The Big List of WoW Abbreviations.

Observing a tightly-knit community’s idiosyncrasies can confuse any newcomer and this is especially true in World of Warcraft. This bewilderment can be exacerbated by the abbreviations that the subscribers use to cut down on typing time. Instances, game mechanics, skills and spells are all shortened to their initial parts. So here I present a guide to help the newcomer.

This post contain naughty language!

1H: One-handed (weapon type).
2H: Two-handed (weapon type).
5SR: Five Second Rule. In-combat mana regeneration begins after 5 seconds of spell inactivity.
Add: An Additional (and often unexpected) mob has entered the fight.
AoE: Area of Effect. Instead of targeting a single mob, AoE spells will affect an area of ground.
AFAIK: As Far As I Know.
AFK: Away From Keyboard.
Aggro: Aggression/Aggravation. Interchangeable with Threat.
Alch: Alchemist.
Alt: Alternative character. See Main.
AP: Attack Power.
AP: Armour Penetration.
ATM: At The Moment.
BBL: Be Back Later.
BE: Blood Elf. Sometimes BElf.
BG: Battleground.
Bio: Used in place of ‘a biological function’.
BoE: Bind on Equip.
BoP: Bind on Pick-up.
BoU: Bind on Use.
BRT: Be Right There.
BRB: Be Right Back.
BS: Blacksmith.
BS: Bullshit.
BTW: By The Way.
Buff: An often temporary spell that boosts certain statistics.
CBA: Can't Be Arsed.
Creep: Aggressive NPC. See Mob.
CC: Crowd Control. Spells that prevent mobs from fighting such as the Mage spell
Polymorph.
DIAF: Die In A Fire, used primarily to wish a painful death upon the recipient.
DKP: Dragon Killing Points. A points-based loot distribution system used by many raiding guilds. DM: Damage Mitigation.
DND: Do Not Disturb.
DOT: Damage Over Time. A DOT spell has its damage delivered over a certain period.
DPS: Damage Per Second.
DR: Diminishing Returns.
DW: Dual-Wield. Having a one-handed weapon in each hand.
Eng: Engineering.
FA: First Aid.
FFS: For Fuck's Sake.
FP: Flight Path/Point.
FTL: For The Loss. Something that is so bad it will make you unsuccessful in your venture.
FTW: For The Win. The opposite of FTL.
GG: Good Game.
Gief: Corrupted form of Give.
GJ: Good Job.
GTFO: Get The Fuck Out.
GTG: Got To Go. Confusingly, sometimes used as Good To Go.
HPS: Healing Per Second.
HOT: Heal Over Time.
IDC: I Don't Care.
IDD: Indeed.
IDK: I Don't Know.
IIRC: If I Recall/Remember Correctly.
Imba: Imbalanced. Something is so good is has unbalanced the game. Too good.
IMHO: In My Humble/Honest Opinion.
IMO: In My Opinion.
Inc: Incoming. Used to warn other players of imminent danger.
IRL: In Real Life.
L2P: Learn To Play. An insult.
LF: Looking For…
LFG: Looking For Group (to complete an instance or group quest together).
LFM: Looking for more (players to complete a raid/group).
LMAO: Laughing My Ass Off.
LOL: Laugh Out Loud.
LW: Leatherworker. Sometimes LWer.
Main: Your main character. See Alt.
Mats: Materials.
Mob: Mobile. Refers to an aggressive NPC, not to movement. Also Creep.
MH: Main Hand.
ML: Master Looter.
MP5: Mana Per 5 Seconds. See 5SR.
M/T: Miss-tell, used when a whisper/tell is sent to the wrong player by accident. Sometimes used as MT, which is not to be confused with Main Tank.
MT: Main Tank. The player assigned to maintaining the highest threat rating on in-game targets.
NE: Night Elf.
Nerf: Non-Expanding Recreational Foam. According to WoWWiki: to turn a real weapon into a toy version.
NP: No Problem.
NPC: Non-playing Character.
Ofc: Of Course.
OH: Off-Hand.
OMW: On My Way.
OOM: Out Of Mana.
OP: Original Post(er). A forum thread starter.
OP: Overpowered.
OT: Off-Topic.
OT: Off-Tank. A player assuming a secondary tanking role in situations where one tank is not enough.
Pat: Patrolling NPC.
PewPew: To Shoot. Refers to ‘laser gun’ sound effects.
Pot: Potion. Usually referring to health potions when used in combat.
PPM: Proc Per Minute. The amount of times that a special ability can be expected to appear in a minute.
Proc: Procedure or Programmed Random Appearance. The appearance of a special ability. Often used to describe enchantment effect like Crusader. Relic of MUD programming code.
PUG: Pick Up Group. A group formed of strangers.
PvE: Player versus Environment.
PvP: Player versus Player.
QFT: Quoted For Truth. Used mainly in forums to display agreement with the quoted.
QQ: To Cry. The two capitalized Qs picture a pair of weeping eyes.
RAP: Ranged Attack Power.
Res: Resurrect. Sometimes Resuscitate.
RL: Real Life.
RP: Role-playing.
RPG: Role-playing Game
ROFL: Rolling Floor Laughing.
Spec: Talent specialization.
SS: Screenshot.
STFU: Shut The Fuck Up.
T#. Tier 1,2,3 etc. Refers to class-specific sets of armour.
TBC: The Burning Crusade.
TBH: To Be Honest.
TL:DR: Too Long; Didn’t Read.
UD: Undead.
UI: User Interface.
Vanilla: Plain. Used to describe WoW before the expansions.
WC: Wrong Channel. See M/T above.
WF: Windfury, a Shaman ability.
WotLK: Wrath of the Lich King.
WTB: Want To Buy. This is a statement, not a question.
WTF: What The Fuck.
WTH: What The Hell.
WTS: Want To Sell. Again, a statement not a question.
WTT: Want To Trade. Used to initiate a money-less exchange.
Xmute: Transmute. A function available to Alchemists.


Instances and Battlegrounds
AB: Arathi Basin
AV: Alterac Valley
EotS: Eye of the Storm
SotA: Strand of the Ancients
WSG: Warsong Gulch

AC: Auchenai Crypts
AN: Azjob-Nerub
AN:OK: Azjob-Nerub, Old Kingdom.
AQ20: Ruins of Ahn'Qiraj.
AQ40: Temple of Ahn'Qiraj.
Arca: Arcatraz.
BF: Blood Furnace
BFD: Blackfathom Depths
BM: Black Morass
Bot: Botanica.
BRD: Blackrock Depths
BRS: Blackrock Spire
BT: Black Temple.
BWL: Blackwing Lair.
CoT: BM: Caverns of Time, Black Morass
CoT: OD: Caverns of Time, Old Hillsbrad Foothills. (also just ‘Durnholde Keep’).
CoT: Strat: Caverns of Time, Culling of Stratholme
DK: Drak’Tharon Keep.
DM: Dire Maul. Often DiM to distinguish from Deadmines.
DM: Deadmines
Eye: Nexus, Eye of Eternity.
GD: Gundrak.
Gnomer: Gnomeregan
Gruul: Gruul’s Lair.
HFR: Hellfire Ramparts.
HoL: Halls of Lightning
HoS: Halls of Stone.
Kara/KZ: Karazhan.
LBRS: Lower Blackrock Spire
Maggy: Magtheridon’s Lair.
Mara: Mauradon
MC: Molten Core.
Mech: Mechanar.
MH: Mount Hyjal (Caverns of Time, Hyjal Summit).
MT: Mana Tombs.
MT: Magister’s Terrace.
Naxx: Naxxramas.
Nex: The Nexus
Nex OC: Nexus Oculus.
Ony: Onyxia’s Lair.
OS: Obsidion Sanctum.
RFC: Ragefire Chasm
RFD: Razorfen Downs
RFK: Razorfen Kraul
Scarlet/Live Strat: Scarlet half of Stratholme.
Scholo: Scholomance.
SFK: Shadowfang Keep
SH: Shattered Halls.
SH: Sethekk Halls.
SL: Shadow Labyrinth.
SM: Scarlet Monestary
SM: GY: Graveyard wing
SM: Arm: Armory wing
SM: Lib: Library wing
SM: Cath: Cathedral wing
SP: Slave Pens.
SP: Sunwell Plateau.
SSC: Serpentshrine Cavern.
ST: Temple of Atal'Hakkar (also called Sunken Temple)
Stocks: Stockades
Strat: Stratholme
SV: Steamvaults.
TK: Tempest Keep, The Eye.
UB: The Underbog.
UBRS: Upper Blackrock Spire
UD Strat: Undead half of Stratholme.
UK: Utgarde Keep.
Ulda: Uldaman
UP: Utgarde Pinnacle
VH: Violet Hold.
VoA: Vault of Archavon.
WC: Wailing Caverns
ZF: Zul’Farrak
ZG: Zul'Gurub.
ZA: Zul’Aman