Glossary of player terms

“

Hohoho, hohoho! You got owned! Click to listen — The Scout

”

A number of unofficial terms find regular usage in the game. This glossary lists some of the more common ones players may see:

Glossary

AFK

Acronym for "Away from keyboard".

Aerial / Air shot / Airshot

The hitting or killing of an opponent in midair, usually following a juggle.

Airblast

Slang for Pyro's compression blast ability.

Backcapping / Back-capturing / Backcapture

See back-capping.

Bodyshot / Bodyshotting

An attack where a Sniper deliberately disregards attempting a headshot and instead aims for an enemy's body.

Bodyshotter

A Sniper that repeatedly bodyshots to intentionally irritate the enemy.

BRB

Acronym for "Be right back".

Buff

Term meaning a change in a player's status, which can include:

1. A Medic's Overhealing ability, or the state of a player being overhealed (player has been "buffed");
2. Slang for a weapon or item's game mechanics being improved or made stronger (antonym: nerf);
3. A charged Buff Banner ready for deployment.

Bunny hopping / bhopping

Exploits#List of Patched Exploits.

Camping / Spawn Camping

See article.

Cap, Capping, Capped

A control point capture, the point itself or the act of capturing a control point.

Carpets / Sticky Carpets

Large groups of sticky bombs that render certain areas impassable until dealt with.

Bomb, the / Kart

Synonyms for the Payload Cart.

Cheap

An adjective applied to a tactic that is effective but requires little skill or effort. Frequent use of these tactics is commonly known as "spamming".

See also: Spamming, Turtling

Circle strafe

See article

Crit(s)

Abbreviation of Critical hit

Crocket

Portmanteau of a critical-boosted Rocket

Crit ÜberCharge / Kritcharge / Kritz

Slang for a Kritzkrieg's ÜberCharge, or in its verb form being subjected to one.

DC / D/C

Antonym for "disconnected" or "disconnect".

Demo

May refer to:

1. A Demoman;
2. A Help:Recording demos.

Demoknight

A Demoman wielding the Chargin' Targe whilst actively using their melee weapon; commonly the Eyelander or Scotsman's Skullcutter. Demoknights wielding the Bottle may be referred to as Bottleknights.

DH

Acronym for the Soldier's Direct Hit unlock.

DM / DeathMatch

See Arena

DR

Acronym for the Spy's Dead Ringer unlock. In some contexts, it could also be a signal to their team members that an enemy spy equipped with the Deadringer is nearby

Engie / Engy

Abbreviation for the Engineer.

Facestab

A Spy's knife attack that registers as a backstab despite appearing to hit their opponent's front.

See also: Backstab: Issues.

Failstab

A knife attack that registers as a normal hit, despite being aimed at an opponent's back.

FAN / FaN

Acronym for the Scout's Force-A-Nature unlock.

Farming

The act of obtaining something more rapidly over time than was originally intended. Could refer to:

1. Obtaining achievements in mass
2. Using idling or other methods to obtain hats or weapons via the item drop system

G.R.U

Gloves of Running Urgently.

Griefing

See article.

Huntspam / Lucksman / Arrow Spam

Terms for the Huntsman, its 'lucky' qualities being attributed to its large hitboxes (it uses the same hitboxes as flame particles).

Idler

May refer to:

1. Someone who is present on the server but is deliberately AFK for a long period of time to earn items via the item drop system;
2. Someone who uses external idling programs or uses idling servers for the same purpose.

Instakill

A kill which is inflicted in a single hit, such as out-of-bounds fall damage, being hit by a train or being caught in the Payload explosion.

Intel / Flag

Abbreviation for for the Intelligence "flag" in Capture the Flag maps.

Juggling

See article.

KDR / (K/D)

Acronym for "Kill-death ratio". May be expressed as a ratio ("27 Kills:7 Deaths") or a decimal number ("1.75 KDR".) Medics will often present their KDR as a ratio of Assists to Deaths, as kills are not usually accumulated in conventional play.

K.G.B

Killing Gloves of Boxing.

Knock back

See article.

Lag

The effect experienced by players who display erratic movement due to poor framerates or server connection.

Leeching

A disguised Spy gaining health from an enemy Medic, Dispenser or Payload cart.

Mic

A microphone, used for communication over voice chat.

Micspam

The act of repeatedly playing sounds, music, or generally abusing the game's voice chat feature. This may involve:

1. Using external software to stream sound files
2. Creating noise by singing, blowing into the mic, or simply talking incessantly in order to disrupt others.
3. Some servers promote micspam, and are sometimes referred to as "micspam servers". Players are encouraged to take turns playing music and use soundclips to entertain the server population.

Mix

See PUG.

Nades

Projectiles fired from the Demoman's Grenade Launcher.

Needle boosting

See article.

Nest

The collectivized area of an Engineer and his buildings.

Ninja cap

Colloquial term for Back capping, generally by a spy or scout.

Ninjaneer

Colloquial term for an engineer building offensively behind enemy lines. May also refer to an engineer using a loadout containing the gunslinger, thus making them more suitable to such a style of play.

N00b / Noob / Nub / Newb / Newbie

A derogatory term used to imply that a player is new to the game and/or unskilled. Noob and its homophones are generally considered as more offensive, denoting someone with a lack of skill attributable to a deeper level than simple inexperience.

OP

Acronym for "overpowered", in reference to game balance.

Owned / Pwned

A term applied a player that has been defeated such that it is humiliating to them.

Pipebomb

An alternate name for the projectiles of the Demoman's Grenade Launcher.

Piss

Slang for the Sniper's Jarate unlock.

Poof / Poofing

Slang for the Pyro's compression blast ability.

Poofer

Term for the normal Flamethrower which has the compression blast ability (see above).

Poor and Irish

A description used for a player who does not own any hats, coined by the Gentle Manne of Leisure in a hidden update page.

Pub

Abbreviation for "public server".

Pubber

A negative term for a player who frequents public servers.

PUG

Antonym for "Pick Up Game/Group", referring to a private game with team compositions determined by out-of-game communication (as opposed to a clan match or pub).

Rage

Term that refers to the "Rage" meter a Soldier builds up when using the Buff Banner or Battalion's Backup unlock.

Ragequit

Slang for a player disconnecting from a server, presumably out of frustration, anger, or humiliation associated with a losing streak.

Revving

Spinning up the Heavy's Minigun using the alternate-fire button.

RTD / Roll The Dice

A reference to the same command used to trigger a random effect, or "roll the dice", in servers running an RTD plug-in.

RTV / Rock The Vote

In servers running an RTV plug-in, Rocking the vote is when a majority of the players can start a vote for a new map. ^{[citation needed]}.

Rush

See article.

Scrim / Scirmish

A focused multiplayer match, often between clans.

SG / Sentry / Gun / Turret

An Engineer's Sentry Gun

Sidestab

An alternate name for Spinstab.

Sol / Solly

A Soldier.

Spamming / Spam

Can refer to:

1. The act of deliberately concentrating firepower within particular area in an attempt to get kills;
2. An unwanted abundance of something such as chat messages, a specific class, or a certain tactic in the game;
3. See also: Micspam, Cheap

Spawn

The area in which you initially spawn and/or any area in which you respawn.

Spawn Camping

A situation in which the enemy team is camping your spawn entrance, killing you as soon as you get out.

Spec

Abbreviation for Spectate.

Spy Cap

Using a Spy to secretly capture a control point by slipping behind enemy lines and uncloaking on the point.

Spy-checking

The act of "checking" teammates and areas where teammates are for Spies.

Spy Crab

A Spy that imitates the movement of a crab by crouching and looking up while having the Disguise Kit equipped. Also refers to the same taunt associated with the Disguise Kit.

Spyro

Portmanteau for a Spy disguised as a Pyro

SR / SCO-RES

Acronym for the Demoman's Scottish Resistance

Stab'n'Sap

Slang for a technique where a Spy backstabs an Engineer from behind, then immediately switches to the Electro Sapper and saps their Sentry Gun and other buildings before the enemy Engineer can respawn.

Stairstab

The act of jumping over another player's head from an elevated height as a Spy and backstabbing them before they can respond.

Steamroll

Figurative language describing a very fast completion of the the game's objective after it begins, often in relation to a "crushing defeat".

Stickies

Slang for Sticky bombs.

Sword and Board

Another name for Demoknight

Tele / TP

Abbreviation for an Engineer's Teleporter.

Telefrag

Portmanteau for killing a opposite team player by standing on their teleporter exit.

Turtling

See article

Über / Invuln

Abbreviation for ÜberCharge.

Übered

Someone who is being ÜberCharged.

UP

Acronym for "underpowered", in reference to game balance.

W+M1

Literally, "FORWARD and MOUSE1" - a derogatory term applied to a suicidally aggressive Pyro, often connotative of a lack of skill.

W+M2

Literally, "FORWARD and MOUSE2" - derived from W+M1, the term is similarly used to refer to Pyros who only use the compression blast ability to reflect projectiles, but avoid using the Flamethrower's primary fire attack. This typically takes much more scill than a W+M1 pyro.

Wallhugging

Tactical slang for a Sniper hiding behind walls and only revealing himself when attacking.

Wrenching

The act of repairing / upgrading a building with your Wrench.

May also be used to refer to the act of killing a Spy.

WTB

Acronym for "Want To Buy", indicating that a player is seeking a particular item.

WTS

Acronym for "Want To Sell", indicating that a player is selling a particular item.

WTT

Acronym for "Want To Trade", indicating that a player has a particular item trade in mind.

External links

• Internet slang on Wiktionary
• urbandictionary.com