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I've had this post on my mind for a while. What really inspired me to put it together was an email from reader Wamphyri as follows:

Although I've been playing WoW for a little while now, there's still a few things that puzzle me within the game. My main problem is the abbreviations everyone uses in chat. I was recently in IF (yeah, I know that one now!) and someone in trade chat wanted to buy (wtb) an enchant for DPS. The guy asking was a level 50-something mage, so I thought I'd send him a whisper (apologising for my noob-ness, of course) to ask what DPS meant. He replied quite quickly and told me it meant Damage Per Second. He found it quite amusing that I didn't know, saying that he has the same trouble himself regarding this issue.

This reader is certainly not the only person I've run into who has trouble with WoW's lingo, so I thought it might be helpful to write up a list of all the common abbreviations I could find. I did stumble a little bit in the Shaman section, since I'm just not that familiar with Shaman, so if y'all could help me out in the comments, with Shammy or any other abbreviations you think I should add, that would be wonderful. I'd like to keep this updated and make it as comprehensive as possible. Since the list is so big, I've split it up into several sections. I also made alphabetical lists in case you want to look something up.

• Chat, forums, zones, instances, raids, and miscellaneous are after the cut
• Class-specific
• Alphabetical, A-M
• Alphabetical, M-Z

• Chat:
• AFAIK: As far as I know
• AFK: Away from keyboard
• ATM: At the moment
• Bio: Short for "biological," this refers to fulfilling biological needs (i.e. using the restroom); often used to explain AFKs in groups
• BRT: Be right there
• BTW: By the way
• CBA: Can't be arsed
• DIAF: Die in a fire
• FFS: For f---'s sake
• FTL: For the loss (means "is bad")
• FTW: For the win (means "is good")
• GTFO: Get the f--- out
• IDC: I don't care
• IDK: I don't know
• IIRC: If I recall correctly
• IMHO: In my humble opinion
• IMO: In my opinion
• Inc: Incoming
• LF: Looking for ("LF tank," etc.)
• LF1M/LF2M/etc.: Looking for one more, two more, etc.
• LFG: Looking for group
• LFM: Looking for more (for a group)
• MT: Mistell (means "I sent this message to the wrong channel or person")
• Ofc: Of course
• OMW: On my way
• STFU: Shut the f--- up
• TBH: To be honest
• WC: Wrong channel
• WTB: want to buy
• WTF: What the f---
• WTH: What the hell
• WTS: Want to sell
• WTT: Want to trade
• Forums:
• GG: Good game (often sarcastic)
• GJ: Good job (often sarcastic)
• Imba: Imbalanced; usually means "overpowered"
• IBTL: In before the lock
• L2P: Learn to play
• OP: Original post/original poster
• OT: Off-topic
• QFE: Quoted for excellence
• QFT: Quoted for truth
• QQ: Doesn't "stand for" anything per se; rather, it's an emoticon: it looks like two crying eyes. It basically means "you're complaining," although it can also be used as a verb ("stop QQing").
• TL;DR: Too long; didn't read
• Miscellaneous:
• 1h: One-handed
• 2h: Two-handed
• 5SR: Five-second rule (the rule that mana regeneration from spirit only occurs if you haven't spent mana on a spell in the last five seconds)
• Add: An "additional" mob that has been aggroed, usually unintentionally
• Agg/Aggro: Probably short for "aggression" or some related word, it refers to who a mob is attacking -- that player is said to "have aggro" or have "pulled aggro"
• AoE: Area of effect (a spell or effect that takes place over an area, as opposed to working only on a single target)
• AP: Attack power
• Alt: An "alternate" character -- not your main (character)
• BE/Belf: Blood Elf
• BG: Battleground
• AB: Arathi Basin
• AV: Alterac Valley
• EotS: Eye of the Storm
• WSG: Warsong Gulch
• BoE: Bind on Equp
• BoP: Bind on Pick-up
• BoU: Bind on Use
• BS: Blacksmith/Blacksmithing
• Buff: A beneficial spell, or a change to the game that makes a given class/spec stronger
• CC: Crowd control
• DKP: Dragon Kill points, a cover term for a number of systems guilds use to distribute loot (see WoWWiki)
• DND: Do not disturb
• DPM: Damage per mana
• DPS: Damage per second
• DR: Damage reduction (due to armor)
• DR: Diminishing returns
• DS1/DS2/DS3: Class-specific sets of gear that drop from 5-man dungeons. DS1 and DS2 were known as T0 and T0.5, respectively, but that analogy breaks down when it comes to DS3.
• DW: Dual wield
• DoT: Damage over time
• Drae: Draenei
• Eng/Engi/Engy: Engineering
• FA: First Aid
• FP: Flight point/flight path
• FR: Fire resistance
• GTAoE: Ground-targeted AoE (an AoE spell for which the caster can choose a target, like Flamestrike)
• HPM: Healing per mana
• HPS: Healing per second
• HS/Hearth: Hearthstone
• HoT: Heal over time
• IRL: In real life
• LOM: Low on mana
• LW: Leatherworking
• MA: Main assist
• MAP: Melee attack power
• Mats: Short for "materials;" refers to the ingredients in a crafted item
• ML: Master loot/master looter
  
• Mob: Short for "mobile" (derived from MUDs, where any NPC was either a stationary shopkeeper or mobile; see WoWWiki), this refers in WoW to NPCs, primarily NPCs that are meant to be killed.
• MP5: Mana per five seconds
• MT: Main tank
• NE: Night Elf
• NPC: Non-player character
• NR: Nature resistance
• NW: Netherweave
• Nerf: A change to the game that makes a given class/spec weaker
• OH: Off-hand
• OOM: Out of mana
• OP: Overpowered
• Pat: Patrol
• PBAoE: Point-blank AoE (an AoE spell that radiates out from the caster, like Arcane Explosion)
• Pot: Potion
• Proc: As best as I've been able to figure out, this is short for "Process" "Procedure" (see WoWWiki). What it refers to is things that have a chance to go off when some event happens. For instance, a Fiery enchant has a chance per hit to cause extra fire damage. This ability of the Fiery enchant is known as a "proc;" when it activates and causes the extra damage, one can say that it has "procced," and the activation itself, the extra damage, can also be called a "proc."
• PUG: Pick-up group (a group formed "on the spot" by use of the LFG tool or a channel or something, as opposed to a guild group or some other group of friends)
• PvE: Player vs. Environment
• PvP: Player vs. Player
• RAP: Ranged attack power
• Res/Rez: Resurrect/Resurrection
• RL: Real life
• RP: Role-play[ing]
• SR: Shadow resistance
• Spec: Specialization (in a profession or talents)
• T1/T2/etc.: Class-specific sets of gear that drop from raids.
• UD: Undead
• UI: User interface
• Xmute: Transmute
• Zones:
• Eastern Kingdoms:
• BB: Booty Bay
• EPL: Eastern Plaguelands
• IF: Ironforge
• SMC: Silvermoon City
• SoS: Swamp of Sorrows
• STV: Stranglethorn Vale
• SW: Stormwind City
• TM: Tarren Mill
• UC: Undercity
• WPL: Western Plaguelands
• Kalimdor:
• Darn: Darnassus
• Exo: Exodar
• Gads/GZ: Gadgetzan
• Org: Orgrimmar
• STM: Stonetalon Mountain
• STP: Stonetalon Peak
• TB: Thunder Bluff
• XR: Crossroads
• OL: Outlands:
• BE: Blade's Edge
• HFP: Hellfire Peninsula
• HH: Honor Hold
• NS: Netherstorm
• SH/Shat: Shattrath City
• SMV: Shadowmoon Valley
• Tero: Terokkar
• TM: Thrallmar
• ZM: Zangarmarsh
• Instances (5-man):
• RFC: Ragefire Chasm
• WC: Wailing Caverns
• VC/DM: Deadmines
• Stocks: Stockade
• SFK: Shadowfang Keep
• BFD: Blackfathom Depths
• Gnomer: Gnomeregan
• RFK: Razorfen Kraul
• SM: Scarlet Monestary
• GY: Graveyard wing
• Arm: Armory wing
• Lib: Library wing
• Cath: Cathedral wing
• RFD: Razorfen Downs
• Ulda: Uldaman
• ZF: Zul Farrak
• Mara: Mauradon
• ST: Temple of Atal'Hakkar (a.k.a. Sunken Temple)
• BRD: Blackrock Depths
• BRS: Blackrock Spire
• LBRS: Lower Blackrock Spire
• UBRS: Upper Bloackrock Spire (technically a 10-man, but doesn't feel like a raid, in my opinion)
  
• DM: Dire Maul
• DM Trib: Dire Maul tribute run
• Strat: Stratholme
• UD Strat: Undead side of Stratholme
• SC/Live Strat: Scarlet side of Stratholme
• Scholo: Scholomance
• HFR: Hellfire Ramparts
• BF: Blood Furnace
• UB: Underbog
• SP: Slave Pens
• SH: Shattered Halls
• SL: Shadow Labyrinth
• SV: Steamvaults
• BM: Black Morass
• Instances (Raid):
• ZG: Zul'Gurub
• AQ20/RAQ: Ruins of Ahn'Qiraj
• AQ40/TAQ: Temple of Ahn'Qiraj
• MC: Molten Core
• Ony: Onyxia
• BWL: Blackwing Lair
• Naxx: Naxxramas
• Kara/KZ: Karazhan

For class-specific abbreviations, click on.

Tags: abbreviations, chat, netspeak, warcraft, world of warcraft, wow

Filed under: Tips, WoW Social Conventions, Features