Flurb

Flurbalious

"Someone that makes Dalos's soul hurt."

"the flurb is someone so far gone that they're trying to escape the realities of a game designed to escape from reality."-Oznog

The origins of the term "Flurb" may stem from video games.

In general it started as a derogatory term to refer to people who are more into the role-playing aspects of amtgard, especially in a negative way. It's original meaning was used to describe someone so socially inept, that they made us regular geeks embarrassed & put off. However, over time it lost its negative connotations, role-players have embraced the term and use it with pride as a resistance to the "other side", e.g., the ditch-first Stick Jock mentality that is prevalent in many parts of Amtgard today.

How to explain it... to some, anyone who role-plays is a flurb. But someone who role-plays a half-dragon/half elf sorcerer with blue swords is more of a flurb than someone who simply roleplays a samurai warrior.

It is generally assumed that most flurbs take the role-playing aspects more seriously than the sport aspects of amtgard, usually to the detriment of their fighting ability. So being able to fight well might make one less of a flurb.

From Mark Barnes on facebook "The word flurb (circa 1988 maybe 1989) is what Plague called Cain a few times and we (Cain and myself-Hrog) thought it would be fun to see if we could get people to start using the word just to be cool. The joke was if you didn't know what a flurb was then you were a flurb. So pretty much if you weren't "wrong crowd" then you were a flurb. So other Amtgardians would just say they knew what it meant because we made it sound like you were uncool if you didn't."

Every year an award is given the Flurb of the Year which is voted on by the amtgard community at large.

Variations of the word flurb might include:

• Flurb-Fu - any melodramatic combat tactics that are generally ineffective
• Flurbiness - The flurb factor of something. E.g., the Elven Court has a high degree of "Flurbiness"
• Flurbery - The act of being a flurb.

Links

• More info
• When We Were Flurbs
• The Flurbs of Summer by Angrist
• How Does Your Garden Grow? by Spearweasel
• What is a Fruit Elf? by Michael
• Origins of the Flurb by Randall
• Flurby Weapons No More Simon Blackfell and Arminius
• To Flurb or Not to Flurb by Fenrix
• Let us be Flurby by Raven
• Kansuke was right
• You Are Not the Flurb Messiah by Randall
• I am in Flavor Country by Phywren