RV Lingo, Slang or Terminology

Dinghy (or Toad) – Vehicle towed behind your motor home.
Basement – Storage area beneath the floor of the motor home, usually accessible from the outside.
Dump Station – Facility where you can empty your black and gray water holding tanks.
Full Hookup – Campsite with direct connections to electricity, sewer and water amenities.
Holding Tanks – There are three different holding tanks on most motor homes:Black, Grey and Fresh
Genset - A RV’s electric generator
Diesel Pusher – Motorhome with the diesel engine mounted in the rear of the vehicle.
Full Timers – People who live in their RV full time.
Snowbirds – Those who travel south during the winter months.
Equalizing Hitch- A hitch that utilizes spring bars that are placed under tension to distribute a portion of the trailer’s hitch weight to the tow vehicle’s front axle and the trailer’s axles. This hitch is also known as a weight distributing hitch.
Dry Weight- The weight of the RV without any fuel, freshwater, propane or passengers.
Dry Camping- Also known as boon docking, dry camping refers to camping without any hook-ups. It is namely camping without hooking up to any electric, sewer or water facilities. You can still have electric from your RV batteries and water from your freshwater holding tank.
Converter- An electrical device for converting 120-volt AC power into 12-volt DC power. Most RVs with electrical hookups will have a converter, since many of the lights and some other accessories run on 12-volt DC
Delam- A shorten word for delaminating. Delaminating is a condition found on a fiberglass RV where the fiberglass skin of the RV separates from the body of the RV. This is usually the result of an undetected water leak, which over time, causes the luan backer that the fiberglass is bonded with to rot. When this backer rots, there is nothing to hold the fiberglass to the body of the RV and this is where you will notice the delam bubbles on the outside walls of the RV.
Honey Wagon- Euphemism for the sewage pumping truck. Honey wagons are used to empty RV holding tanks in places where full hookups and dump stations are not available.
Inverter- An electrical device for converting 12-volt DC power into 120-volt AC power.
Puller- The slang term for a motorhome with a front-mounted diesel engine.
Shore Power- Electricity provided to the RV by an external source other than the RV batteries.
Slide In- The term for a type of camper that mounts on a truck bed, because this type of camper slides into the truck bed.
Tow Bar- A bar used for connecting a towed vehicle to the motorhome for towing with all four wheels on the ground.
Deep Cycle Batteries– Batteries designed to be recharged multiple times from a discharged state without damage.  The best choice for batteries used as house batteries in an RV
House Batteries– Batteries used exclusively to power DC appliances and lights in a RV.
Potable Water– Drinking Water.
Self Contained– RV having kitchen, sleeping, potable water and sewage retaining equipment as a minimum.  Bathing, heating/cooling and electrical are often essential components of fully self contained vehicles.

If you hear of any I have missed let me know and I will add them.