Ever stumbled upon an enthusiast forum or website only to get confused by the words or terms they use? Well this is what the internet has evolved to, where users have adapted to use lingo that (sometimes) better explains the situation at hand. So we’ve compiled some of the terms that you might see on the internet and try to explain each of them.
Some of these terms might have derived from gamers playing multiplayer online games. They need short terms and abbreviations to quickly describe moments during heat of the battle, or just talk a little geeky because that’s their personality. Let’s take a look at what these 40+ terms mean.
Reading through the meaning of each term can take a while, otherwise you can view the compressed table for quicker reference and reading.
Recommended Reading: 20 Reasons Why You Should Date A Geek
Troll
Someone who enjoys making everyone else frustrated by acting like a ‘know it all’ or a hater. They do it by leaving bitter or unrelated comments in forums to deliberately harass others. However, a troll can also be a joker if their intent is to entertain and not to (but indirectly) frustrate anyone.
(Image Source: Constantin Lastochkin)
Trollolol
People who type this can sense that some trolling is going on and they’re enjoying (but not necessarily joining in) the troll’s actions.
kthxbai
This is easily translated to ‘okay, thank you, bye‘ and is normally used when the person does not want any involvement with what’s going on anymore. It’s kind of like ‘what they hey, I’m out of here’ but with fewer letters.
AFK
This translates to Away From Keyboard, telling others that well, they are away.
(Image Source: Tim)
Imba
Imba is short form for imbalanced, normally used for something found in a game that is overly powerful. It can also be used in real life describing something that is overly powerful or crazy: ‘Free falling from space is imba.’
Leet
Leet derived from the world elite and in other words means to be pro or very good at something. For example, if you call yourself a leet gamer, it translates to you being a pro gamer. Leet is also sometimes written as 1337 where 1337 speak replaces the letters in words with numbers and random symbols: H1, |-|0\/\/ 4R3 Y0U D01|\|9?
(Image Source: Nucleocide)
GG
A term said after a Good Game. If you know all hope in your online battle is lost, type GG to let the opponent know that you have given up. On the other hand, some trolls are so confident that they’ll win that they taunt you by prematurely typing GG or GGGGGGGGGGGG (higher taunt level).
Taunt
To taunt is to provoke or anger someone in-game sometimes by calling them a noob or via cursing. Taunting is often used as a mind game by gamers to get into the heads of their opponents, whether it works or not depends on how composed you are in handling taunts.
Get on my level
Telling this to an opponent demoralizes them as you are asking them to improve their gaming skills to match your (higher) level. This term is technically taunting the opponent.
BM
Stands for Bad Manner usually said to someone who explodes into anger and starts cursing about everything unrelated to what’s being discussed at hand.
RL
This is to describe something that is done outside of the Internet or forum, in Real Life. An example would to say: ‘I sold it to my RL friend’.
Epic
A word to describe something or an action that is awesome or cool. Basically, synonym of awesome.
(Image Source: 55 Hi’s)
BURN!
The earliest encounter of the term Burn (as far as I can remember) is from Kelso in That 70′s Show. Every time someone says something that backfires on them, it’s a burn. Several grades higher than old-school ‘ouch’.
Hardcore
A term to describe something that is insanely difficult or extreme and is difficult to achieve. ‘Buying a $500 computer keyboard is so hardcore.’
Noob
A term that first came about from the word newbie, describing someone new to a game or hobby.
Nerfed
When something is described as weakened, it is nerfed. ‘That new graphic card is a nerfed but cheaper version of an older model.’
Buffed
Buffed is the opposite of nerfed. It’s to describe something that has been strengthened.
(Image Source: Robin)
Pwned
Pwned is another word for owned which means to outperform something or someone and sometimes used as an alternative word to kill.
WP
WP stands for Well Played. Typing this means you’re impressed at whatever is being discussed. For example: ‘WP [smartphone company] for producing such a powerful and innovative smartphone.’ Upgrade from old school ‘Touché.
Lag
A word used to describe something that is super slow. Of course this is a proper English word, but users use it in many different situations. For example, ‘That lag in shipping has cost me thousands of dollars.’
TL;DR
This stands for Too Long; Didn’t Read. Trolls can use it as a useless comment, indicating that the writer should have summarized the passage rather than let it droll on.
IKR
‘I Know Right?’ Used in a reply to ‘How awesome is that!?’
IDK
IDK stands for ‘I Don’t Know‘. Gamers are really pressed for time.
GLHF
This stands for Good Luck, Have Fun. It can mean exactly that or can be used sarcastically in a situation where you don’t want any part of whatever’s going on.
(Image Source: glhf-apparel)
RQ
RQ stands for Rage Quit derived from gamers leaving a multiplayer game, not showing any sportsmanship. It also can be used when describing someone who’s mad and is quiet, giving everyone the silent treatment.
You Mad?
Derived from internet memes, ‘You Mad’ is used simply to further troll people after they have gotten angry over a comment or situation.
Jelly
Jelly in this context translates to the word ‘jealous’ and is basically used in replacement of the world ‘jealous’.
Uber
Uber is replacement of the word ‘super’ or very, for example ‘Uber cool!’.
Srs Bsns
Srs Bsns is written as a short form to ‘Serious Business‘ and could mean somebody being slightly over the top in what that they do.
LOL
If you don’t already know that LOL stands for Laughing Out Loud, then welcome to the Internet!
ROFL
ROFL is another way to say LOL and it stands for Rolling On Floor Laughing.
LMAO
LMAO is yet another alternative to LOL or ROFL and it stands for Laughing My Ass Off.
TTYL
TTYL is used in replacement to saying ‘bye’ as it stands for Talk To You Later. Sometimes they don’t come back.
BRB
This stands for Be Right Back. Sometimes they don’t come back.
BBL
BBL is an alternative to BRB as it stands for Be Back Later, probably a time frame between TTYL and BRB.
IIRC
This stands for If I Remember Correctly, it’s merely a popular term that users have turned into an abbreviation.
IINM
Similar reasoning to IIRC, IINM stands for If I’m Not Mistaken.
IMHO
IMHO stands for In My Humble Opinion and is sometimes typed as IMO without the word humble.
GTG
This is probably a term said before saying good bye, GTG stands for Got To Go.
IDC
IDC stands for I Don’t Care. Meh.
AFAIK
AFAIK is short for As Far As I Know. Something to start out a sentence with besides using IINM or IIRC.
BTW
This stands for By The Way.
TBH
This is another term widely used on the internet, To Be Honest.
The Compressed Table Of Internet Speak
Here’s a table with quick descriptions of all the internet terms and abbreviations we’ve covered above.
| Term / Abbreviation | Description |
| Troll | A hater or a joker |
| Trollolol | Troll + LOL |
| kthxbai | Okay, thank you, bye |
| AFK | Away From Keyboard |
| Imba | Imbalanced |
| Leet | To be pro or very good at something |
| GG | Good Game |
| Taunt | To provoke or anger someone |
| Get on my level | Asking someone to better their skills to match yours. A taunt. |
| BM | Bad Manner |
| RL | Real Life |
| Epic | Something or an action that is awesome or cool |
| BURN! | Something that backfires on them is a burn |
| Hardcore | Insanely difficult or extreme and is difficult to achieve |
| Noob | Someone who is new to something |
| Nerfed | Something described as weakened |
| Buffed | Something described as strengthened |
| Pwned | To outperform something or someone |
| WP | Well Played |
| Lag | Something that is super slow |
| TL;DR | Too Long; Didn’t Read |
| IKR | I Know Right? |
| IDK | I Don’t Know |
| GLHF | Good Luck, Have Fun |
| RQ | Rage Quit |
| You Mad? | To further troll/anger people |
| Jelly | Jealous |
| Uber | ‘super’ or very |
| Srs Bsns | Serious Business |
| LOL | Laughing Out Loud |
| ROFL | Rolling On Floor Laughing |
| LMAO | Laughing My Ass Off |
| TTYL | Talk To You Later |
| BRB | Be Right Back |
| BBL | Be Back Later |
| IIRC | If I Remember Correctly |
| IINM | If I’m Not Mistaken |
| IMHO | In My Humble Opinion |
| GTG | Got To Go |
| IDC | I Don’t Care |
| AFAIK | As Far As I Know |
| BTW | By The Way |
| TBH | To Be Honest |
