"Does 'Bog Check' Sound Ridiculous?" Topic

We always call rolling to see if a vehicle bogs a bog check.

Not silly at all, that is what we call it too.

If it's good enough for ASL, it's good enough for you. Never heard of "bog" in relation to toilet humor.

That's British (and apparently Canadian) slang. For most US gamers, "bog" is just a swamp, not a toilet reference. "Bogged down" most literally means "stuck in the mud" in this case.

Doesn't have any potty connotation around here.

I'm Canadian, and i only know bog as a swamp-ish type area. it's never had any other connotation in my area. Canada is big though, maybe that is slang for a specific region. I'm in Ontario.

"Never heard of "bog" in relation to toilet humor"

Ah, but now you have, as have other TMP readers, its lodged in the back of your mind now and its creeping insidiously into the wargaming culture of North america. In five years time you'll all be sniggering, or casting an eye for the "john" when someone makes a "bog check"

:)

Now that you mention it, it is quite funny. I like it.

Is it making sure the seat is down before sitting down, so you dont do the half-fall in stunt ?

The Irish would know exactly what you mean: "On the bog" means "On the crapper" or whatever is the slang across the atlantic. I've always associated it with the English…the slang word I mean… not what it refers to…ahmm.

I'd never though of it as funny before but do now. Yes, 'bog' is (ony of many) Britishisms for 'toilet'.

Anyway, 'bog check' fine, it is a term we've used over here for decades in the context of wargames rules. I blame Squad Leader.

Ah, so it's a regional Canadian thing but not universal. I was wondering about that, since I'd only ever heard it being a British/Irish/Scottish term prior to Ditto.

For that matter, has it spread to Australia? Is "bog" generally a toilet or a swamp down under?

I'm Canadian and am very familiar with bog meaning toilet! I'm from Ontario as well. Maybe it depends more on where your family and friends originate.

Ah, well, from now on I intewd a juvenile snicker when we check for a stuck vehicle.

And serve cabbage soup before playing Great War games involving poison gas.

There's another issue with the term-- in Fireball Forward we ended up changing it to "Mobility Check" because players invariably thought that if you bogged down after a failed check you were stuck unless you rolled to get out. I guess there are a LOT of rules that use bog as the term. The FBF rules simply are that if you are in difficult terrain and roll a one on a D6 you don't move that turn. No marker is necessary, and no "unbogging" roll either. But as long as players heard the word "bog" they continued to think they needed to test to get out of the situation.

I wrote a book for 10 year old boys (and TMP members) called 'Bogbrush the Barbarian' (Kids Can Press, 2010). My editor, a native of Ontario, didn't know the term. I did tell her, after a while.

Using "bogging check" rather than "bog check" might mildly reduce the toilet humour potential.

"Mobility check" is good, though, because a vehicle might be bellied, stalled, or have thrown a track rather than being bogged. And we don't want to call it a bog-stall-belly check.

All the best,

John.

Exactly so!

First time I saw the term I though it was an archeological reference for searching for Bog People.

Ironically Ditto my Irish accent has led me to be accused of being a "Newfy" and when I first moved to Canada I had no idea what people meant by this so I was actually replying in the affirmative believing it was probably Canadian slang for "new comer" …

From a British perspective 'bog check' sounds like a toilet break.

'Bogged down' however, just means 'stuck in soft ground'. Weird how language works, innit?

Mire Check perhaps?

I don't think its toilet humor aspects have spread to 'Stalia, I've been here for a few years now, and have not heard sniggers around 'bog' checks, but then again I don't recall any hilarity around them in the UK either – and most of my games there were with or around young soldiers and sailors who will laugh at anything, as you know!

'BoggING Check' perhaps…?

Here we see Clarkson working on the Trials version of the Future ARmy Transport staff car (FART) with all possible conveniences for the modern Major General…

Sorry, this 1st form humour is infectious…

Of course it's the right phrase and it is funny. As a British (probably applies to all men)man, my sense of humour has advanced little since my 14th summer.

Red Baron:

'How lucky you English are to find the toilet so amusing. For us, it is a mundane and functional item. For you it is the basis of an entire culture.'

(lol) All these years here in the States we have used the term "bog check" for games of Arc of Fire and as Nazrat stated Fire Ball Forward until it was changed to mobility check. In many of our games several of us have been know as the "Bog King" due to fact we always seemed to get our tanks stuck at the most un-opportune moment and would proceed to stay "bogged down" for the entire game. I now will never be able to use the term without a laugh.

Go for Bog. I had a very bad idea when I started writing Gruntz. I had a "Scared less" test. It was very quickly changed to "Condition Brown" check.

However I still prefer seeing something fun in a game, so a Bog check sounds perfect to me.