The Shithead dictionary
Blinds. Your three face-down cards, played last and unseen. Also "the downs".
Burn. Removing the pile from the game entirely, via a 10 or four of a kind. Burned cards never return.
Official rules. The rules as maintained by this site. See also: your table disagreeing.
Completing. Playing the fourth card of a rank onto the pile, triggering a burn and a moment of unbearable smugness.
Descent. The state of play after a 9, when cards must go lower instead of higher.
Founding Shithead. A member of this site's list of early believers. It's a lifestyle.
Going out. Shedding your final card. Any card counts here.
Harrogate. Spa town in North Yorkshire. Origin of the official rules; spiritual capital of the game.
Magic card. A card with powers beyond its number: the 2, the 8 and the 10, plus the 9's descent.
Must-play. The rule that you cannot decline to play a legal card. No hiding.
Pile. The face-up stack in the middle. Your enemy, your inheritance.
Pickup. Taking the entire pile into your hand because you couldn't, or in loose houses, wouldn't, play.
Reset. What a 2 does: the pile stays put but the count starts again from nothing.
Shithead. The last player holding cards. Shuffles and deals the next game. Title persists until reassigned.
The swap. The pre-game exchange between your hand and your face-up cards. The most important decision you'll make all game.
Ups. Your three face-up cards, banked at the start and picked into your hand at the endgame.