“

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:

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. Often looked down 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:

A Medic's Overhealing ability, or the state of a player being overhealed (player has been "buffed");
Slang for a weapon or item's game mechanics being improved or made stronger (antonym: nerf);
A charged Buff Banner 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 in its verb form being subjected to one.

D

DC / D/C: Synonym for "disconnected" or "disconnect".

Demo

May refer to:

A Demoman;
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 Deadringer 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:

Obtaining achievements in mass
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:

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;
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: 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:

Using external software to stream sound files
Creating noise by singing, blowing into the mic, or simply talking incessantly in order to disrupt others.
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 as more offensive, denoting someone with a lack of skill attributable to a deeper level than simple inexperience.

O

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.

P

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.

Puff'n'Sting: A technique where a Pyro lights an enemy with the Flamethrower and 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 gets mad (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.

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 / Gun / Turret: An Engineer's Sentry Gun

Sidestab: An alternate name for Spinstab.

Sol / Solly: A Soldier.

Spamming / Spam

Can refer to:

The act of deliberately concentrating firepower within particular area in an attempt to get kills;
An unwanted abundance of something such as chat messages, a specific class, or a certain tactic in the game;
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-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 / 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.; 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

Languages:

Glossary of player terms

Contents

General Terminology

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

R

S

T

U

W

Competitive Terminology

L

M

P

R

S

External links

Navigation menu

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