Gamer Speak: General Terms/Shorthand

As anyone who spends any decent amount of time with a gamer knows, Gamers have their own language and they don't just use it during play. Long after the game has been saved and the control put down, a Gamer is likely to use any gamer-term they want. Here are a few of the more common ones so that you can be ready when your Gamer tosses them out!

FTW

Grenades FTW!

FTW stands for “For the Win.” This can be used to exclaim a liking of almost anything. For example: Puppies FTW! Fabric Softener FTW! Tomatoes FTW!

GG

GG with the laser beam.

GG stands for “good game” or “good going.” It can be used as a compliment or in a sarcastic tone when pointing out a mistake or stupid move.

Grinding

I spent all day grinding and I only gained two levels!

Grinding is the process of working towards a higher level. Grinding often requires performing mundane or repetitive tasks to gain experience.

HP

My HP is too low to start a fight.

HP measures a creature or player’s health points. When a person is out of health points they are dead.

Leet or 1337

My elf is a level 70 leet. Or He’s a leet dancer.

Leet is short for elite. When you type 1337 into an older basic calculator and turn the screen upside down it will look like the letters l-e-e-t. Being elite can be due to the classification in a game (The elf reference about refers specifically to World of Warcraft.) or to having a significant amount of skill in a particular area.

Manna

After that fight, I’m in desperate need of manna.

Manna is what allows a player to cast spells. Spells can be used to attack, defend, or heal.

Note: There is also a new energy drink marketed to gamers called "Manna."

MMORPG

World of Warcraft is a very popular MMORPG.

MMORPG stands for Massively Multiplayer Online Role-playing Game. These are games that are played by a large number of people over an Internet connection during which players play as if they are a certain character.

Noob

Adam is such a noob, he didn’t know what pwn meant!

Noob is short for newbie. However, it is more often used to refer to someone who is considered to not be very cool or who has an exceptional lack in skill.

Pwn, Pwning, Pwned

He got pwned when playing “Star Fox” last night.

This evolved from the tendency of many online gamers to type quickly but not accurately often without proofreading. Pwn is the mistype of own. To own someone is to beat them rather significantly in some form of competition. One could also use Pwn to refer to life events.

XP

I’m 1,500 XP from the next level.

XP is short for experience points. In Warcraft, a player gains XP by killing certain creatures or completing quests. As the player gains XP they gain levels.

~~Some of these terms are copied from the WoW Gamer Speak article just as a refresher. You can find the entire WoW Gamer Speak here.