World of Warcraft terminology/A-M

''Most of this page is redundant to the Game terms category. All terms should be linked to individual articles. Those terms not covered should be separated into separate articles with  (and   as appropriate) added to the bottom of the wikicode.''


 * See also:
 * World of Warcraft Terminology/N-Z
 * The Game terms category list.
 * The Acronyms category list.
 * The Misspellings category list.

0-9

 * 10-Man : 10-Man raids refer to a group of 10 different people that raid an instance, such as Karazhan (Kara) or Zul'Aman (ZA). 10-Man raids can be much more difficult than the average 5-man instance, but the reward items or loot are of much higher quality. With the Wrath of the Lich King expansion, all new raids can be entered as 10-man raids.
 * 1H : One-handed weapon. Carried by most classes, though carried purely for stats by Mages, Warlocks, Priests and Druids. All other classes rely on these for damage output. The classes who use weapons for damage output will generally carry 1H weapons in PvE, where holding a shield in the other hand is important for damage Mitigation. Rogues, Hunters, Fury Warriors, and Enhancement Shamans will often Dual Wield (two 1H weapons, one in each hand) for primary DPS output. 1H weapons are subdivided into Main Hand, Off Hand, and One Hand. The first two, as their name suggests, can only be wielded in a certain hand, while those designated "One Hand" can be wielded in either hand.
 * 1v1 : A duel between two characters, the simplest form of PvP. Popular dueling sites are in front of Stormwind (the main Alliance capital) and Orgrimmar (the main Horde capital), as well as the town of Goldshire. 1v1 PvP also can occur randomly when opposing faction members encounter one another.
 * 25-Man : 25-Man raids refer to a group of 25 different people that raid an instance. 25-Man raids can be much more difficult than the average 5-man instance, but the reward items or loot are of much higher quality. As of the Wrath of the Lich King expansion, all new raids can be entered as 25-man raids.
 * 2H : Two-handed weapon. Commonly used by Death Knights, Paladins, Shamans, and Warriors to get in very heavy (but very slow) hits. Works well in PvP. Caster classes, such as Druids, Mages, Priests, and Warlocks, also use 2h weapons, but usually in the form of staves, and are generally not used for melee.
 * 40-Man : 40-Man raids refer to a group of 40 different people that raid an instance. All instances since The Burning Crusade are limited to 25 players; hence the only 40-Man raids in the game are Temple of Ahn'Qiraj (AQ Temple), Blackwing Lair (BWL), and Molten Core (MC).
 * 5-Man : Refers to a 5-man party (or the instances designed for such parties), used to distinguish from larger raids. Since the advent of the Dungeon Finder, these instances are frequently ran by pick-up groups (groups that have been randomly assembled).

A

 * AB : The battleground Arathi Basin.
 * or
 * The mage spell Arcane Blast.


 * ABar : The mage spell Arcane Barrage.
 * AC : The dungeon Auchenai Crypts.
 * or
 * Armor class.


 * AD : Argent Dawn - A faction that specializes in dealing with the undead scourge.
 * Adds : Refers to enemies that spawn or wander by during fights. An extra monster that joins an existing battle. This is often used as a warning by a group member: "Add!".
 * AE : Most commonly refers to the mage spell, Arcane Explosion.
 * or
 * Area Effect.


 * AFK : Away From Keyboard.
 * Agi : An abbreviation of agility.
 * Aggro : The condition for an enemy to attack a player. For instance, if a player "has aggro" then he/she is being attacked by an enemy. The act of a monster becoming hostile and attacking you. Often invoked when a player moves too close to a monster and unintentionally provokes it to attack. Aggro also refers to a monster's aggression level towards you.
 * Aggro Radius : The radius around a monster at which point you will provoke it to attack you. Aggro radius depends upon your level and the monster's level.
 * AH : The Auction House.
 * Alch : The alchemy skill, or a player who practices it (alchemist).
 * Alt : Alternate, referring to a character that is not considered a player's primary focus (Main). Other characters on your account besides the one you are currently playering. This is an abbreviation for alternate. Usually alt refers to any character other than your highest-level character.
 * AoE : Area of Effect, a talent or skill that allows multiple targets to get damage simultaneously, such as Flamestrike.
 * AM : The mage spell Arcane Missiles
 * AP : A character's Attack Power
 * AQ : Ahn’Qiraj (raid). AQ10 is Ruins of Ahn'Qiraj, the 10 man Ahn'Qiraj raid. AQ40 is Temple of Ahn'Qiraj, the 40 man Ahn'Qiraj raid.
 * Avatar : Your character.
 * AV : The battleground Alterac Valley.

B

 * Barrens Chat : Refers to the conversation that occurs in the chat channels of The Barrens, a zone in Kalimdor. Barrens Chat is notorious for off-topic (and often totally random) conversation. Why this has occurred in the Barrens specifically, and not in any of the other zones of the game, has yet to be determined.  Supposition suggests that Barrens Chat may be a result of distance and isolation: the Barrens is said to be one of the largest zones in the game, in terms of geographical area and mob level, and players are often so distant from each other that 'face-to-face' conversation is impossible. Another theory is that it is the only non-contested territory that is used by 3 races (Orcs, Trolls and Tauren) as a secondary "newbie" zone. Undead players often choose to quest in the Barrens rather than Silverpine, adding to the population. In addition, the Barrens encompasses quests for a larger level range than almost any other zone, which causes players to stay there for a much longer time than anywhere else. The chat is mostly geared toward, but not limited to, Chuck Norris.
 * BB : Booty Bay, the southernmost city on the continent of Eastern Kingdoms, which possesses a neutral auction house where Horde and Alliance can commence trade. Steamwheedle Cartel.
 * or
 * An abbreviated form of 'Bye-Bye'.


 * BF : Used on some servers to refer to the Rogue Tier 2 Armor 'Bloodfang'.
 * or
 * Blade Flurry. A rogue ability from the Combat Tree.
 * or
 * Post TBC it can refer to Blood Furnace.


 * BFD : Blackfathom Deeps (instance).
 * BG/BGs : Battlegrounds, instances designated exclusively for PvP combat.
 * Bio : Short for "biological break"; usually means a bathroom break or sometimes to eat.
 * BIS : Short for "Best in Slot"; referring to the best possible piece of equipment that a player can insert into a given equipment slot.
 * Blood Elf/BE/Belf : One of two player races introduced with The Burning Crusade expansion pack.
 * Blues : In the game, items are color-coded to identify status. Blues are items of rare quality. A player who has mostly blue items at level 70 is considered to be wearing slightly above average gear. In the World of Warcraft Forums, the name "Blue" refers to the thread/channel supervisor/administrator, as their posts are color coded blue. Attempting to get the attention of a 'Blue' on the official World of Warcraft forums by titling a thread 'Blue, read this' or similar will often cause the thread in question to be locked.
 * Blackjack and Hookers : A guild or raid group that was formed by a guild member that split off due to drama. From the television show Futurama, where in an early episode the character Bender repeatedly claimed he would make his own Amusement Park / Delivery Company / Farm, "with blackjack and hookers!"
 * BoA : Bind on Acquire. See "Bind on Pickup (BoP)." Also Bind on Account.
 * or
 * Post WotLK it refers to "Binds to Account" in which an item binds to the user account rather than to the specific character that acquired the item in question.


 * BoE : Bind on Equip. The item becomes soulbound to you when you equip it. These items can be traded between players until they are equipped.
 * BoK : Paladin skill, Blessing of Kings, which can only be learned by taking points into the Paladin's Protection tree.
 * BoM : Paladin skill, Blessing of Might, often used for melee classes. Also works for Hunter's ranged attack power.
 * BoP : Bind on Pickup. The item is soulbound to you as soon as you pick it up, and so cannot be traded to other players.
 * or
 * Blessing of Protection, a Paladin skill. This skill was removed during Patch 3.0.2 and replaced with Hand of Protection (HoP).


 * BoS : Paladin skill, Blessing of Salvation. This skill was removed during Patch 3.0.2. The skill Hand of Salvation (HoS) was added during the patch, but the game-play mechanics of this skill are completely different.
 * BoW : Paladin skill, Blessing of Wisdom, often used for mana-based classes. This skill was removed during Patch 4.0.1, with the mana-regen stat added to Blessing of Might.
 * BRB : Be Right Back.
 * BRD : Blackrock Depths (instance).
 * BRS : Blackrock Spire, a two-part, 10-man raid instance. Divided into UBRS (Upper) and LBRS (Lower). In Patch 4.0.1, both parts were changed to a 5-man instance.
 * BS : A player who practices the blacksmithing skill. An abbreviation for the Hunter Tier 0 armor, Beaststalker Armor.
 * Bubblehearth : A term referring to the Paladin escape method of cast their Divine Shield (an invulnerability spell) and their Hearthstone or Alterac Valley Trinket in an attempt to teleport to their home town without being killed. This tactic is sometimes used in PvP to escape certain death, but the tactic is frowned upon by other players. Also known as 'Shieldhearth'. Also known as Recall.
 * Buff : A beneficial spell cast on a monster or player. An example of a buff is the mage's Arcane Intellect.
 * Burn : The act of using an ability that has a long 'recharge time'. When a Hearthstone has just been used, and is in cooldown, a player is said to have 'burned his Hearthstone', until the cooldown period completes. Believed to have originated with the massive-multiplayer game 'Guild Wars'.
 * or
 * The action of maximizing one's DPS by any means possible at a critical juncture in order to kill a mob or boss as quickly as possible. For example, often used toward the end of boss fights or if a boss is nearly dead and begin a killing spree. Part of the phrase: "burn him/her/them down".


 * BWL : Blackwing Lair (instance).

C

 * C : Copper (coin, normally), i.e. "I'll buy those Warped Leather Pants for 5c!" The smallest of the three coin values in the game.
 * Cap : To capture a flag, tower, graveyard, etc. in battlegrounds.
 * or
 * Refers to a 'level cap', after which point a player character can no longer gain levels or experience from completing quests.
 * or
 * Refers to any other limit that has been reached such as any rating, "I'm hit-capped" meaning that the person has reached the limit in which hit rating no longer grants a bonus.


 * Carebear : A disparaging term for a player that prefers to help other players attack monsters rather than attack other players in a player versus player environment. Usually this term is used by players who prefer PvP combat.
 * Caster : A character that primarily stays away from the front of combat in order to cast helpful spells on allies and harmful spells on enemies. Mages and priests are two examples of casters.
 * CC: Crowd Control, any of various mechanisms used temporarily to limit an enemy's movements or behavior, such as a mage casting polymorph (a.k.a. 'sheeping'), a hunter using ice trap, a priest casting shackle undead, or even a druid using Hibernate.
 * CD : Cooldown
 * Chant : Short for Enchanting or Enchant, i.e. "Can anyone 'chant my bracers?" or "What level is your 'chanting at?"
 * CL : Chain Lightning, a Shaman spell which hits multiple targets.
 * Clothies : A Mage, Warlock, or Priest, who are restricted to cloth armor for the entire game. These characters are therefore more vulnerable to melee damage.  Can be derogatory. Also known as Squishie.
 * CoD : "Cash on Delivery" for when an item is delivered through the in-game mail system, and the receiving player must pay the sender's specified CoD amount to accept it.
 * CoE : A Warlock spell, Curse of the Elements. Increases fire and frost damage against the enemy. May also refer to Curse of Exhaustion, which reduces movement speed.
 * CoEx : A Warlock spell, Curse of Exhaustion. Reduces target's movement speed.
 * Combat Pet : An NPC controlled by a player that can fight monsters and assist the player and his party members.
 * Cooldown : The amount of time needed for a spell or effect to reset so that it may be used again. Also abbreviated as CD. ''The waiting time before an ability, skill, or spell can be used again.
 * CoR : A Warlock spell, Curse of Recklessness. Increases enemy attack ability but decreases armor and prevents enemies from running in fear.
 * Corpse Camping : When a player deliberately stays near a player's corpse, waiting for them to resurrect in order to kill them when they resurrect. This is not considered grief play according to in-game PvP polices, although most players consider it to be low-level harassment because a character will resurrect with very little health, allowing other players to easily kill them. Not really a World of Warcraft Specific term.
 * Corpse Jumping : Used by solo players, and sometimes small groups, to reach areas that are blocked by numerous mobs/creeps of an equal or higher level than the player. The player(s) will run as far as they can towards their destination before getting killed, and corpse run from the nearest graveyard back to their body. They then resurrect as far away from their body and as close to their goal as possible, repeating as many times as is necessary to reach their goal.  Corpse jumping is not advisable as a general mode of travel, because of the lengthy walk back to the corpse.  Also, the character's currently-equipped armor and weapons will suffer damage and repairs can be quite expensive. Corpse Jumping is often conducted wearing nothing that can suffer durability damage, although this means each run will be shorter.
 * Corpse Running : Also known as Corpse Walking. Involves running a character's 'ghost' or 'wisp' from the graveyard to the site of the fallen body.
 * CoS : A Warlock spell, Curse of Shadow. Increases shadow and arcane damage against the enemy. Obsolete: merged with Curse of Elements in patch 2.4.3.
 * or
 * Cloak of Shadows (rogue ability that dispels mostly Damage over Time spells, but not ones that prevent stealth, such as Faerie Fire).


 * CoW : A Warlock spell, Curse of Weakness. Reduces the damage dealt by target.
 * Creep : Another term for Mob, Mob coming from the older text based MMOs, standing for "Mobile Object," ie, an NPC that moves around on it own. Not really a World of Warcraft Specific term. Nobody uses this term except Blizzard. People use Mob to describe Creeps even when there's only one Creep, usually resorting to the plural of: "a mob of mobs!" when needed. A monster.
 * Critter : Low level creatures that do not give experience points when killed, and do not attack you at all. Examples include rats, cows, small cats, and squirrels. A creature that doesn't attack back, like a bunny] or [[deer.
 * CS : The mage ability Counterspell. Used to prevent an NPC or other player from casting a spell.
 * or
 * The rogue ability Cheap Shot.


 * CTF : "Capture the Flag", a type of game play in which the objective is to capture the enemy's flag by picking it up and running it back to your own flag/base. Requires teamwork and coordination. CTF play occurs in the Warsong Gulch battlegrounds (see WSG). Not really a World of Warcraft Specific term.

D

 * Darn : Darnassus, the Night Elves' Capital City.
 * DC : Disconnect or go LD (link dead).
 * DD : Direct Damage.
 * DE : Disenchant, a skill acquired with the Enchanting profession.
 * Debuff : A negative spell cast on a monster or player that weakens it. An example of a debuff is the warlock's Curse of Weakness.
 * DI : The Paladin ability Divine Intervention. Removed in Patch 4.0.1.
 * or
 * The Warlock ability Dark Intent


 * Disco : Disconnect or go LD (link dead). Also abbreviated DC.
 * DK : Death Knight. Hero class added in Wrath of the Lich King.
 * DKP : Dragon kill points designates a kind of currency which is earned by participating in endgame raids and spent by acquiring loot from endgame bosses. The term DKP is also frequently used to designate raid-level loot system in general. The most popular systems for endgame loot distribution are point-based (and thus DKP systems). The very first endgame loot distribution system was developed by the guild Afterlife in 1999 and named for the original two EverQuest end bosses, both of whom were dragons.
 * DM : Deadmines or Dire Maul (instances). Due to this ambiguity, Deadmines is sometimes called VC, after VanCleef, the former end boss of the instance. As release of The Burning Crusade and loss of Shen'dralar reputation in Cataclysm has caused Dire Maul to lose its status as an end-game instance, DM now almost exclusively refers to Deadmines, which has gained status as an end-game instance due to its heroic mode.
 * DMF: Darkmoon Faire is a monthly event that takes place in both Azeroth (in the Alliance zone Elwynn Forest or in the Horde zone Mulgore) and Outland (in Terokkar Forest, just outside Shattrath City), with one location being visited each month. Here, players can take on quests that reward them with Darkmoon Faire Tickets, special rewards that can be traded in with the fair owners for rare/epic items.
 * DnD : Do Not Disturb; typing  will put you in this state, notifying all private message (whispers) senders, that you are DnD. Do not mistake it for Dungeons and Dragons. Also stands for the Death Knight spell Death and Decay
 * DoT : Damage-Over-Time, usually referring to a spell or ability which harms an enemy over a period of time. Not really a World of Warcraft Specific term.
 * DPS : Damage Per Second.
 * DPSadin : A somewhat derogatory tone used against Paladins that focuses on dealing damage more than healing and ignoring Intellect gears in general. Also may be called Retadin (based on the Paladin talent tree, Retribution), or Critadin for Paladins that stack up on Crit+ based gears.
 * Draenei : One of two new races added in the expansion pack, World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade. Draenei are physically imposing creatures with large tails, originally from Outland.  They left their home world in the wake of the Burning Legion, only to end up crashing on Azeroth in the northwestern islands of Kalimdor.
 * Drain Tanking : A common tactic Warlocks use while leveling, essentially using a high-damage pet and all their damage-over-time effects to drop a target whilst they're using 'Drain Life' to offset the damage being dealt to them.
 * Drop : The treasure left behind by a monster when you kill it. Used this way, it is synonymous with loot. Also a word meaning the act of a monster leaving behind treasure.
 * Dropper : A boss or mob that drops a specific item or known set of items.
 * DS : Darkshire, a town in Duskwood.
 * or
 * An abbreviation for Hunters Tier 2 armor, Dragonstalker.


 * DW : Dual Wield, an ability Rogues, Warriors, Hunters, and Shaman get to wield a weapon in each hand.
 * or
 * Can refer to Duskwood, the area surrounding Darkshire, located south of Elwynn Forest.

E

 * EFC : Enemy Flag Carrier.
 * EFR : Enemy Flag Room.
 * EI : Enemy Infantry. Used to specify that you are referring to the enemy when typing out "enemy" takes too long.
 * Elite : Mobs with a golden dragon around their portraits are elite. Elite mobs are much stronger than regular ones; their relative strength varies, and typically they are extremely difficult to defeat alone even if they are three or four levels below the player. Instances contain mostly elites. Mobs with a proper name (such as "Akubar the Seer") and not a generic one (such as "Bloodsail Warlock") often have a silver dragon around their portraits and are not elite, but rare (see rare mobs below).
 * EP/EPL : Eastern Plaguelands, a zone in the northeast of Azeroth.
 * Epyon pull : A term applied to when a warrior charges into a group of mobs without taking the time to look for patrols or other mobs in the area between them and their charge destination, and without ensuring all party members have full health and/or mana.

F

 * Face Melting: This term is used when describing what Priests (Shadow Priests) do to other players in player versus player, and to a lesser extent, player versus environment. The term originated from the observation that the icon for Mind Flay (a priest talent) resembles a melting face, as well as a famous World of Warcraft forum thread, in which a player inquired as to the effectiveness of shadow priests in PvP. The poster received over 1000 replies of "You will melt faces" in different languages, variations and word orders. The term has been adopted to encompass any type of extreme PvP kill.
 * Face Pull : Similar to a body pull, but suggests a careless or unintentional proximity pull. Often used when a player who is not the tank initiates combat.
 * FD : Feign Death (A hunter ability that causes the caster to appear dead to other players).
 * Fear : A Warlock ability that causes the target to run in terror for a short period of time. Dangerous in certain areas, as the 'Fear'ed creature stands a good chance of running into nearby mobs. Priests and warriors also have fear abilities.
 * FFA : Free for all. Name of a loot method used in the World of Warcraft's looting system.
 * FH : Full Health.
 * Fiery : A short name for the Fiery Weapon enchant.
 * FM : Full Mana.
 * Fodder : This term refers to a method used to randomly distribute items that are of no particular interest to any of the players within a group. This method is oftentimes used after a BoP (Bind on Pick-up) item of rare (Blue) or higher quality has been passed on by every player in the group. To determine who wins the item, every player uses the  command which is typed in the chat window. This command produces a random number between 1 and 100. Higher roller wins the item. This term can also be used to describe the item being rolled on as well.  If there is an Enchanter in the group who can Disenchant items, you can substitute the term "Fodder" with "Shard," ie. "Well, there's a shard." or:  "Shard that trash."
 * Fort : Common term used to describe or ask for the "Power Word: Fortitude" spell to be cast on a player, a highly-desired priest stamina buff, which increases a players health.
 * FP : Flight Point/Path.
 * FR : Fire Resistance, which refers to a player's ability to resist fire spells and effects.
 * or
 * Flag Room, referring to a faction's flag room in the Warsong Gulch Battleground.


 * FrR: Frost Resistance, used to separate Fire Resistance and Frost Resistance since the addition of Naxxramas.
 * FTW : (For the Win) Basically the same as saying "This is the best" or "This is a great item, I recommend using it". Examples may be "World of Warcraft, FTW!" or "+150 Health, FTW!".
 * Fury : One of the three Warrior talent trees, focused primarily on creating Rage.
 * FvF : Faction versus Faction.
 * Flagged : Also Flagged Player. A PvP term. To be 'Flagged' means a player has (willingly or unwillingly) opened himself to attack from any hostile members of the opposing faction.  It is possible to 'self-flag' by attacking a civilian of the opposing faction, buffing another flagged player, or by typing /pvp.  However, when removing 'flagged' status, there is a five-minute delay before the player is 'unflagged'.

G

 * G : Gold (coin), i.e., "I still need 20g before I can afford my mount." Gold is the largest single currency in the game. 100 copper = 1 silver. 100 silver = 1 gold. Copper and silver are both capped at 99, after which they are auto-converted to the next higher denomination.
 * Gad/Gadge/Gadget : Gadgetzan, a Goblin-controlled city in Tanaris.
 * GL : Guild Leader.
 * or
 * An abbreviation for "Good Luck"


 * Glass Cannon : Of unknown origin, possibly from Rise of Heroes: Rise of Legends, where the Glass Cannon is an exceptionally powerful unit; usually, a spell-casting class that can deal large amounts of damage at a distance, but are relatively weak in close quarters. Often used for mages and other spellcasters, who have great offensive capabilities at long distance, but with their cloth armor and very low hit points are the most fragile class in the game. Also often used to refer to Warriors who choose to use Plate or even Mail armor items that trade protective attributes for offensive ones, resulting in a character that can deal heavier damage but is unable to survive as effectively. Not really a World of Warcraft Specific term.
 * Global LFG : Introduced in Patch 1.11, Global LFG was a channel for players who are looking for a "pick-up group" or for groups which were looking for additional players to round out their complement. Because it was the only public channel which is truly global in scope, Global LFG more often than not filled with nonsense chatter. The death of intelligent conversation. Like Barrens Chat, only more so. This channel was removed completely with the creation of the LFG system in 2.0
 * GM : Game Master - The Blizzard team responsible for managing and upholding the rules in realms.
 * or
 * Refers to the Grand Marshal PvP ranking.
 * or
 * Refers to the Guild Master of a guild.


 * Gnomer : Gnomeregan (instance).
 * Gold Farmer : Characters (typically played by more than one person so they can be online 24/7) that do nothing but farm money and high-value loot in order to sell in-game gold to other players for real-world money, or sell rare and epic drops to other players for gold. The typical usage is "Chinese Gold Farmer", since many of these characters are run for profit by companies in China and other parts of Asia.
 * GotW : Gift of The Wild, a druid buff. Like Mark of the Wild, but can be cast on up to 5 members of a party simultaneously and requires a reagent. Jokingly referred to as the 'Cow-buff' or 'Tree-buff'. Removed in Patch 4.0.1 with Mark of the Wild affecting the entire party or raid.
 * Grand Marshal (Legacy): The highest Alliance PvP rank before patch 2.0.
 * Grays : Poor quality items. See Vendor Trash.
 * Greens : Greens are items of uncommon quality, and are color-coded green to identify their status. A player who has mostly green items at level 60 is considered to be under geared, although a player at level 20 in all greens is considered well-equipped since most rare (blue) and epic (purple) items are not available before level 25 or so.
 * Griefer : A person who purposely tries to annoy or anger other players.
 * Grinding : Staying in the same area fighting the same types of monsters for a very long time.
 * GS : Goldshire, a town in Elwynn Forest.
 * or
 * An abbreviation for the Hunter Tier 1 armor, Giantstalkers.


 * GTG " Good To Go.
 * GY : Graveyard, where your ghost/wisp appears after you have been killed. Also a section of the Scarlet Monastery instance.
 * GY Run : Running as a ghost from the graveyard to your corpse. Also known as a corpserun/corpse run.

H

 * Hate : The amount of aggression, or aggro, a monster has built up against you. When a monster has more hate against you than any other surrounding players, it will attack you. Different actions, such as healing players or damaging the monster, will generate different levels of hate. Hate is the synonymous with threat.
 * HC : Stands for Hardcore. Used when people discuss heroic difficulty modes for raids or dungeons. Normally, Trade advertising just adds an H to the raid or dungeon being advertised, but HC was coined from Diablo players where Hardcore is a setting in that game that deletes the character if a death happens.
 * Hearth : To use a hearthstone, or other similar use item, to return to one's home location. As in, "I'm going to hearth back to Goldshire."
 * Hillsbrad Foothills : An area in the Eastern Kingdoms that is most noted for its PvP activity upon the release of the honor system, and before the release of battlegrounds. It is also one of the first contested territories that a player will reach that has towns and quests for both factions.  Alliance members reach this area later in the game than horde do (the Undead race starts near here), and tend to have a level advantage over the horde.
 * HK : Honorable Kill. Occurs when a player kills a member of the opposing faction.  Honorable kills increase a player's honor ranking.  Honor does not decay over time, as stated in the Honor System FAQ and the World of Warcraft Guide
 * HoP : Paladin skill, Hand of Protection. This skill was added during Patch 3.0.2 to replace Blessing of Protection (BoP).
 * HoT : Heal over Time. When a skill heals for an amount over a duration of time. Also can refer to the instance Hour of Twilight.
 * HoS : Paladin skill, Hand of Salvation. This skill was added during Patch 3.0.2.
 * HP : Hit Points or Health Points.
 * HS : Hearthstone (See 'Hearth').
 * or
 * Refers to a Warlock's Healthstone ("Anyone need an HS?").


 * HW/HWL : High Warlord, the highest PvP rank for Horde players before the PvP system changed.

I

 * IAE : Instant Arcane Explosion. Arcane Explosion is a mage AoE spell with no cast time if specced for it. As of patch 1.11, which made Arcane Explosion instant for all mages, the abbreviation has become rare in game.
 * IF : Ironforge, the Dwarven and Gnomish capital city. One of the central hubs of activity for Alliance players.
 * Iggy : Adding someone to the /ignore list.
 * Imba : Imbalance(d)/unfair. Commonly refers to exceptionally good (usually rare (blue) or epic (purple)) items e.g. "That sword is so imba", twinked characters or character classes that have been strengthened by a patch or through lack of development. Compare 'nerfed'.
 * Inc : Short for "incoming" which is a term used by someone to notify their fellow party members of an aggroed mob coming their way. Also used to notify their party of a pull, an incoming buff or heal spell (aka "don't worry!"), a Resurrection of another player, or to notify a party of an incoming Portal, as Portals have a short lifespan. Commonly used in Battlegrounds. Basically, an all around "heads-up!" Not really a World of Warcraft Specific term.
 * Incoming : It means an attack is coming. Sometimes abbreviated as inc (above).
 * Instance : A unique copy of a dungeon created when you and your group enter that dungeon. Only you and your group will be in your copy of the dungeon. Another group that enters the same area will enter their own copy of the dungeon.
 * Int : Arcane Brilliance (from the deleted version Arcane Intellect).
 * or
 * An abbreviation of intelligence.
 * or
 * Interrupt, an ability such as Counterspell or Kick.


 * Inv : Often used in chat as an abbreviation of invite. Most common at the beginning of a battleground (Prior to auto-teaming in 1.1.12).
 * or
 * Short-hand for 'Inventory'.


 * IMO : Abbreviation for "In My Opinion". Often expanded to IMHO or "In My Humble(Honest) Opinion". Not really a World of Warcraft Specific term.
 * Ironlag : (Also, 'Lagforge'). A somewhat common, slightly derogatory method of referring to the Alliance city of Ironforge.  The term originated due to Ironforge's vast, open chambers and the large number of players therein, which often cause severe latency (lag) to players with the bare minimum of system requirements.

K

 * KB : Killing blow, the act of doing the last attack on a player so he/she dies. In a Battleground the player list is sorted according to the number of killing blows by default.
 * KDR : Refers to a player's Kill/Death Ratio. When playing in Battlegrounds the number of times you die or kill another player are tracked by the system and can be viewed at any time during or after the match. Although they have no impact on scoring or Honor, they are still used as bragging rights.
 * Kek : Due to the language engine, a Horde player saying 'lol' will, to an Alliance player, appear to be saying 'Kek'. 'Kek' is often used as a term by both Horde and Alliance, though to a Horde member, 'Kek' would translate as gibberish if used by Alliance.
 * Kiting : A style of combat in which a player continually stays out of combat range of an enemy, while simultaneously causing damage to it.
 * KS : Kill Stealing (or Kill Steal or Kill Stealer).

L

 * L2p : Learn to play. An insulting phrase usually directed at someone who has clearly made an incorrect statement.  Use of 'L2p' is usually colored by disdain. Not really a World of Warcraft Specific term.
 * Lagrimmar/Lagforge : Nickname for Orgrimmar and Ironforge, respectively, due to high latency and large player population.
 * LB : Used on some servers as an abbreviation for the Paladin Tier 1 Armor 'Lawbringer'.
 * or


 * Lightning Bolt, the primary damage spell for Elemental specced Shamans.
 * LBRS: Lower Blackrock Spire (instance)
 * LEEROY : (Also Leeroy'ed, Leeroying.) The act of charging unprepared into combat and causing your party/raid group to be wiped out. This is a reference to the "Leeroy Jenkins" gameplay video circulating online. Common with players who are not native speakers of the language spoken by the server's playerbase, players isolated from voicechat unable to hear plans and instructions for strategies, or by people playing irresponsibly for the purpose of causing unrest (see: "Grief"), like the original Leeroy Jenkins.  The original video gained so much popularity that Blizzard added an achievement to be gained (with title) from successfully opening and killing 50 egg-spawned whelps in the UBRS Rookery.
 * Legendary : Legendary items are of extremely high quality, and are color-coded orange to identify their status. These items are exceptionally rare, and are obtained through repeated item gathering in high level raid dungeons and various other raid level quests. A player who has a legendary item has typically spent 50-60 hours of playing time to get it.
 * Legolas : Referring to Night Elf Hunters. (Recently used to describe Blood Elf Hunters as well, since they are the metrosexual representation of Orlando Bloom). Refers to their supposed resemblance to the famous elf from The Lord of the Rings. Can also be used as a derogatory term (see: Huntard) when describing noob hunters with no originality, being that the name has hundreds of different deviations from the original derivation on every WoW server. ie. Leggleas, Leggolas, Laegolaz, Laygleass, etc.
 * LFG : Looking for Group, usually followed by what dungeon or quest is needed, and prefixed by the player's class, and /or talent skillset. ie. "Prot Warrior LFG SFK pst"
 * LFM : Looking for More, a group needs spots filled by more players.
 * LFW : Looking for Work, usually seen in the Trade channel with a link to a profession, and / or level of said profession.
 * Link : The act of placing the mouseover stats of an item in the trade/party/guild/say channel by shift-clicking the item while the chat bar is open. Commonly used in the trade channel in capital cities while selling, buying, trading, or crafting. ie. "Link that chest piece you just got!" or "Hey could you link the materials needed for that Enchant, please?"  Without linking items, the normal text is usually not taken seriously, especially in the Trade channel, so it's best to link an item for the proper eitquette of having proof of the item in question.  It should be noted that a common joke to be played arises from the Guild channel's default green color being the same hue used by Uncommon items' titles and linked stats, wherein a player manually types out a fictional bracketed item that shows up as a supposed real item, garnering the more gullible players to click repetitively in hopes of non-existing statistics to appear in vain.
 * Lock : Abbreviated form of Warlock.
 * Log : Logging off or disconnecting from the game.
 * LoH : The Paladin's Lay on Hands spell, which recovers an amount equal to their total hit points; commonly called the "Pally's Extra Life."
 * LOL : Laugh Out Loud.
 * Lolladin : See Palla/Pally.
 * LOM : Low On Mana.
 * Loot : To take treasure from a monster corpse or object, such as a chest or box. Also used to mean the treasure itself.
 * LS : Lakeshire, an Alliance town in the Redridge Mountains.
 * LoS : Line of Sight. Refers to creatures or objects that are immediately visible, rather than hidden behind a wall or other obstacle.  Also a term used in spell targeting.
 * LoS Pull : Refers to the technique of pulling mobs that attack at range by aggroing them, then moving out of their Line of Sight, such as behind a corner. This results in the mob stopping their attack and running to you in order to regain their Line of Sight.
 * Lvl : An abbreviation of level.
 * LW : Leatherworking (or leatherworker).

M

 * MA : See "Main Assist."
 * Mara : Maraudon (instance).
 * Mark : Usually applies to the hunter ability Hunter's Mark. Increases ranged damage on the target, and provides the additional benefit of marking the target out with a large red arrow. Also can be used to refer to MotW, the Druid buff Mark of the Wild. Also used to refer to marking targets with raid target icons.
 * Main : Refers to the character a player spends the most time on, see also alts.
 * Main Assist : A player designated to select a target for other players to attack. Usually used in Raids to concentrate damage on one enemy at a time during larger battles.
 * Mats : Abbreviation for "materials" needed in a trade recipe or pattern. Not really a World of Warcraft Specific term.
 * MB : Mana break, often used to inform a party or raid that you are low on mana and need a break to restore it.
 * MC : Molten Core (raid instance), or Mind Control when referring to spells cast on another player or NPC.
 * MD : Misdirection Hunter ability which redirects threat.  Commonly used in instances to pull.
 * or
 * Master Demonologist. Talent in Warlock demonology tree


 * Medge : Functionally similar to such words as 'thingamabob' or 'doohickey'. For instance: Medge of the Wild. Also used for 'The Man, The Myth, The Medgend!' May be used to replace any suitable word in WoW.  Popular with Horde players on the European server of Haomarush.
 * Mez : Any spell that temporarily incapacitates a target. Sometimes used as a verb to mean the act of incapacitating a target. An abbreviation of mesmerize.
 * MH : Menethil Harbor, also called Men Harbor or Meneharb, or more commonly, Menethil.
 * ML : Master Looter; A player designated at the time the "Master Looter" looting option is chosen by a group or raid leader. The ML is the only group/raid player able to loot green or higher items (depending on the party configuration).  The ML has the sole power to distribute these items to individual members of the group/raid. Usually this is done by using the   command, with results based upon need (greatest priority) and greed (lesser priority, based on how many also click 'greed'). A dishonest or unscrupulous Master Looter can break a party, so a decision to use this system should involve the entire party.
 * MMO : Massively-Multiplayer Online.
 * MMOG : Massively-Multiplayer Online Game.
 * MMORPG : Massively-Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game.
 * Mob : A name used to describe a group of aggressive NPC's in a group or close proximity to each other, see: creep. People commonly use this term to describe creeps even when there's only one, because of an older term stemming from text based MMO games, where the coding utilized designated these NPCs as "Mobile Objects." Any computer-controlled character in the game, whether hostile or not. An abbreviation of mobile.
 * Moo : Common (usually humorous) method of antagonizing the players of tauren characters by typing 'Moo!'. Also, an in-game emote, , that allows players to 'Moo' at each other.
 * MOTD : Message Of The Day, used in guilds to let all players know what is going on that day, as well as the Blizzard MotD greeting upon logging into the game.
 * MotW : Mark of The Wild, a druid buff. Also called "paw" or "mark" by some.
 * Mulgroll : A roll for loot that never results in a number higher then 50, origins from the player character Mulgris of Overraided on the server Zul'jin.
 * MT : Most commonly used for Main Tank when in Raids/Instances. See Main Tank
 * or
 * Can also mean Mis-Type or Mis-Tell, implying that a message was sent to the wrong channel or wrong player.
 * or
 * Mana-Tombs
 * or
 * Magisters' Terrace