Jargon

Aiming off - A technique for finding a control on, or near to, a line feature by deliberately aiming to one side so that you know which way to turn upon hitting the line feature to find the control. May sound daft at first to deliberately miss a target but because you do not have to be so accurately you can run faster.

Assembly Area - The place where enquiries and registration takes place before you start and your results are posted after. At larger events you will also find food, normally Wilfs, equipment retailers and toilets etc.

Attack point - A distinctive, easily found feature (certainly easier to find than the control) that is near enough to your control for you to "attack" the control using map and compass.

Badge event - A regional event offering long and short courses (A&B for juniors) for different age classes. Called Badge events because you can qualify you for a badge. See BOF for details. Badge events have pre-marked maps and normally require pre entry for badge classes. There are also normally a few of the less technical colour coded courses available with EOD at badge events for the less experienced orienteer.

Badge standard - The colour of badge your performance qualifies you for. Standards are Championship, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron.

Bagged map - A pre-marked map in a plastic bag (to protect it from the weather).

Bearing - The direction of travel as indicated by the compass.

Bingo control - A control that needs luck to find. Normally due to an inaccurate map. We never have such controls at SWOC events.

BOC - British Orienteering Championship. An annual event, held in spring in a different region of the country each year. In 2007 it was held in South Wales.

BOF - British Orienteering Federation. The governing body of our sport in the United Kingdom.

BOF Number - A unique identifying number issued by BOF to members. Increasingly used for computerised entry, results and rankings.

BOF Rankings - A ranking list compiled for all senior classes, but not junior, using a complex formula that few understand from the results of most badge events and above. See BOF site.

Brown course - Often the longest course at a local event. Technically difficult, but no harder than the Blue. The route should be cross-country as much as possible with significant route choice. If possible, finding the controls should require c areful map reading