<span class="SFPTagline"> From SCIFIPEDIA </span>

Terms of the Trade are the words and phrases used on The SCI FI Channel TV Series Ghost Hunters to describe and explain the plumbing issues, the tools used and the supernatural phenomena encountered in the places where the "Ghost Hunters" do their work.

Ballcock — Valve operated by a flotation device, such as the float ball in a toilet tank. Why, what did you think it was?

Banishing — Formal, ceremonial procedure effected to cast an invisible presence or influence out of an area.

Bushing — (n.) Threaded pipe fitting used to connect two pipes of different sizes. (v.) Campaigning for the president.

Continuance — 1. Commonly referred to as life-after-death, survival of the psyche post-cessation of the biological organism that had generated it. 2. Tactic used by lawyers to drag out a case for as long as possible.

Coupling — 1. Popular BBC-America sitcom. 2. Short pipe fitting.

Demonologist — A person, usually a member of the clergy, who studies and catalogs demons.

Digital Audio — This specifically refers to the small digital sound-recorders we set up, or to the media on which we record.

Dowsing Rod — A Y-shaped rod or two L-shaped rods; used in searches for underground water, discovering the location of unmarked graves, determining the sex of unborn children, and for locating ghosts.

Electromagnetic Field (EMF) — A force given off by electric charges, found in anything that uses electricity. The higher the spikes in the electromagnetic field are, the more potential there is for paranormal activity.

Entity — A disembodied consciousness commonly referred to as a ghost, spirit or (if of an apparently malicious or resentful nature) demon.

Ectoplasm — A filmy, quasi-solid substance which supposedly issues from the bodies of mediums (from the mouth, nostrils, eyes, ears, navel or nipples — not the type below) during trance states. In photographs, this phenomenon seems to resemble soaked muslin fabric. Whether or not it has ever been genuine, virtually no ectoplasm has been reported in the past 50 years.

EVP — Electronic Voice Phenomena: disembodied "voices" and sounds imprinted on audio recording devices.

Exorcism — Ceremonial expulsion of invading spiritual/demonic entities from a person or dwelling.

Fitting or Pipe Fitting — A pipe part that joins two sections of pipe; varieties include bushings, couplings and wyes.

Float Ball — 1. Sport played by plumbers. 2. Hollow, floating ball in toilet tank, attached to a rod that controls water inlet.

Floating Orb — No relation to above. Spherical image, usually translucent white though sometimes of a reddish or bluish hue, which inexplicably registers on film and videotape.

Ghost — Image of a person witnessed after his/her death, reflecting the appearance of the living, physical body yet less substantial. These forms often seem to exist in a dreamlike state of semi-awareness, and are sometimes cognizant of their human observers.

Haunting — Manifestation of a ghostly presence, attached to a specific locale.

Hi-8 — This is a quick way of saying "portable camcorder," specifically the kind that utilizes Hi-8 tapes. It also can refer to the tapes themselves.

Intelligent Haunting — A haunting that knows you're there and interacts with you. It tries to get you to help it, or it gets a kick out of scaring you.

Materialization — When a ghost appears; can be sudden or gradual, indistinct or seemingly quite solid.

Matrixing — Natural tendency for the human mind to interpret sensory input (that which is perceived visually, audibly or tactilely) as something familiar or more easily understood and accepted, and in effect mentally "filling in the blanks."

Medium — 1. A person who can sense the emotions of persons either alive or dead and is sensitive to the electrical fields around personalities. 2. A really cool NBC] show starring Patricia Arquette.

MiniDV — Slang for a camcorder that records and plays MiniDV tapes; also, shorthand for the tapes themselves.

Nipple — Short pipe installed between couplings. ... Oh, come on, I thought we got past this back at "ballcock."

PEX — Cross-linked polyethylene tubing, with no nipples.

Pipe Dope — 1. Pipe-joint compound, applied to threaded fittings to create a watertight seal. 2. A plumber who smokes too much weed.

Psychic Cleansing — A less ritualized form of exorcism, wherein a site is purified and malevolent influences banished through prayers, which are spoken as the petitioner moves through the area.

Relief Valve — A regulator that relieves excess pressure.

Residual Haunting — Psychic imprint of a scene that is repeatedly played out, and in which the witness of the phenomenon essentially is peering into the past. The ghostly participants of these time-displacements often seem unaware of their living observers.

Silky — A female ghost attired in a rustling silk garment (sometimes seen, other times just heard), who performs domestic chores for a household after the occupants have retired for the night.

Smudge Sticks — Traditional Native American tools used for purification, healing, clearing, cleansing and spiritual ceremonies. Their smoke is believed to balance and clear "negative energies" from spaces, objects and organic beings, as well as their auras.

Tailpiece — Pipe that runs between a fixture and a trap.

Trap — 1. Fitting that holds water to prevent entry of sewer gases. 2. Any discussion that begins, "Does this make me look fat?"

Vortex — A gateway that opens from the spirit world, like a rip in our dimension, and lets entities from the other side enter our world.

Water Hammer Arrestor — 1. Device that absorbs hydraulic shock in a fixture in order to prevent a banging "water hammer" sound. 2. Police officer who fished drunk-and-disorderly rap star M.C. Hammer from pool.

Wye — Wye not?

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