Some terms:
Scrambled: Describes the mindfuck period of our lives that's living without understanding literally anything about anything that is going on with you and your body and before discovering our dsd.
Ex: I was scrambled for years until I read about PAIS/I was still scrambled back then.
Poached: Describing the particular feeling of having your autonomy robbed in making decisions about your own body or like things were taken from you (often physically if the gonads are removed).
Ex: Many intersex persons are poached upon birth, they poached me around 12 months.
I feel like this is a pretty visceral and effective metaphor for the loss of identity or grief from medical coercion.
Duck-billed: A way to describe "non-passing" or clocked.
Ex: I was pretty duck-billed in my youth, they duck-billed me, sometimes I feel like I'm too much a duck around other men/women.
I like this because it takes the focus away from the surface cosmetics that 'passing,' a harmful concept, entails as though not looking up to convention means someone is less their sex which is not the point, and is instead centered in the feelings of awkwardness and alienation across many variable domains even if someone does or doesn't look conventional.
Ducklings: A fun way to refer to intersex youth. Self explanatory.
Waddling: The general bouts of confusion surrounding how we shape our identities. Questioning and exploratory periods.
Ex: I'm still waddling, unsure where I fit.
Goose: Angry intersex person.
Ex: She became a right goose the moment someone brought up "sex is a spectrum".
Swan: A intersex person who's found their stride, is attractive, or talented. Can refer to joy or a generally pleasant mood.
Ex: He's a real swan, she swanned after trying new treatment.
Hen/Drake Feathers: Signs that begin to tip someone off to their condition (Also Daisy feathers for girls called after the Disney character). In ducks, the females are called hens while the men are referred as drakes and spout curled feathers once matured to a certain point.
Ex: My drake feather came in at 14 when I began to grow a mustache even though I was female.
And there's something referred to as the duck test. We've all heard it. If it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, then it must be a duck. That's pretty much how doctors assign our sex just by external appearances. Thereby, referring to said assignment could be called getting "duck tested."
Ex. I was duck tested by my doctors who assumed me female.
Why are these terms mostly duck related? See this post.
