Glossary of player terms

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Hohoho, hohoho! You got owned!
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:

General Terminology

A

AFK

Acronym for "Away From keyboard".
Aerial / Air shot / Airshot
The hitting or killing of an opponent in midair, usually following a juggle.
Airstab
The act of killing an enemy by falling behind him and backstabbing them as a Spy.
Airblast / Compblast
Slang for Pyro's compression blast ability.

B

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, usually with a charged shot. Often looked down on by professional Snipers.
Bodyshotter
A Sniper that repeatedly bodyshots to intentionally irritate the enemy.
Slang for the Sydney Sleeper, since the weapon can't deal headshot criticals.
Bomb
Synonym for the cart in Payload modes.
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 or Battalion's Backup ready for deployment.
Bunny hopping / bhopping
Exploit.

C

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.
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
Running around an opponent in a circular pattern and shooting while maintaining a lock on him.
See article
Crit(s)
Abbreviation of Critical hit.
Crocket
Portmanteau of a critical-boosted Rocket.
Crit ÜberCharge
Slang for a Kritzkrieg's ÜberCharge or, when used as a verb, being subjected to one.

D

DC / D/C
Synonym for "disconnected" or "disconnect".
Demo
May refer to:
  1. A Demoman;
  2. A demo recording.
Demoknight
A Demoman wielding the Chargin' Targe whilst actively using their melee weapon; commonly the Eyelander , Scotsman's Skullcutter or Horseless Headless Horsemann's Headtaker. 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 Dead Ringer is nearby.


E

Engie / Engy /Engi
Abbreviation for the Engineer.

F

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 en masse,
  2. Using idling or other methods to obtain hats or weapons via the item drop system.
Flag
Synonym for the Intelligence in Capture the Flag maps.

G

G.R.U
Gloves of Running Urgently.
Griefing
Causing grief or annoying other players for fun.
See article.

H

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).

I

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

J

Juggling
Launching opponents into the air through various means.
See article.

K

Kart
Slang for the cart in Payload modes.
KDR / (K/D) / KADR
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 KADR 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 / Knockback
An effect from weapons that knock back opponents.
See article.
Kritcharge / Kritz / Kritzed
Slang for a Kritzkrieg's ÜberCharge, or being subjected to one.

L

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.
LF
Acronym for "Looking For" indicating that a player is looking for a particular item or a Clan.

M

Meatshot
When all of the pellets fired from weapons such as the Shotgun or Scattergun, hit the target doing massive damage.
Mic / Mike
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 microphone, 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.

N

Nades
Projectiles fired from the Demoman's Grenade Launcher.
Nest
The collectivized area of an Engineer and his buildings.
Ninja
Colloquial of stealing something; generally a Capture Point, or a typed response.
See also: Back-capping
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 to be more offensive, denoting someone with a lack of skill attributable to a deeper level than simple inexperience. "Newb" however, may be used by an individual when describing themselves, or as a non-offensive description of a new player who, although lacking experience, is willing to learn from more experienced players.


O

OP
Acronym for "overpowered", in reference to game balance.
Owned / Pwned
A term applied a player that has been defeated in an humiliating fashion.

P

Pipebomb
An alternate name for the projectiles fired by the Demoman's Grenade Launcher.
Piss
Slang for the Sniper's Jarate unlock.
Poof / Poofing / Puff
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 derogatory term for a player that frequents public servers.
Puff'n'Sting
A technique whereby a Pyro lights an enemy with the Flamethrower, uses the compression blast to shove them against a wall (the 'puff') and then switches to the Axtinguisher for the kill (the 'sting').
Pwned
see Owned


R

Rage
Term that refers to the "Rage" meter a Soldier builds up when using the Buff Banner or Battalion's Backup unlock. Can also refer to when a player becomes angry while playing (see Ragequit).
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. May also refer to the delay experienced when the Minigun is spun up prior to shooting using the primary-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.

S

SG / Sentry / Sentry Gun / 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 / Spawn-camping
A situation in which one team is camping the other's spawn point, which results in killing players as they attempting to enter or depart. Commonly considered to be a "cheap" tactic.
Spec
Abbreviation for Spectate.
Spy-checking
The act of "checking" teammates and/or a specific area for Spies. Most commonly used to refer to Pyros attempting to detect enemy Spies by using the flamethrower on other members of their team.
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 whereby 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. May also refer to a technique in which a Spy backstabs an Engineer in close proximity to a Sentry Gun, immediately switches to the Electro Sapper, and then saps the Sentry Gun before being killed by it.
Stairstab / Jumpstab
The act of jumping over another player's head from an elevated height as a Spy, and backstabbing them before they can respond.
Stickies
Slang for Sticky bombs.
Sword and Board
Another name for Demoknight.


T

Tele / TP
Abbreviation for an Engineer's Teleporter.
Telefrag
Portmanteau of Teleport and Frag -- killing a opponent by teleporting into them when they are standing on a teleporter exit. The term comes from the early days of online deathmatches in id Software's seminal first-person shooter Quake (video game).
Turtling
Digging in and employing extremely defensive tactics. May also refer to Engineer setting up a Sentry Gun and Dispenser next to each other, and then remaining in close proximity for a substantial period of time while constantly repairing the buildings.
See article

U

Über / Invuln / Charge
Abbreviation for ÜberCharge.
Übered
Someone who is being ÜberCharged.
UP
Acronym for "underpowered", in reference to game balance.

W

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, without using the Flamethrower's primary fire attack.
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.

Competitive Terminology

These are some of the terms which you may face in competitive modes of gameplay such as TF2lobby or ETF2L matches.

L

Lit
To be low on health. Used when referring to opponents.

M

Mix
See PUG.

P

Pocket
The player that defends the Medic and is their primary healing target.
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).

R

Rollout
The way team members increase their speed to a point, usually the first cap of the game.

S

Scrim / Skirmish
A focused multiplayer match, often between clans.
Steamroll
Figurative language describing a very fast completion of the the game's objective after it begins, often in relation to a "crushing defeat".

External links