Our Fortnite Glossary & Terms guide runs through all of the potential slang you might find in the game while playing. Some of these can be obvious, but there are others that could use a bit more explaining. This guide is also useful if you're just curious where some of the terms have originated!
Fortnite Terms & Glossary List
I'll try to explain the origin of the term when applicable, but it's not always available or obvious. Some of these terms originated in Fortnite, but a lot are from other shooting games from the past. If you are curious about a specific term, try doing a find on the page for it!
1v1
A 1v1 is when you battle a player one on one. This can be in a normal game, but players will do 1v1s in Playground to practice their skills.
1x1, One by One
This is a term for a structure that is built by a player that is a one by one square built upwards. Myth, a famous streamer, used to be pretty infamous for building these up and camping them to get wins. The tactic is not used nearly as much anymore, most players are pretty aggressive.
90s
This is a term for a specific technique of building that is considered the fastest way to get high ground on a player. To perform a 90, you place two walls, a floor, and a ramp. Each new section you are turning 90 degrees and doing it again. You would continue to do this until you've gotten above your enemy. I recommend watching a tutorial like the following one to really understand them.
ADS
ADS stands for Aim Down Sights. You do this when you press and hold right click or left trigger. This zooms in the aim of your weapon and allows for a more accurate shot.
AFK
AFK stands for Away From Keyboard. It's pretty common computer slang for needing to leave your computer or game briefly to take care of something in real life.
Aimbot
Fortnite doesn't get a lot of cheaters, but a common cheat for shooter games is the Aimbot. This is a 3rd party program that basically aims for you, and will give you perfect aim on people. It tracks people through walls so you'll know where they are, and can do various other things. Using one of these in the game will get you banned really quick!
Bait, Baited
If you bait or you baited someone, it means that you tricked someone into doing something that did not end well for them. You "baited" a trap, which is typically a hunting term.
Big Pot
Just another term for the Shield Potion that gives you +50 Shield.
Bloom
Bloom is what Fortnite uses to determine where shots go once they are fired. Each time you fire a bullet out of a weapon that has bloom, it will land somewhere within your crosshairs. You can lessen bloom by standing completely still or crouching. Guns like the assault rifle and smg are generally the most affected by bloom.
BM or Bad Manners
Kind of a widely used term in gaming. It usually refers to a player who has gotten one over on someone and instead of being a good sport about it, will do something negative. This is usually a situation where a player has eliminated another player and then will do an emote or dance as a way to taunt them. That is considered at times to be bad manners or bm if it is being done in a negative way.
Bot
The term bot refers to a player who plays poorly. It originates from other shooter games where you can add Bot players (computer controlled) to a multiplayer lobby and play against them. Bots were usually pretty comical due to playing poorly, moving predictably, or getting stuck in spots.
Buff/Buffed
When something is buffed, it means that it has been increased in power or given more damage. The word buff is usually used to describe someone who is very strong and has a lot of muscles. So, if you were to get buff, you'd workout and lift weights to gain strength.
Build Battle
A build battle is when you and another player are attempting to get the high ground from the other by building speedily. This generally doesn't involve much firing of weapons, and you are largely focused on just building quicker or blocking the other player from getting above you. Really proficient players can build, edit, and fire at players quickly while in the midst of a build battle.
Bunny Hop
Pretty rare term in Fortnite for speeding up your movement by jumping at a specific time to gain momentum. This was a famous maneuver in Counter-Strike. In Fortnite, you can kind of bunny hop forward after you've exited your glider which propels you forward quickly.
Camper, Bush Camper
Campers tend to try and stay in one spot the entire game and rarely show their face to survive to the end. They will sometimes just build a 1x1 structure and wait in it until they see an opportunity to get an easy kill. A bush camper is a particular breed of camper that will sit in one of the bushes that are scattered across the map. This can be effective because it's pretty hard to see a player that is crouched in a bush. You can occasionally get eliminations this way, or survive to the end of the game without being detected.
Choke (Choking)
To choke is to play badly in a high pressure situation, usually when you have an advantage. For example, if you were in a 1v1 at the end of the game and you have high ground and miss an easy shotgun shot. That's choking. It can also be used in more general terms, like you miss an easy snipe, you choked the shot.
Clutch
To be clutch is to play your best in a tense situation. If you are in a tough battle and you hit an amazing shot then you were clutch. This is usually when you are at a disadvantage and you come out victorious. To put it in sports terms, when a basketball player's team is down 2-points with 2 seconds left in the game and they hit a 3-point shot, they were clutch in that moment.
Cracked
Basically, the same thing as goated, insane, sick, or skilled. It seems to have gotten popularity from Bugha, who won the Fortnite Solo Player World Cup Championship.
Crank
Generally used in combination with 90s, as in the phrase "Cranking 90s." This just means you are doing a lot of them quickly and are "cranking" them out.
Desert Eagle
This is another name for the Hand Cannon in Fortnite. In Counter-Strike, it is known as the Desert Eagle and it's basically the same gun.
Double Pump
This was a technique you could do with two shotguns but was nerfed. You'd run the shotguns, usually a pump but in later times you could run two heavies. What you would do is fire the shotgun, and then immediately switch to the next shotgun and fire that one and continue to switch back and forth. The purpose of this was to remove the delay from when you fire your single shotgun until you can fire it again which was the weakness of the pump. There is now an added delay to when you switch between any two shotguns that have been recently fired.
Downed or Knocked
This just refers to an enemy that has had all of their health removed and they can be picked up by a teammate. The important distinction is that this can only happen in Duos or Squad games. In solo, if you are lose all of your health you are eliminated from the game and cannot be resurrected.
[fortnite_bests]
Dog House
There's a few houses scattered across the map that have a small dog house near them, and the entire house that is near it is referred to as a dog house. The most notable one is in Pleasant Park.
Dub
A "dub" is short for the letter W (weird, I know), which means a win (getting a W).
FAMAS
The Epic and Legendary Burst Rifle are sometimes referred to as the FAMAS. This is largely due to it being a gun in Counter-Strike, and also because the gun model itself looks exactly like the gun in real life. The gun is not labeled as a FAMAS in-game.
First Shot Accuracy
For weapons that have bloom when they fire, you can stand completely still and ADS (aim down sights) to make your crosshairs come together. Once they do, the next shot you take with that weapon will be 100% on the dot if you don't move. It's generally not a good idea to stand too still, but there will be times when you get the jump on enemies where you can take a bit more time to take your first shot.
FOV (Field of View)
Field of view is what determines what you can see on your screen. There's been a lot of talk in the competitive Fortnite community about an FOV slider so players could have a better view while they play. This was one of the big factors behind people playing with stretched resolutions. Fortnite has a fixed FOV, so everyone is on the same playing field.
GG
GG stands for Good Game. This can be used as a positive when complimenting another player on a good game, or it can be used as a sarcastic remark in reference to some unfortunate thing that might occur in the match.
Ghost Peeking
Ghost Peeking was a popular way to hide behind a ramp and fire shots at enemies that were in your view. What you would do is crouch down and either spam crouch and fire a bullet each time you'd stand up, or you could hit jump and then immediately hit crouch again to spam shots out even faster. This would make it very hard to be hit by players, and you could fire shots very accurately at enemies. This has since been (mostly) patched out of the game.
Goated, Goated on the Sticks
This is a console gaming (X-Box, PlayStation, Nintendo) specific term. Goated is a play on the term "G.O.A.T.", which stands for Greatest Of All Time. This was usually referenced towards sports players in the past, Michael Jordan from the NBA likely being one of the main targets for this term. "Goated on the Sticks" is just kind of a joke that you are the best player at using a controller or have made a play that was particularly good. A console controller generally has two control sticks, one for movement and one for moving the camera and aim. These are referred to as "sticks", and if you are playing well with a controller, you might just be Goated on the Sticks.
Harry Pottered
Harry Potter lived under the Dursley's staircase in a small little closet when he was young. So, to get "Harry Pottered" in Fortnite is to get stuck below a player's ramp and walls. This usually leads to you getting trap killed, so try to avoid it as much as possible.
High Ground
Pretty obvious but when you are above a player you control the high ground. This is important because the player who controls it is usually in a much more advantageous position and will generally win the fight.
KOBE!
Used when throwing a grenade of some sort and trying to sink it in a tight area or hoping that it will land beneficially. Can just be generically used when throwing an object or launching a grenade from a grenade launcher. The "Kobe" that is being referred to with this is Kobe Bryant, who was a very famous Basketball player who retired not too long ago. He was known for shooting shots from a lot of awkward angles and making them.
Lag or Lagging
Lag refers to when your internet connection is slow and the controls you press in the game are performed slowly by the server. This can give you a significant disadvantage against players who have no lag.
Lasered
This is usually used when someone hits another player for a bunch of damage with an assault rifle or smg. Due to the game having bloom, it can be uncommon to "laser" someone because the bullets can spread randomly.
LeBron's House
This term largely refers to the house in Retail Row that has a basketball court attached to it. Naturally, LeBron James the basketball player would live there because he'd need to practice his game when at home. This term can be used with any house that has a court near it.
Loadout
A loadout is the current weaponry you have in your possession. You'll want to have an idea of your perfect loadout so you can quickly loot equipment and replace the items you don't want. A general loadout would be: Assault Rifle, Shotgun, SMG, Medkit, Shields.
Low Ground, Low Ground Warrior
If a player isn't that proficient at building and is generally stuck fighting from below another player they are in the "low ground" or are considered a low ground warrior. You can actually get quite good at using the low ground to win fights if you play it correctly.
Mats
Just a shortened term for Materials. This refers to the wood, brick, or metal you can harvest throughout the game and use to build structures.
Meds
A shortened term for anything that heals your health like medkits or bandages.
Minis
A shortened term for the Small Shield Potion that gives you 25 shield when used.
Nerf
If something has been nerfed, it has been reduced in power. You will commonly see this with weapons that have been added that start to be must carries for players. A notable example was the Compact Gun that used to have a 50 round Magazine Size, but has been reduced to 40 and thus lowering its power. The term "nerf" refers to Nerf guns and that they shoot soft projectiles.
No Scope
No scoping someone means you fired a weapon that requires you to be scoped to be accurate and actually hit someone with it. This is usually very hard to do because the shot when no scoping is very inaccurate. For the most part, this is only done with sniper rifles.
No Skin (Default)
A "no skin" is a player that doesn't currently have a skin equipped. Players like this are typically looked at as new or bad players because they don't own a cosmetic. However, players have now started to just go without a skin so their enemies will potentially underestimate their abilities.
Noob, Newbie, Nub
Noob or Newbie can have a couple of different meanings. In more positive terms, it just means a player that is new to the game and likely hasn't picked up all of the mechanics yet. In a more negative context, it means a player that is so bad that they play like a player who has never played the game before.
Nutty
I don't hear this one too often, but it usually means that someone did something crazy or played highly skillful. For example, someone might throw an impulse down, launch themselves, and hit a no-scope sniper shot. That would be a "nutty" shot. You could also use it in the context of a player just totally outplaying someone with a high skill level play and it could be termed as nutty.
OG
OG stands for Original Gangster, this is a term that was used a lot in rap and hip hop. An OG in Fortnite refers to either a player that has been playing for a long time, or a cosmetic that only a person who has been playing for a long time would have. An example of an OG skin is Ghoul Trooper, because someone would only have that if they were playing in the early stages of Fortnite.
One Pumped
One Pumped simply means you took out or got taken out by one shot from a pump shotgun.
One Shot
You will hear this term a lot in general play. What this means is that someone on your team has gotten an enemy player to within one shot of being knocked or eliminated. This term is also kind of a joke, because you'll hear people use it and the enemy in question is decidedly not one shot away from being downed. Players tend to say this anytime they get a hit on another player.
One Tap or One Tapped
If you one tap a player, that means you shot and eliminated them with one shot. This is more common with a shotgun or sniper rifle.
OP or Overpowered
If something is OP or Overpowered, it generally means that an item is out of balance with the other items in the game. For example, players in the competitive community feel like the Drum Gun is OP because it shreds walls and deals a lot of damage quickly. This is felt to be out of balance with the rest of the weapons in the game, so it feels overpowered.
Phasing or Phase
You'll hear a lot of players complain about opponents "phasing" through their builds. This just means that the other player was able to walk through a built structure piece as it was being placed. This can sometimes be due to lag, or it just happens because you built right on top of the player. Sometimes the player is going to end up on your side of the build when that happens.
Ping
Ping can have a couple of different meanings. Sometimes people will say, "I pinged off their shield." In that context, it just means someone shot someone enough to break their shield and they only have health remaining. Now-a-days, it's more common to use "ping" for using the Ping System to mark a location your teammates should know about. You can set a marker to demonstrate to your team where an enemy might be, where they should go next, or to mark the location of some loot.
Ping also refers to the speed of communications with the servers in game. A lower ping is desired because it feeds information to you quicker and allows you to react faster and input commands quicker that are more quickly interpreted by the server.
Pyramid
A pyramid is another word for the roof structure you can place in the game. It's the little triangle like piece that is used alongside walls, floors, and stairs. To pyramid someone, means you blocked them from getting higher than you with this piece. The way this structure works is a bit different than the others and it can be placed a bit higher than the other pieces, which makes it ideal for blocking people above you.
Quick Scope
This largely pertains to sniper rifles, when you quickly scope and take a shot with it. The benefit to doing this is that it will largely be more accurate than if you were to shoot one without scoping (no scope). When you no scope with a sniper, it will usually be very inaccurate unless you stuff the muzzle directly into your enemy. Quick scoping gets you closer to true accuracy, allowing you to take a semi-decent shot at someone that is close to you.
Rez
Short for "resurrected" and is used by a player who needs a teammate to pick them up after being downed.
Rocket Ride
If you weren't following Fortnite: Battle Royale in the very early days you might have missed out on this. One of the big first "viral clips" that came out was of a player jumping onto a launched rocket and being able to ride it across the map. This is now known as "rocket riding" and extends to things like the grappler where you can launch your friend outwards via a rocket or other projectile item.
Rotate
This is kind of an odd one, but to "rotate" in Fortnite and in other Battle Royales is to make your way from where you are to a safe spot within the circle (storm, poison, etc.). It can get a bit more detailed, some players have planned rotations, where they land at one place and specifically make their way to the next spot. They are "rotating" to the next area. You also hear this used in terms of discussing enemy movements, such as: "Teams are rotating now." This means players are making their way from wherever they are to a safe spot within the zone. You can use this knowledge to attack them while they are trying to avoid the storm.
Rubberbanding
When you have particularly high ping or you are lagging in game your character will appear to move forward but snap backwards to a previous positioning. This act of moving forward slightly and bouncing back is referred to as rubberbanding.
Scrim
Short for scrimmage, it's how pro players practice for tournaments. It's an older word used in other sports for simulating a game.
Siphon
Epic implemented a feature called siphon into a LTM sometime ago. Each time you would get an elimination, you would get 50 health or shield. So, you were basically siphoning the health from the person you eliminated. This was eventually implemented into the competitive playlists, and then later added to the regular game mode. Epic eventually (controversially) removed it from the regular game modes and LTMs, but kept it in the competitive playlists and new arena mode.
Spawn Island
The area you arrive before a game is called Spawn Island. You will see players from your team and who you will be up against here. There are guns and resource elements you can interact with while your game is loaded up with enough players. You can actually see this island visually from the main island you play on in game.
Splodes
This is a general term for rocket or grenade launchers, but can also extend to things like grenades or dynamite. Anything that can explode can be referred to as a splode.
Spray & Pray
This is a long time FPS and shooter game phrase that relates to a player holding down the fire button on their automatic weapon (spraying) and hoping that it hits the opponent without much actual aiming being involved (praying). So, if you are in a high panic situation and you just start firing to hope you hit them because they are moving sporadically, you are spraying and praying!
Stream Sniper
A "stream sniper" is a player who watched a Twitch or YouTube Streamer and attempts to join their game. If they are successful, they will find out where they are by continuing to watch the game and attempt to eliminate them. Some players stream snipe and don't attempt to kill the streamer, and will just emote or jump up and down.
Stretched Resolution
Somewhat of a controversial subject, but players would purposely use a smaller resolution so that it stretched onto their monitor. What this can do is potentially increase your FPS if you are on a slower computer, and it also increases your vertical FOV (field of view). Increasing your vertical FOV would help a bit in tighter quarters as you would have more vision vertically. Epic has put forth some measures that make it more difficult to use stretched resolution, and in particular limited it in competitive modes.
Sweat or Sweating (Tryhards)
Players are referred to as "Sweats" if they play extremely hard and potentially build at a pro level. Players like this also stereotypically wear similar skins like the World Cup Soccer Skins or other female skins that are low profile. This term is usually used negatively, but ironically the players who accuse others of getting sweaty are high tier players themselves.
Tagged
Usually just means that the player who is using the term has been hit by or hit an enemy for a lot of damage.
Thirsting
This term is used for if you eliminate a player who has been downed immediately afterwards. While this is sometimes a good idea, it can be bad if you are actively fighting someone else and are wasting your time trying to secure an elimination. Thirsting comes from the idea that you are so desperate to get an elimination that you are "thirsty" for it. Basically, you need fluids so bad that you are thirsty enough to be aggressive to get it.
Tommy Gun, Thompson
These are other names for the Drum Gun that was pretty popular when it was in the game but has since been vaulted. The real world name of the gun is the Thompson Submachine Gun, but is generally shortened to Tommy Gun. It is popular in pop culture due to it being synonymous with the prohibition age in America. This was the time of Al Capone and the Untouchables (Eliot Ness, etc.) The "drum" portion of the name in Fortnite is a reference to the circular "drum" magazine attached to it.
TTV
TTV stands for Twitch.tv, which is where a lot of popular Fortnite personalities stream their gameplay. People place this in their name as a way to promote their stream. If a person with TTV in their name gets an elimination on a big streamer, it can sometimes lead to them getting some extra views and popularity. This can also backfire, however, because if you are streaming and make a bad play, you'll get people in the chat to make fun of you for it.
Vaulted
When an item is vaulted, that means it's removed from the loot pool of the standard Fortnite: Battle Royale mode. The item can sometimes appear in other modes, but it won't be available in the general game or for competitive play. Items that are placed in the Vault can return in the future. We've seen this multiple times, and they've even had an event where they allowed the players to vote on the item they wanted back in the game!
You can learn more about this with our Fortnite Vault Guide.
W-Key
You'll sometimes see the term "w-key warrior" or holding down the "w-key." This isn't too confusing to PC players, but it might be to people who only play on console. The W-Key on a PC Keyboard makes you run forward, so someone who holds it down is always running forward and being aggressive. This term was largely popularized by the streamer Daequan.
YEET! or YA-YEET!
This is a pretty versatile word, and is used sometimes like KOBE! when throwing a grenade or launching a projectile. It is also used when sending a sniper shot, or when you win a game. It can be a celebratory word, or can be used all the time by people who just feel the need to say it constantly. I'm honestly not sure what the origins of it are.
Published: Jan 7, 2019 02:49 pm