Technology

Esports slang. The beginner’s guide

Almost every industry has its slang. Esports stand out among other sports disciplines in this aspect. You can’t avoid specific terms to determine one or another element in the game. Let’s consider general esports definitions, which can be used for the majority of directions. How they are deciphered and what they mean.

The general definitions

The most common and general terms that are used in any game include the following designations:

  • Abuse – means using disbalance or simply strong items in your favor;
  • Up – means increasing (for example, a level) or the appearance of something;
  • Bug – means a programming mistake in a game. It can be used and benefit from it sometimes, which is frequently called bug abuse;
  • Bind – it is used to bind keys to certain actions;
  • Device – it may mean a few things. A computer mouse, keyboard, and other technical items can be called a device, also, it can be an in-game item;
  • A match – it can also be called a game;
  • Lag – it means a delay or any other connection problems;
  • Luck – it means being lucky;
  • Noob – a bad player, a newcomer;
  • Ping – it determines the quality of your connection. The lower it is, the better the connection and the faster server response you will have;
  • Support – it means help. It is a standalone in-game role frequently;
  • Smurf – it means a higher-level player who plays in the lower ranking matches from another account;
  • Teammate – it means a member of your team;
  • Tilt – it means a psychological state of an esportsman when he loses control over the game and starts making stupid mistakes;
  • Frag/kill – it means assassinating an enemy;
  • Cheats – it is third-party software, which allows you to have an unfair advantage in a game. Those who use it are often called cheaters and they are actively fought;
  • Ace/Rampage – it is an action when one esportsman kills the whole team of the enemy.

Abbreviations

There are also lots of slang designations from esports, which are used as abbreviations. The most widespread terms are below:

  • AFK – it means that a player is away from the keyboard;
  • BB – it is used to say goodbye;
  • WP – the abbreviation of “well played”, which means praise for a good play. This phrase is used at the end of a match;
  • GG – the abbreviation of “good game”, which is translated as a good game. It is frequently used together with the previous abbreviation and usually to end the match early;
  • GLHF – the abbreviation of the English phrase, which means wishing good luck before the start of a match;
  • HP – it is the abbreviation of “health point”, which means health;
  • MP – it is the abbreviation of “mana point”, which means the character’s or unit’s magic energy.

The designations for hardware

There are slang designations for a PC, its components, and other hardware in the esports community. The following terms are the most popular ones:

  • Box – Xbox consoles are called this way;
  • PS – PlayStation consoles are frequently called this way;
  • GPU – it is a graphics card;
  • MNT – it is a monitor;
  • CPU – it is the abbreviation of a central processing unit;
  • Hard – the hard drive is called this way.

Conclusion

There are lots of slang designations in the esports environment. This vocabulary will be expanding if you dig into a particular discipline. Many terms are used only in CS:GO or Dota 2. News from all disciplines can be found at the link: https://egw.news by clicking on the appropriate section.

The majority of slang designations are usually anglicism. If you understand the translation of these terms, it will not be difficult for you to learn the meaning of designations. However, it is still better to read the main list of esports words before playing or watching the game.

Christopher Stern

Christopher Stern is a Washington-based reporter. Chris spent many years covering tech policy as a business reporter for renowned publications. He has extensive experience covering Congress, the Federal Communications Commission, and the Federal Trade Commissions. He is a graduate of Middlebury College. Email:[email protected]

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