning.

Would that be a 'dustbin supporter' or a 'chip off the old-school block'? 'D

Yes, I meant the city name. Seems like Gladiators and Rangers might work then, as I want to avoid any connections with real teams.

Sounds like pro teams would be the way for me to go as I would like for them to be able to interact at college. They would then be able to share the college team at least.

I'm on thin ice when it comes to knowledge since I've never been across the pond. Keeping it fictive makes it easier, but I'd still like for it to be authentic.

As for education, a bachelor degree here is 3 years, and a master 5 years. The span in the US is 4 years, and an additional MBA two more?

My male character has just finished his freshman year in engineering, and the female character being two years older, will then enter her 4th and final year becoming a vet?

Sounds like pro teams would be the way for me to go as I would like for them to be able to interact at college.

May want to forget Rangers, in the USA there are 5 baseball teams called Rangers (4 pro, 1 college), about a dozen ice hockey teams of that name, and an American Football team of that name in Germany.

Gladiators have to Arena football league teams of that name in the USA.

I trick I've thought of using is finding a team name that exists in one sport and use it in another, after checking it isn't already in use.

There's a basketball team the LA Lakers - so if you have a fictional Pro Baseball or Football team named something like the Florida Lakers you're home free.

Heaps of baseball teams using names like White Sox, Red Sox, Blue Sox, but never an American Football team. So something like the Redwood Red Sox would fly for a football team.

A little research and you can find something

I discussed this with Ross, and he felt that 'bandwagon' and 'fairweather' was both very negative terms, and you would be offended if labeled as either one?

Regarding names on college and hometown for that matter, I've always used fictive names. Makes it easier for myself with research and I avoid situations like mentioned above.

As for the team names in the story I have simply called them Gladiators and Rangers. It seems all US teams in different sports have these terms in their names. Is my team names sufficient or do I need to add a proper name as well?

As an 'Americana', I suspect that Fairweather is better is more widespread (less awkward) than "Bandwagon", though the terms imply different things. You rarely hear the term "bandwagon fan", though "he's just jumping on the bandwagon" IS common. Just an odd usage thing.

Generally, as noted, it's best not to use actual names for most football universities (since they make a sizeable amount of their yearly income off of football paraphernalia. Also, the team name are typically paired with the college/university name, so even if both are fake, put them together so it sounds more 'natural'. Also, without being too obvious about it, don't be afraid to make the fake university name recognizable. Since it's copyright law, they can only file suit on the copyright itself, thus "Cincinnati Bengals" could become "the Cini Bengalese" or the "Baltimore Ravens" could become the "Balt Crows".

For alternative names, MLFB (the organization) has already filed trademarks on the following names (i.e. you can't use them, but it gives an idea of the possibilities so just mix and match as you see fit):

Alabama Airborne
Arkansas Attack
Florida Fusion
Northwest Empire
Ohio Union
Oklahoma Nation
Oregon Crash
Texas Independence
Utah Stand
Virginia Armada

In which case it still has somewhat negative connotations as it indicates they were either more than "a bit slow" to adapt the "trendy" thing in the first place, or that they just adopted it without having a freaking clue as to what they just involved themselves in. (Going back to the initial, and very literal, use of a bandwagon to create a spectacle in order to draw crowds when a circus came into town, the management was "lured away by the circus")

Back when I was a worker bee (way back when) I dreamed of 'management' running away to join the circus, which would allow the workers to actually get something accomplished for a change. 'D

Unfortunately, once the management disappears, so do the paychecks and then, shortly thereafter, so do the worker bees themselves.

'bandwagon' and 'fairweather'

Yes the two terms both have a negative connotation here in the US.

Bandwagon suggests doing something with a group that the person would not do as an individual. It gives me the image of a person joining a hate-filled mob. Although, it can also provoke the image of the person joining with others to perform some positive action, like picking up litter on a public beach. So the intent of the term is a person who does not have the courage of their convictions and can be easily swayed by others.

Fair weather suggests a friend who is with you when things are comfortable for them and will not cause them any problems or create the need to expend effort to help you. But when the weather turns bad (i.e. you have a problem or need help), that so-called friend is nowhere to be found, or if you find them, they always have a prior commitment that must be fulfilled.

For your team names, I wouldn't worry as long as you don't link them to an existing city or College/University that has a team that uses the same name. Pick a name that seems right to you.

The origin of LA Dodgers comes from when they had been the Brooklyn Dodgers, which had been originally shortened from "Trolley Dodgers", but eventually people lost track of exactly what they were dodging.

Actually, I believe they were the 'Brooklyn Grays', and their fans (called 'cranks' in those days), nicknamed them the 'Trolley Dodgers' and that became the name ten or fifteen years later.

Actually, I believe they were the 'Brooklyn Grays', and their fans (called 'cranks' in those days), nicknamed them the 'Trolley Dodgers'

And when they were the Brooklyn Dodgers, their fans affectionately called them the "bums."

They were my team when I was little. I hated the Yankees because they always beat the Dodgers. When the Dodgers moved to L.A. I felt betrayed so I switched to the Yankees. Best thing I ever did. It was the era of Mantle, Berra, Maris, Ford, etc. Great team.

My #2 wife was a nurse.

Not exactly. most states here have two levels of 'nurse' - 'practical' or 'vocational', and registered.

Practical nursing is taught in vocational schools or is a two year course in colleges. To become a registered nurse from scratch, most programs call this a four-year program, however many schools have a program by which a holder of a practical or vocational nursing certificate can complete requirements to become a registered nurse in a couple of years, perhaps less.

Nurse Practitioner

That is an odd title for a nurse. It makes it sound like they are practicing to become a nurse, which is what I thought the title meant.

They have to have some supervision from an MD, but it's not the kind of daily supervision that an LPN or RN gets.

That is very much state dependent. We have states right now where the NP have no restrictions, others that are weighing those issues, and others where the law is what you describe - whether that supervision is as little as the MD has to review 10% of the decisions made, or up to the MD has to authorize any prescriptions the NP writes.

One of the things Oyster50 overlooked mentioning, and you may be aware of it, is the types of things the two types of nurses can do.

In general, a Registered nurse is allowed to perform procedures that are more invasive to the patient than a Practical Nurse is allowed to do. The specific procedures a Registered Nurse can do and a Practical Nurse can not do, are determined by the individual state's laws.

The idea to combine engineering and MBA was for him to have management and business as well. Giving him the possibility to be a manager or run a business down the line.

After a bachelors degree you can combine a masters degree to gain knowledge in a different field where I live. It makes it possible to have a wider span of career opportunities. Do you do it differently?

There are also non-degree educational options, taking exams for career focused certificates that also have career implications. Anything you can do while working and getting paid is likely to be easier to do than taking 5 or 6 or more years getting multiple degrees. You have to wealthy or have wealthy sponsors to get advanced degrees these days, or really motivated.

My sister managed to get the U.S. Army to foot the bill for two Ph.D's and another Masters, all in different fields. Now she's getting training in fields schools haven't even figured out how to teach yet.

It can be done, but you've got to either be incredibly lucky for incredibly persistent.

In this story I have the main character living at home while attending college. That would be plausible in a decent sized city in the US too, wouldn't it? Saves living cost.

Is it necessary to describe why he can afford two degree's in college? Wouldn't readers just assume that he can somehow?

I planned for him to have summer internship(s) or a trainee position later on. That could lead to tuition paid/scholarship as well as a job waiting for him when he graduates? I wanted to have him starting as an engineer, but have the opportunity to leading projects etc due to his multiple degrees. I assume the engineering degree would mainly focus on engineering?

How long would he normally have to have gotten in his study program to gain summer interships? Would connections with his late father's firm gain him internship/trainee opportunities?

If I have to explain him being able to take two degrees, I see a couple of options:

-His father died when he was a child. (already written in the story.) The payment they got from the life insurance could have been placed as a college fund.

-Some sort of scholarship. He did take advanced classes in high-school. Would that make him classify for scholarships?

-His lather father owned a engineering company/business and he want to follow in his father's footsteps making him need both degree's as he would take over CEO status when he's ready

Thinking about it now, I like the idea of him either having opportunites with his father's old firm, or his father's "owned" firm. Does that sound plausible?

Edit: Typo

That would be plausible in a decent sized city in the US too, wouldn't it? Saves living cost.

From my research that's more like to happen with a college in a small to medium sized town, especially one that grew up around a college started near a village. Most of the city colleges have a mandatory Freshman Year in the dorms policy, and few students will move back home after being in the dorms for a year.

I think that is more of a "prestige school thing" than anything else, and I'm not sure how particularly common it is anymore.

It's possible the policy has changed in the few years since I did research on US colleges for a few stories. At the time I checked about20 public colleges across seven states and all but 2 had a mandatory Freshman Year in the dorms policy - with very limited exceptions, and living at home was an exception allowed at only 3 of the colleges. They all cited some research which claimed students who lived in the dorms for the first year were more likely to graduate than those who didn't.

Every one of them had mandatory college housing for all full ride scholarships issued by the college - if the scholarship included housing and food you had to go with the housing they assigned you.

At the time I checked about20 public colleges across seven states and all but 2 had a mandatory Freshman Year in the dorms policy - with very limited exceptions, and living at home was an exception allowed at only 3 of the colleges. They all cited some research which claimed students who lived in the dorms for the first year were more likely to graduate than those who didn't.

I agree with that assessment. Not only have I heard that statistic repeated when discussing dropouts, but I've heard it anecdotally many times as well. Kids who don't spend all their time at school aren't as fully immersed, often distracted by dozens of things (and not just by partying, booze, drugs and sex, which is already a full time load). As a result, it's easier to quit and there's less repercussions when they do (i.e. you don't lost all your friends and you don't worry what they all think of you, instead you just have to worry about your parents, who you just saved tens of thousands of dollars).

We don't have any million cities where I come from, so a small or medium sized town would be the setting in my story. None of our colleges have dorms on campus either. Students who move to study rent or buy apartments nearby.

In my story, the male character lives at home, and the female character entering her last year at college has a rented apartment. I imagine some start living at the dorms, and find apartments later on?

Do every college have dorms on campus? What about smaller ones, in small or medium sized towns? Isn't it in some places common to start in a dorm the first years?

In my story, the male character lives at home, and the female character entering her last year at college has a rented apartment. I imagine some start living at the dorms, and find apartments later on?

Much of what drives college students are perceived 'threats'. Those that remain at home are terrified the 'rich kids' at school with constant access to their girlfriends will win over their hearts, and they'll be left holding the remains in their hands, so they're a big conflict between full-time and 'part-time' students, with the live-in students not considering the others 'fully committed to their education'.

If you play off those common concerns, showing the stresses on the girlfriend with the guy's fears of losing his girlfriend to someone better able to spent more time with her than him, it should give you some rich material to work with.

Do every college have dorms on campus? What about smaller ones, in small or medium sized towns? Isn't it in some places common to start in a dorm the first years?

Not all colleges have dorms, and many that have them require Freshman to live in the dorms, but it's not universal. However, as I said, the bigger the institution the more likely they have college housing for all the students and want them in them to improve their revenue and profits.

So if your research was predominately focused on major schools in the Eastern US in particular, and the (near) Ivy-League schools specifically,

States covered were - Maryland, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, Arkansas, and Georgia - - about the most prestigious I looked at would have been Georgia Tech and UTEP. I'm not sure what colleges qualify as Ivy League ones, so I can say how relevant that designation was.

Some had mandatory dorm life for all but seniors, while most had it mandatory for Freshmen only.

Even where it's only mandatory for freshmen, the requirement can be waived in some cases. I got such a waiver for myself for my bachelor's degree work, because I was local (around a 20 minute drive) and living at home with my parents.

In an earlier post I mentioned some of them had exceptions. However, the ones that listed exceptions were never the same exception reason. For example, one allowed an exception for ex-military doing their Freshman year, while others didn't; some allowed for local living at home, while others didn't. In one case, I can't remember which college it was, the exceptions they had were so difficult to meet it was clear they felt they had a legal requirement to have some exceptions but made them almost impossible to meet. However, the key point of this whole sub-thread is that some colleges have college housing, and some don't while some with college housing have a live-in requirement for some students, and that the smaller the college the less likely they are to have a lot of housing and such requirements for the general student population.

On a related issue, some of the colleges had dorms where there were 4 to 6 students per unit for Freshmen and Sophomores while some limited number of 2 to a unit housing was made available to only Juniors and Senior, and they had some limited number single unit housing for post grads.

However, as I said, the bigger the institution the more likely they have college housing for all the students and want them in them to improve their revenue and profits.

Believe me, I doubt the dorms are the driving profitability centers for most schools, and they in fact tend to limit a school's growth, as it takes a HUGE investment to build enough physical space to add students. Instead, the current trend is for the bigger schools to offer 'online classes', so that students from other institutions to attend their classes for full enrollment with little overhead cost in their 'attending'.

Instead, the main reason behind keeping the ancient dorms is that schools which require them have higher graduation rates than those that don't (typically community colleges).

When I was in school, I spent the entire four years in a variety of dorms (though as you advance, you move into the more desired single rather than group rooms).

@Not_an_ID

Which may be typical for dozens upon dozens of schools, but it isn't typical for the remaining hundreds of Universities and small colleges across the nation.

My school was hardly 'ivy-league', though it did have ivy covered walls in parts of the campus. It was smaller than two out of three of my high-schools with less than a thousand graduates each year. I believe it's essentially the same size today it was back then (though I haven't checked).

Is it necessary to describe why he can afford two degree's in college? Wouldn't readers just assume that he can somehow?

College used to be much more affordable in this country (the U.S.). Back when I went to college (I graduated in 1980), the tuition was $7,000/year, and it was one of the highest in the country. Now, it's not uncommon for a single year to cost a student $50,000 USD. Many cover that huge gap between small 'grants' and their savings with loans which they'll be paying back for decades, limiting their future potential, so no one will question their skimping or scraping. If they're stretch thin and particularly ambition, have them augment their school with independent online courses (much cheaper) in a secondary degree, requiring only their passing certain tests to gain recognition in the field.

Part of the 'magic' of college is for teenagers to gain a certain degree of independence from their parents, so remaining at home while attending a two-year degree will be like waving to all your friends as they pass you by on their way to professional degrees while you accept whatever lower paying degree you can afford (it'll severely impact your future earning potential NOT going heavily into debt). The alternative is talking your way into a start up in the tech community to showing off exceptional coding skills—so you can bypass college entirely.

The author hasn't provided either of them with a car yet...

Not necessary if you have them in the same coed dormitory. They just have to worry about those pesky roommates.

Both the male and female character would be living at dorms on campus normally. Would this mean you're back to high school protocol for intimacy? :) The author hasn't provided either of them with a car yet...

Heck no! The opportunities to 'hook up' at college campuses are legendary, although the actual occurrences are noticeably fewer. Most studious 'nerd types' still get laid a whole lot, but that doesn't keep them from trying valiantly, while many (but not all) of the women are either leery of the men or out to prove how serious they are about their studies.

Still, the idea that sex is so rampant, and hookups so readily available, tends to weigh heavily on older teens separated in different colleges (or even those with one stuck at home, watching from a distance as the other enjoys freedoms they can hardly imagine). Again, a lot of rich material to play with.

If depends on how you want to play this. If the guy is serious, trying to scrimp and save to pay his way through school, he'll also be deeply unsure about his relationship with such easy 'hookups' and plenty of available 'hot guys' around, while the girl will have trouble getting the stay-at-home guy to appreciate just what he's missing by staying at home. Further complicating things, they'll both try to convince the other of what they're missing, completely talking past one another on many instances. (This is a classic conflict in hundreds of 'college romance' movies over the ages.)

Also, they secret to cars on most campuses are that they're mostly a trap. The few with cars are continually pressed into service, ferrying the others all over the place, often stuck with remaining sober while driving their drunk friends and will often resort to making demands on those same friends in exchange for their largess, further stressing those friendships.

Those without cars actually have greater freedom. With seemingly fewer options, they have fewer responsibilities, and someone is always going where you want to go too, so it isn't terribly difficult to arrange a ride. Also, because girls are so conscious of date-rape, typically girls will travel with girls, or at least travel in 'packs' (several girls going with a few guys so they can defend each other if necessary). Of course, much of that goes out the window once the drinks start pouring and good reason goes out the window on everyone's part.

@REP

The author hasn't provided either of them with a car yet...

Not necessary if you have them in the same coed dormitory. They just have to worry about those pesky roommates.

That's where the classic 'tie on the doorknob' system works. If someone returns home to find a tie (or scarf) hanging from the doorknob, they'll know to not knock on the door, forcing them to find someone else to waste several hours as they await the opportunity to return home to crash (or study for an important test).

I can see opportunities both ways.

If depends on how you want to play this. If the guy is serious, trying to scrimp and save to pay his way through school, he'll also be deeply unsure about his relationship with such easy 'hookups' and plenty of available 'hot guys' around, while the girl will have trouble getting the stay-at-home guy to appreciate just what he's missing by staying at home. Further complicating things, they'll both try to convince the other of what they're missing, completely talking past one another on many instances. (This is a classic conflict in hundreds of 'college romance' movies over the ages.)

As you suggest, having him saving money by living at home will fit well with the story and plot as I have it laid out at this stage. He could have had a mandatory first year at the dorm, and then move back home for instance. Is that a possible scenario? Having gotten a girlfriend from the popular crowd living at campus makes for many discussions and possibilities for me as an author.

On the other hand I can see him pissed at his roommate constantly crashing the dorm with parties, marking him as a 'nerd' and outcast trying to be serious about his studies. Maybe his roommate gathers all kind of people, making for awkward situations.

Is the dorms off limits and closed at summer btw?

Is the dorms off limits and closed at summer btw?

From the research I did, most colleges use the summer to do maintenance on dorms, but some are used for what they call summer classes or intercession classes. Thus students have to vacate at the end of the scholastic year and return at the start of the next one, unless they're doing summer classes and are allowed to stay in the same dorm - not uncommon for them to have to switch dorms for summer classes.

Some colleges also close the dorms, or most of the dorms over the two Christmas / New Year break.

On that note, some colleges have some flat / condominium style housing with a full kitchen and the students have to buy their own food and cook it etc. Some colleges allow students in this housing to stay over the Christmas break, but close the dorms without a full own kitchen to save on the cost of running the cafeterias.

As you suggest, having him saving money by living at home will fit well with the story and plot as I have it laid out at this stage. He could have had a mandatory first year at the dorm, and then move back home for instance. Is that a possible scenario? Having gotten a girlfriend from the popular crowd living at campus makes for many discussions and possibilities for me as an author.

As was noted earlier, not all schools mandate dorm living, and many of those who do offer exemptions, so it should be easy accounting for why the guy gets to remain home while his girlfriend doesn't.

And yes, when school not in session the dorms are traditionally closed. They'll typically reopen during the 'summer session', but that doesn't last all summer. They also keep a small subset of the dorms (like a single dorm) open during Christmas break for those unable to return home (like foreign students or those on financial aid who can't travel, or even those with abusive families).

And evidently, at least if the Transformers movies are any indication for some of the schools that DO mandate dorm living for Freshmen. They're probably also banned from having a car on campus(thus saving the school money in regards to parking facilities they have to maintain)

They don't typically 'ban' cars for freshmen, instead they only have a limited number of parking spaces available, and they 'reserve' most for the upper-classmen. Same results, different justifications. However, for my school, at least, I knew several freshmen who were able to part, though I'm sure large universities wouldn't have as many parking spots available.

Yes some colleges and universities have no restriction on students having cars on campus. However, others do have such restrictions. For example, Trinity College's policy contains the statements:

All students, faculty and staff must register their vehicles with the Trinity College Campus Safety Department in advance. Parking on campus and on Vernon Street is restricted to college-registered vehicles only.

FIRST YEAR STUDENTS CANNOT BRING CARS TO CAMPUS. Any first-year student who finds that a vehicle is necessary even for a short-term basis, needs to obtain permission IN ADVANCE of bringing the car to campus.

http://www.trincoll.edu/cs/Pages/Vehicle.aspx

FIRST YEAR STUDENTS CANNOT BRING CARS TO CAMPUS. Any first-year student who finds that a vehicle is necessary even for a short-term basis, needs to obtain permission IN ADVANCE of bringing the car to campus.

What's more, students are strictly forbidden from parking their cars in their dorm rooms or in the Trinity Churches Vestibule! 'D Bad Parking! Bad, bad parking! Woof!

might prove in court that because no wheels were touching then the car was not parked on the road.

That may be true, but the student would have violated the policy's prohibition of bringing an unregistered car on campus (i.e. he would have to drive the car on the campus's roads to get it to the pillars). :)

That may be true, but the student would have violated the policy's prohibition of bringing an unregistered car on campus (i.e. he would have to drive the car on the campus's roads to get it to the pillars). :)

That sounds like a challenge to me, and as we all know, there's no faster way to get young men to do something stupid than to Double-Dog Dare them to do it! 'D

That sounds like a challenge to me, and as we all know, there's no faster way to get young men to do something stupid than to Double-Dog Dare them to do it! 'D

I believe the appropriate phrase right now is, "Hold my beer!"

It's almost certain that what they are about to do is epic stupid.

Especially when what follows is: Tem's fighten words!

Especially when what follows is: Tem's fighten words!

Tem fighten words: Spar, warr, knock-down, drag-out, roll, kerfunkle, 'sleepy time', dis'greement, spat (related to the earlier 'spar') and 'take down'.

Of course, John Tem has his own list of words. 'D

What about on the Chancellor's front lawn? :)