The Places

AH — Auction House

ASH — Ashenvale

BadL/BL — BadLands

BB — Booty Bay

BL — Blasted Lands

BRD — BlackRock Depths

BRS — BlackRock Spire

DM — Dun Morogh

DS — Darkshore

DSL — Desolace

Dur — Durotar

DW — DuskWood

EW — Elwynn Forest

GS — Goldshire

IF — Ironforge

LM — Loch Modan

Org — Orgrimmar

RFD — Razorfen Downs

RFK — Razorfen Kraul

RM/RR — Redridge Mountains

SFK — Shadowfang Keep

SM — Scarlet Monastery

SS — Soulstone (an item) or Southshore (depending on the context of the conversation)

ST — Sunken Temple

STR — Stratholme

STV — Stranglethorne Vale

SW — Stormwind

TB — Thunder Bluff

TM — Tarren Mill

UC — Undercity

VC — Deadmines

WC — Wailing Caverns

WF — WestFall

WL — Wet Lands

XR — Crossroads

General Terms

AC — Armor class (a number signifying your defensive strength; also known as Defense).

Add — Additional monsters are attacking.

AFK — Away from keyboard

AGI — Agility (one of your character’s statistics)

Aggro — Having monsters notice and attack you.

Aggro radius — If you pass the invisible perimeter surrounding a monster, it will notice and attack you; that perimeter is the aggro radius.

AE/AoE — Area of Effect; refers to spells that affect all within a given range, usually healing or damage.

Alt — A character other than your main one.

ATM — At the moment.

Avatar — Your character. (Also see “toon,” which isn’t as commonly used.)

BoA — Bind on Acquire; refers to items that are bound to the player picking them up, meaning that he can’t give them to someone else, although he can sell them.

BoE — Bind on Equip; same as BoA, except the items binds when it’s removed from a pack and equipped on the character, so it can be given away before then.

BRB — Be right back

BRT — Be right there

Buff — A spell that makes a character stronger. (Can also be used as a verb.)

Carebear — A player who likes to help other players kill monsters.

Caster — A character who casts spells, such as a Warlock, Mage or Priest.

Cheese — To take advantage of an imbalance in the game.

Combat pet — An NPC controlled by a player, such as a Hunter’s pet or a Warlock’s summoned creature, that can help in battles.

Cooldown — The length of time before you can use an item or spell again. See “HS” for an example.

CR — Corpse retrieval. It’s what you do when you die.

Creep — A monster.

Creep jacking — When a player attacks another player already engaged in combat against a monster. Typically frowned upon even on a player-versus-player server as it’s viewed as taking advantage of someone in a vulnerable position.

Critters — Animals that don’t fight back, such as snakes or rabbits.

DD — Direct damage. Refers to a spell that packs all of its impact in the initial strike, rather than doling it out over a period of time.

Debuff — A spell that makes a character weaker. (Can also be used as a verb.)

DMG — Damage.

DoT — Damage over Time; refers to spells or attacks whose effect is cumulative over time.

Farming — killing monsters for loot

DPS — Damage Per Second, as in a spell that continues to case damage after it’s cast.

Drops — Loot items found on monsters after you kill them. Many quests require you to obtain a certain number of a loot item.

FP — Flight point. The flying mounts in the game fly between specific cities. As you visit new cities and right-click on their flight masters (assuming they have them; small villages don’t), you add flight paths to that location.

Gank — To attack, with the implication of surprise, extreme violence, and/or a degree of unfairness. Happens often on PvP servers, where some players like to run around opposing areas and gank lower level enemies.

FH/FM — Full health/full mana

GM — Game Master. This is someone employed by Blizzard to help you if you’re having problem with the game or another player.

Grief — To make life miserable for others by killing the NPCs they need, interfering with their quests, etc. (Not a nice thing to do.) “Griefer” is the noun.

Grinding — To stay in an area for a long time, killing the same types of monsters over and over. This is usually a good way to build experience and advance in levels if all of your current quests are beyond your character’s abilities.

Hate — To get the attention of a monster and make it attack you. Also see “threat.”

Hearth — Hearthstone (See “HS” for explanation of what a hearthstone is.) Usually used as a verb, as in “I’m going to hearth back to Stormwind.”

HoT — Heal over Time, as per DoT.

HP — Health or hit points. When they reach zero, you die.

HS — Hearthstone (Your character starts with a hearthstone that will take you back to the inn found in the area where you began adventuring. When you reach another town or city, you can approach the owner of the inn there and set your hearthstone to it. You can’t use your hearthstone while being attacked, however, and you must wait an hour before using it again.)

Inc — Incoming monster, spell, etc.

INT — Intelligence. One of your character’s vital stats.

K — Okay

Kiting — The act of staying away from monsters’ attacks while dealing damage with ranged weapons or spells.

KOS — Kill on sight. For example, Alliance guards have a KOS directive toward Horde characters, and vice-versa.

KS — Kill steal. When one player tries to steal another player’s kill.

LFG — Looking for group

LFM — Looking for more (as in, more characters for your group).

LOL — Laughing out loud. This means you think something is funny. ROFL is “Rolling on the floor laughing,” which means you think it’s really funny.

LOM/LOH — Low on mana or low on health.

LOS — Line of sight. This refers to what your character can see, given that there may be trees, rocks, buildings, etc. blocking the view. Some spells and weapons require a clear line of sight before you can use them.

Loot — To take money or items from a corpse, an ore vein, herbs, etc.

Lvl — Short for “level,” or how far your character has advanced in the game. Right now, World of Warcraft supports the ability to reach 60th level.

Mez — Short for “mesmerize.” Refers to spells that incapacitate a monster or NPC.

Mob(s) — Computer driven (or AI driven) opponents/monsters in the game environment.

Named — A special monster that is different from the surrounding monsters, which are usually guarding it. Named monsters often drop special items and/or quest objects.

NBG — Need before greed. Refers to a ground rule your party’s leader might establish before heading out. In this case, only players who actually need a looted item are eligible to grab it.

NE — Night Elf

Nerf — When Blizzard reduces or eliminates some power or ability in a patch. (”They really nerfed the warrior last push.”)

Newbie — A new player, or one who isn’t very good. Sometimes shortened to newb, noob, or even n00b. Typically overused in most online games and, as a consequence, avoided by veteran players.

Ninja loot — To go against a group’s rules by grabbing items without giving others a chance. (For example, some groups may dictate that all the players roll and the one with the highest number gets the best item, while others may require that it goes to the player who needs it the most.)

OMW/OTW — On my way/On the way

OOM — Out of mana

PC — Price check (As in, “I’m wondering how much this item usually sells for.”)

PK — Player kill/Player killer. This can be a good or bad reputation to have, depending where you are.

Poly — Short for polymorph, a high-level Mage spell that turns one opponent into a sheep.

Pop — Populate; refers to a mob or item re-spawning in the environment.

Pot — A potion

Proc — To have the magical effect of a weapon actually fire. (”My Blight procs every ten attacks.”)

PST — Please send tell (Meaning, the player wants responses sent directly to them, not to the main chat channel.)

Pull — To attack a mob with a ranged weapon or spell so that it will approach you. The noun is “puller,” or the person who does the pulling, usually for a party.

Push — A new version of the game.

Res — To resurrect another character.

Re-spawn — A monster or item has been killed or collected and has regenerated.

Roll — To roll a virtual die, by typing /random, to determine who wins a special item.

Root — To trap a target in place by using a spell that freezes its movement.

Sap — An ability Rogues have to sneak up on and hit an opponent, stunning them so you can kill something else nearby without having to deal with them.

Shard — A soul shard, which is obtained by a Warlock who casts Soul Drain on a monster. Soul shards are used for several different spells as well as for creating Healthstones, which can be used to regenerate health, and Soulstones, which can be used to resurrect a dead character.

Small pet — An animal that follows you around but can’t attack anything. You can put it away when you’re in combat or traveling by flying mount. For example, Undead characters can buy a cockroach.

Spam — To continuously press the button for an attack or spell.

Spawn — The spot where a monster or item usually appears. Sometimes it’s random.

SPI — Spirit. One of your character’s vital stats.

STA — Stamina. One of your character’s vital stats.

Stack: Verb — The process of placing identical items in one inventory slot to save room in your bags. Noun: A pile of identical objects. You’re usually limited to 10 of anything in one slot, and not all items can be stacked.

STR — Strength. One of your character’s vital stats.

Tank — The member of a group whose designated role is to withstand the attacks from mobs to keep the other members safe. Usually a warrior, since that class receives the most hit points and can wear the best armor.

Tap — The action of being the first to damage a monster, which makes it yours since you’re the only one who gets experience and loot from it, even if other players join in and help you. If you’re in a party, however, tapping does not apply, since experience is split among everyone and looting depends on the rules set by the leader.

Taunt — The ability of a player, or a player’s pet, to grab the attention of monsters. This comes in handy if one player is in trouble and someone else wants to make the monster attack her.

Threat — To get the attention of a monster and make it attack you. Also see “hate.”

Toon — Your avatar (not used often).

Train/Pulling a train — What happens when you run away from a monster and attract more of them, who chase you one after the other. If this happens, don’t lead the train toward other players.

Twink — A low-level character who is more powerful than comparable characters because higher level characters have given her better armor, weapons and magic items.

Uber — A German word that means “super.” Usually used to mean “really powerful,” as in “He’s an uber Priest.”

Up — The item referred to has popped.

Vendor trash — An item that’s only of value to vendors, such as the readily available food and drink that restore health and mana points when you use them.

W — You’re welcome

WTB — Want to buy a specific item

WTS — Want to sell a specific item

WTT — Want to trade a specific item

XP/Exp — Experience points

Zerg — When monsters overwhelm you