Football fans use jargon like "false 9" and "gegenpressing". Travelers throw around "Schengen" and "riad". Here's what they mean.
- $10 budget
- The core constraint. You have exactly 10 budget points to spend on players or travel options.
- Backpacker
- Budget traveler with a backpack instead of a suitcase. Stays in hostels, eats street food, moves frequently.
- Ballon d'Or
- Annual award for the world's best player. Voted by journalists worldwide.
- Bicycle kick
- Overhead scissor kick. Pele, Ronaldinho, Zlatan all famous for them.
- Box-to-box
- A midfielder who covers both penalty boxes. Patrick Vieira and Yaya Touré are textbook examples.
- Brace
- Two goals in one game.
- Bracket
- Single-elimination tournament of the top 8 voted picks. Auto-rotates.
- Clean sheet
- Goalkeeper finishes the game without conceding.
- Couchsurfing
- Free homestay platform. Hosts offer their couches to travelers.
- Daily challenge
- A featured theme that rotates every 24h on the homepage.
- Digital Nomad
- Remote worker traveling indefinitely. Looks for fast wifi, coworking spaces, long stays.
- ESTA
- Visa waiver for US travel. Apply online, costs $21.
- Era tier
- GOAT, Legend, Modern, Current, 90s/2000s — classifies a player by historical era.
- Eurail/InterRail
- European train passes. One ticket = unlimited rides for X days.
- False 9
- A striker who drops deep into midfield, dragging defenders out of position. Messi played it under Guardiola.
- Flashpacker
- Backpacker with more money. Better hostels (sometimes hotels), faster moves, more activities.
- GOAT
- Greatest Of All Time. On TenDollarPick, the $5 tier (Messi, Ronaldo, Pele, Maradona, R9, Puskás).
- Gegenpressing
- Counter-pressing immediately after losing the ball. Jürgen Klopp's signature style at Liverpool and Dortmund.
- Hat-trick
- Three goals in one game. Perfect hat-trick = left foot + right foot + header.
- Hawker centre
- Singapore/Malaysia food court. Stalls of $1-$4 dishes. Some Michelin-starred.
- Hostel
- Shared accommodation. Dorm beds from $1-$15/night. Most have kitchens, common rooms, organize tours.
- Kasbah
- North African fortified citadel/old quarter. Found in Marrakech, Tangier, Algiers.
- Layover
- Stop between flights. 8+ hours = enough to see the city, but cheaper to just sleep at the airport.
- Libero
- A free-roaming defender who's also expected to bring the ball forward. Invented by Franz Beckenbauer.
- Marquee pick
- The most expensive player in a $10 squad. Usually a $5 GOAT or $4 Legend.
- Medina
- Walled old city in North Africa / Middle East. Pedestrian-only mazes.
- Nutmeg
- Passing the ball between an opponent's legs. Aka 'panna' or 'megs'.
- Onsen
- Japanese hot spring bath. Public or private. Naked + segregated by gender.
- Open-jaw flight
- Arrive in one city, leave from another. Often same price as round-trip.
- Parking the bus
- Defending with all 10 outfield players behind the ball. Mourinho's reputation move.
- Regista
- Italian for 'director'. A deep-lying playmaker who orchestrates from in front of the defense. Andrea Pirlo redefined it.
- Riad
- Traditional Moroccan house with a central courtyard. Tourist guesthouses in Marrakech and Fes.
- Ryokan
- Traditional Japanese inn with tatami floors and futons. Onsen often included.
- Schengen
- 26-country borderless EU zone. Tourist limit: 90 days in any 180-day period.
- Short code
- Auto-generated 5-character code (e.g. TDP-X3K9) that maps to a shared pick URL.
- Signature moment
- A famous moment that defines a player. Auto-cited on every player page.
- Souk
- Arab/North African market. Haggling expected.
- Sweeper-keeper
- A goalkeeper who acts as an extra defender, sweeping behind the defensive line. Manuel Neuer is the modern template.
- Tiki-Taka
- Short passing, possession-heavy style. Pep's Barcelona and Spain 2008-2012 perfected it.
- Total Football
- The Dutch tactical system where any player can take any role. Cruyff's Ajax of the 70s invented it.
- Treble
- Winning the league, domestic cup, and Champions League in one season. Rare. United 1999, Inter 2010, Bayern 2013.
- Trequartista
- A creative attacking midfielder behind the striker. Italian no.10.
- UNESCO World Heritage
- Sites of cultural/natural global value. Often free or cheap to visit. Always worth it.
- Visa-on-arrival (VOA)
- Get your visa at the airport, not before. Cheaper, simpler, but riskier.
- Voice note
- 30-second audio comment on debate threads. Stored in Supabase Storage.