Acronyms

List of acronyms used in World of Warcraft. Some are specific to the game, some are general online acronyms. Just a general list of things you might see when you’re starting out, and need a quick translation.

Now you should be able to read this in trade, and know whether it refers to you:

06:14 [3. Trade] [Randomplayer]: LF DPS BH new boss  PST iLVL  need good aoe

Some of these vary from server to server, so feel free to leave suggestions/corrections.

A

  • AB: Arathi Basin (battleground)
  • AFK: away from keyboard
  • AH: auction house
  • AoE: area of effect (often referring to spells that do damage over an area)
  • AQ: Ahn’Qiraj (raids)
  • AV: Alterac Valley (battleground)

B

  • bbl: be back later
  • bbs: be back soon
  • BC: Burning Crusade (first expansion)
  • BC: Blackrock Caverns (dungeon)
  • BFD: Blackfathom Deeps
  • BG: battleground
  • BH: Baradin’s Hold (raid)
  • bl: bad luck
  • BM: Beast master (a hunter talent tree)
  • BoA: bind on account (the item can be sent to other characters on the same account, even after equipping)
  • BoE: bind on equip (the item is bound to a character once it’s equipped, and thereafter cannot be traded)
  • BoP: bind on pickup (the item is bound to a character once it’s picked up, and cannot be traded)
  • BoT: Bastion of Twilight (raid). Could also refer Botanica (dungeon), especially if ‘Bot’.
  • brb: be right back
  • BS: blacksmith (either the tradeskill, or the flag in Arathi Basin)
  • BT: Black Temple (raid)
  • BWD: Blackwing Descent (raid)
  • BWL: Blackwing Lair (raid)

C

  • CC: crowd control (any spell or ability that incapacitates a creature or player, for example polymorph or shackle)
  • CD: cooldown
  • CoT: Caverns of Time (series of dungeons)
  • CP: conquest points
  • CP: combo points (for rogues/feral druids)

D

  • DC: disconnected
  • DK: death knight
  • DoT: damage over time (the spell does damage over time, rather than just at the instant the spell is cast)
  • DM: Deadmines (dungeon)
  • DM: Dire Maul (dungeon)
  • DPS: damage per second (can refer to the actual numerical damage output, or to a character that specialises in doing damage)

E

  • EFC: enemy flag carrier
  • EotS: Eye of the Storm (battleground)

F

  • FF: fish feast
  • FFA: free for all (loot system)
  • FL: Firelands
  • FM: farm (in Arathi Basin)
  • FoK: fan of knives (rogue ability)
  • FR: flag room (in Warsong Gulch)
  • FTL: for the lose (usually said to signify disapproval)
  • FTW: for the win (usually said to signify approval)

G

  • GD: Gundrak (dungeon)
  • GB: Grim Batol (dungeon)
  • GG: good game
  • GJ: good job
  • GM: game master (Blizzard in-game help)
  • GM: guild master
  • GM: (gold) mine (in Arathi Basin)
  • GTG/G2G: good to go (can mean ‘gotta go’, depending on context)
  • GY: graveyard
  • gz: gratz

H

  • HoO: Halls of Origination (dungeon)
  • HoT: heal over time (the spell heals the character over a period of time, rather than the instant the spell lands)
  • HP: honor points
  • HP: health (after ‘hit points’ in other games)

I

  • ICC: Icecrown Citadel
  • ICD: internal cooldown (some spells and trinkets have a ‘hidden’ cooldown before they can activate)
  • IF: Ironforge
  • ilvl: item level

J

  • JP: justice points

K

  • KB: killing blow

L

  • LBRS: Lower Blackrock Spire
  • LD: link dead (meaning offline)
  • LF: looking for
  • LFD: looking for dungeon (can refer specifically to the LFD tool)
  • LFG: looking for group
  • LFM: looking for members, looking for more
  • LF1M (etc): looking for one member/more
  • LFT: looking for tanks
  • LH: lighthouse (in Battle for Gilneas)
  • LK: Lich King (can mean either the Lich King himself, or the Wrath of the Lich King expansion)
  • LM: lumber mill (in Arathi Basin)
  • lvl: level
  • LW: leatherworker (tradeskill)

M

  • MC: Molten Core (raid)
  • MC: Mind Control (spell)
  • MDPS: melee dps (that is a character that specialises in dps in melee range, for example a rogue)
  • MH: Mount Hyjal (zone, or raid ‘Hyjal Summit’)
  • MM: marksmanship (a hunter talent tree)

N

  • nn: night night
  • np: no problems (sometimes ‘nps’)
  • NPC: non-player character
  • nw: no worries (sometimes ‘nws’)

O

  • OG: Orgrimmar
  • OL: offline
  • OL: Outland
  • OMG: oh my god
  • OMW: on my way
  • OS: Obsidian Sanctum (raid)
  • OS: offset (usually referring to gear or spec that a player uses that is not their main spec)
  • OTW: on the way

P

  • PL: power level (that is to attempt to level a character or a tradeskill quickly)
  • PST: please send tell (meaning to whisper the person directly using /t or /w)
  • PuG: pick up group (random group of players formed to do a dungeon)
  • PVP: player versus environment
  • PVP: player versus player

Q

  • QQ: crying (often used disdainfully when referring to someone complaining)

R

  • RaF: recruit a friend (referring to the WoW Recruit-a-friend program and/or the rewards redeemed from that)
  • RBGs: rated battlegrounds
  • RDPS: ranged dps (that is a character that specialises in dps at a distance, for example a warlock)
  • RFC: Ragefire Chasm (dungeon)
  • RFD: Razorfen Downs (dungeon)
  • RFK: Razorfen Kraul (dungeon)

S

  • SFK: Shadowfang Keep (dungeon)
  • SotA: Strand of the Ancients (battleground)
  • SSC: Serpentshrine Cavern (raid)
  • ST: stables (in Arathi Basin)
  • StV: Stranglethorn Vale
  • SW: Stormwind

T

  • T12: tier 12 (Referring to the tier of raiding and/or related gear, especially the class set gear. Tier 12 refers to Firelands [ilvl 378 and higher] gear. T11 would refer to the Blackwing Decent/Bastion of Twilight/Throne of the Four Winds raids and associated items)
  • TB: Tol Barad
  • TCG: trading card game (usually referring to the WoW TCG, or to items redeemed from rare cards)
  • TK: Tempest Keep (raid)
  • ToC: Trial of the Crusader (raid)
  • ToFW (or T4w): Thrown of the Four Winds (raid)
  • ToT: Throne of the Tides (dungeon)
  • TTYL: talk to you later
  • TY: thank you

U

  • UBRS: Upper Blackrock Spire
  • UC: Undercity
  • UK: Utgarde Keep (dungeon)
  • UP: Utgarde pinnacle (dungeon)

V

  • VH: Violet Hold (dungeon)
  • VoA: Vault of Archavon (raid)
  • VP: valor points
  • VP: Vortex Pinnacle (dungeon)

W

  • WC: Wailing Caverns
  • WD: well done
  • WG: Warsong Gulch (battleground)
  • WTB: wanted to buy
  • WTS: wanted to sell
  • WW: water works (in Battle for Gilneas)

X

  • XP: experience points

Y

  • YMMV: your mileage may vary
  • YW: you’re welcome

Z

  • ZA: Zul’Aman (dungeon)
  • ZF: Zul’Farak (dungeon)
  • ZG: Zul’Gurub (dungeon)
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