Urist

From Dwarf Fortress Wiki

This article has been rated D for Dwarf. It may include witty humour, not-so-witty humour, bad humour, in-jokes related to the game, and references to the Bay12 forums. Don't believe everything you read, and if you miss some of the references, don't worry.

The first name "Urist" is generally accepted in the DF community as "the" generic dwarven name, and often used as a reference name if someone talks about a dwarf and doesn't have (or want to bother with) an actual name. This name is often, if not always, linked with a last name of 'Mc______'*, that includes some trait or his job.

(* probably because dwarfs are "known" to have a Scottish accent)

For Example:

Urist McMiner can't find his pick!

It's time for Urist McUselessNoble to have an unfortunate accident.

Urist McStupid dodged into the magma.

Urist is the dwarvish word for "dagger".

The origin of the name's popularity seems to be the tale "One Dwarf Against the World," a well-received narrative style account of a hermit fortress played in the 2D version. That dwarf's full name was Urist Borushdumat (Raked-Roughness). Despite that dwarf having been female, the name is used for either gender of generic dwarf.

At least according to the catsplosion page (definitely not officially), urist is also the tongue-in-cheek term for the temperature units used by ToadyOne in DF.