Jargon, decoded

The glossary

304 words from World of Warcraft, MMOs, esports and every game chat you have ever been flamed in — what each one means, and how people actually say it. Every entry has its own link, so you can send it to the friend who just asked what a twink is.

Word of the day

AV

PvP

Also: Alterac Valley

Alterac Valley: 40 v 40 across a whole zone, ends when a faction boss dies. Can last hours or minutes depending on the era.

“AV weekend, honor is doubled, everyone's queueing.”

See also: Battleground, Honor

12 of 304 words for “Lag”

Lag
Gaming slang
When the game responds late because of your connection or the server. The universal excuse.
“I lagged, that's why I died. — Sure.”
See also: Ping, Rubberbanding
Flag carrier
PvP
Also: FC
The player holding the flag in Warsong Gulch. Your own is the FC, the enemy's is the EFC.
“Peel for the flag carrier!”
“Druid FC with speed and travel form is the classic pick.”
See also: EFC, WSG, Peel
Battleground
PvP
Also: BG
An instanced PvP map with objectives: Warsong Gulch (capture the flag), Arathi Basin (hold bases), Alterac Valley (kill the boss).
“Queue for a battleground while we wait for the tank.”
See also: WSG, AB, AV, Honor
EFC
PvP
Enemy flag carrier. The one everyone should be hitting.
“EFC is in their tunnel with two healers, we need to send more.”
See also: Flag carrier, WSG
LAN
Esports
A tournament where everyone is in the same room on the same network. No lag, no excuses.
“LAN finals in front of a crowd.”
See also: Ping, Lag
Rubberbanding
Gaming slang
Being pulled back to where the server thinks you are after lag.
“Rubberbanded off the bridge into the enemy team.”
See also: Lag, Desync
WSG
PvP
Also: Warsong Gulch
Warsong Gulch: 10 v 10 capture the flag. The twink bracket's home.
“Three caps to win WSG, and someone has to defend.”
See also: Battleground, EFC, Flag carrier
AB
PvP
Also: Arathi Basin
Arathi Basin: 15 v 15, hold bases to gain resources. First to the cap wins.
“Never fight on the road in AB, fight on the flag.”
See also: Battleground
Clutch
Gaming slang
Winning a situation that looked lost, especially alone and at the end.
“Clutched the flag cap at 1% health.”
See also: Choke
Cope
Gaming slang
Making excuses for a loss. 'Copium' is the imaginary drug.
“It's not lag, it's cope.”
See also: Salty, Skill issue
POV
Esports
Point of view: a stream or recording from one player's screen.
“Watch the POV of the flag carrier, it's chaos.”
See also: VOD, Caster
Scrub
Gaming slang
A bad player who blames everything but themselves.
“Scrub lost the duel and blamed lag.”
See also: Noob, Salty

WoW

World of Warcraft, especially vanilla, Classic and Forever.

79 words

Raiding & dungeons

Group PvE: pulls, loot rules, wipes and parses.

47 words

PvP

Battlegrounds, duels, twinks and world PvP.

31 words

MMO

Words shared by every online RPG.

47 words

Esports

Competitive play, broadcasts and the meta.

21 words

Gaming slang

What people say in every chat, every game.