UB Slang

Know the slang, know the school. The following is a list of things you really need to know before coming to UB.

The Base

Third Base bar on Main Street, the “last stop before going home.”

The Big White Box

The large concrete Center for the Arts on North Campus.

Blue Bird

The bus service that shuttles students between campuses, the nickname lives, even though the buses are no longer blue.

Buff State

An entirely separate school in Buffalo, located on the West Side; a few students every year actually apply to the wrong school, maybe because Buff State's address and academic information appeared under UB's entry in the 2000 Fiske Guide to Colleges.

CFA

The Center for the Arts.

Cheektavegas

Cheektowaga, Buffalo's predominantly Polish suburb—home of the airport, the Galleria Mall, Buffalo's best Polish restaurants, several tacky ‘60s-era strip plazas, and a proposed casino.

Chippewa

A club and bar district downtown.

CIT

The Office of Computing and Information Technology.

Cybrary

A computer lab in a campus library.

Drunk Bus

The early-hours intercampus shuttle that runs students from North Campus dorms and apartments to the Heights bars.

Elmwood Village

A beautiful West Side neighborhood full of Victorian homes, independent shops, and great restaurants; particularly popular with professors and grad students

EOP

The Equal Opportunity Program for economically disadvantaged students.

Governerds

Residents of Governors, often first-year athletes or honors students.

The Heights

The run-down but loved neighborhood adjacent to South Campus where thousands of UB students live.

Kung Fu Tai Chi Guy

An old man who sits at various locations around campus holding a sign that says “LEARN KUNG FU TAI CHI.”

The Lake

Not Lake Erie, but manmade Lake LaSalle on North Campus.

Legoland

Another name for the unusual-looking Ellicott Complex.

NSC

A big building on North Campus that houses most of the science departments and several huge lecture halls.

The Ralph

Ralph Wilson Stadium, home of the Bills, about 25 minutes from campus in Orchard Park.

Smellicott

The Ellicott Complex (particularly Wilkeson and Spaulding Quads, the all-freshman section).

The Spine

A mile-long cluster of huge buildings on North Campus where most of the academic departments are housed.

SU

The Student Union; the gateway to the Spine from the main bus loop.

The UGL

Undergraduate Library, which is louder than many cafeterias.

Wide Right

All Buffalonians flinch at this phrase, which refers to Scott Norwood's missed field goal as time expired on the Bills’ 20–19 loss to the Giants in Super Bowl XXV.