If you are a new viewer or a longtime fan of the CBS "Big Brother" reality show, you probably know the name is a literary allusion to the concept that a person, government or organization is watching you. That's because cameras and microphones are always on the competitors except when they go to the bathroom. Therefore, the name of the show is quite appropriate.

Sometimes there is a number behind the abbreviation to indicate the season. For instance, "BB19" means "Brother Brother" Season 19, which is the current season. Competitors living in the house are called HouseGuests, often shortened to just HG.

Technically, BB writes it HouseGuests, but most people don't write it that way.

Common phrases

Backdooring is a strategic move that came about during Season 5 by Jennifer "Nakomis" Dedmon when she was Head Of Household. She nominated two members of her alliance for eviction. The goal was to have people in her alliance compete for the Power Of Veto so one of them could win. One nominee would be taken off the block and replaced with someone else. The backdoor concept is a common practice that requires loyal players to agree to the plan.

Double eviction is simple to understand. It is when two people are evicted on the same night. As soon after the regular eviction is over, the HouseGuests compete for another Head of Household and another person is put up for eviction.

All of this takes place within the hour-long eviction show on Thursday night.

Jury voting happens in the two-hour finale with the final three houseguests competing to be the final HOH. The player who wins the final HOH gets to decide who will go to the finale.

Lockdowns happen when production needs access to one of the areas to get it set up for a competition.

It could be an indoor lockdown, outdoor lockdown or Head of Household lockdown when HouseGuests are all locked out of the way of the production crew.

On the block is the expression used when someone has been nominated for eviction. It's the short expression for "head on the chopping block" that means one is at the risk of something bad happening to him such as being fired.

In BB's case, it is sitting in the chair to be evicted.

Pandora’s box started in Season 11. It is a twist used by production to throw a twist in the game. In the final month of the season, an HOH opens Pandora’s box to give some HouseGuests a reward while penalizing others.

Common abbreviations

There are many abbreviations used on "Big Brother." Viewers are able to figure out some of them on their own. Others are more challenging. The most common ones are HOH, POV, DPOV, and DR.

HOH stands for "Head of Household" where all players compete for the title for one week. One of the main duties of the HOH is to choose two nominees for eviction. The HOH gets privileges, such as a special bedroom with a door that can be locked.

It also has a TV with closed circuit cameras to spy on the other contestants. Each HOH is given a basket containing special treats. Additionally, the HOH can use the internet to post about the experience in the house.

POV stands for "Power of Veto." The people with this honor get to use the privilege to save themselves or someone else from eviction

DPOV stands for "Diamond Power of Veto" that grants the recipient the power to remove a nominee from eviction and put up a replacement.

DR stands for "Diary Room" where competitors get to talk to the production crew about things important to them. Conversations in the DR are private and HGs are not allowed to speak about what is said there.

By the way, these are abbreviations and not acronyms.

An acronym spells a word, such as ZIP in ZIP code. ZIP stands for "Zone Improvement Plan" but it also spells a word in the English language. Another acronym is WHO that stands for "World Health Organization" that also spells a word. None of BB's abbreviations spell real words.
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