Glossary
Terms used by the Registry, defined as precisely as the Registry is able, which is not very.
- Arbitrated draw
- The outcome of every dispute between a fish and its reflection. See the Reflective Surfaces (Identity Protection) Act 2009.
- Bowl
- Any vessel containing water and a fighting fish, including a large teacup in exceptional circumstances.
- Bowl Accord of 1986
- A foundational agreement between a fish and a bowl. Page two is missing.
- Broadly wet
- Wet to a standard a reasonable fish would accept without filing anything.
- Bubble
- The official unit of currency for rent, fees and permits within the Realm.
- Castle
- An ornament shaped like a castle, including one that used to be a castle before it fell over.
- Constructive occupancy
- The doctrine that a fish who looks at a castle door with interest is a tenant of the castle.
- Corner
- A corner, or a curve the fish has decided is a corner, or the area behind the heater.
- Dechlorinator
- A liquid added to water while reading the label for the first time, every time.
- Deemed approval
- Approval that happens on its own after enough time has passed, usually about 30 minutes.
- Disappointment
- The state of a fish that has received fewer pellets than it had in mind.
- Excessive glamour
- A flare for which an ordinary reasonable observer would need to sit down.
- Feeding window
- Any period during which a human stands near the bowl holding a container.
- Firm letter
- The Registry's principal treatment, remedy, sanction and gift.
- Flare
- The extension of gill covers and fins for display, intimidation, courtship, self-expression, or because it felt like it.
- Front
- The side of the bowl from which the fish is most often looked at. Not yet defined for round bowls.
- Gentle Reminder
- An enforcement notice with no legal effect, printed on very good paper.
- Glamour Permit
- A permit to display excessive glamour, issued on Form F-21.
- Heritage nest
- A bubble nest that has lasted longer than one hour.
- Landlord
- The human who bought the ornament.
- Lap
- One complete circuit of the bowl. More than 400 a day may indicate Chronic Lap Fatigue.
- Middle name
- A name inserted to make a taken name available again, for example "Thug Reginald Math".
- Part 3
- A missing part of the Bubble-Nest Planning Regulations 1994. Last seen in a folder marked "Misc. (Wet)".
- Pellet
- A small unit of fish food, including a flake behaving like a pellet.
- Pellet Disappointment Tribunal
- A one-member tribunal. The member is a pellet and holds office until eaten.
- Realm
- The water, bowl, gravel and plastic plant, forming a single indivisible territory.
- Reflection
- An image that looks, moves and is exactly like the fish, because it is the fish.
- Remorse Scheme
- Standing near the bowl after tapping on the glass and thinking about what you have done.
- Rent
- Bubbles.
- Scale Exchange Rate
- The official value of a lost scale. Currently zero.
- Snail
- A resident of the Realm with no sovereignty, whose objections are disregarded but appreciated.
- Sovereign gaze
- The act of a fish looking at something with apparent purpose for more than four seconds.
- Taken
- Of a name, already entered in the National Register of Fish Names.
- Tenant
- The fish, whether or not it has ever entered the ornament.
- Water Inspector
- An official who inspects water without putting a finger in it.
Last updated: 19 October 2026. This page has been reviewed by the Committee for Reviewing Pages, which determined that it is a page.