Terminology

Terminology

As with any complex endeavor, a jargon — a set of specialized words or expressions — develops around a game. World of Warships's jargon incorporates nautical jargon as well as that specific to the game. As a result, there are many unusual terms that may appear in a discussion. Below is a list of some of the most common terminology that players may encounter.

A

Term	Definition
AA	"Anti-Aircraft" — usually refers to "AA" guns and capabilities (those guns capable of firing at aircraft). See Anti-Aircraft Fire.
AA Sector	Refers to a side of the ship (port or starboard) where AA gunfire can be reinforced using the Sector Reinforcement mechanism.
AAA	"Anti-Aircraft Artillery" or "Anti-Aircraft Armament" or "Triple-A". Same as AA.
Action time	The length of the period over which a time-limited feature, such as a consumable or sector reinforcement, is active. Typically these periods are separated by reload or cooldown periods.
AFK	"Away from Keyboard". Considered unsportsmanlike conduct.
AFT	obs. The old commander skill Advanced Firing Training.
Aft	Toward the stern of the ship.
Alpha	1) From 'alpha strike' - The amount of damage a ship or weapon can do in a single strike. 2) Alpha Test - the first semi-public phase of World of Warships development.
Amidships	The middle of the ship, roughly half way between the bow and the stern.
Anchor	In battle, a position — typically on or near a flank and usually next to an island — that forces the enemy to deal with the anchor ship in order to win the flank.
Angle	-ed -ing Orient a ship at an angle to the enemy such that the profile is narrow and the side armor presents a sharp angle that will bounce most shells.
AP	Armor-Piercing shells. Ammo article.
AR	Commander skill Adrenaline Rush.
Area Denial	A spread of torpedoes that is used to deter or prevent an enemy or group from entering a desired location, or a consumable (esp. radar) use that prevents a ship from occupying or pressures a ship out of a location.

B

Term	Definition
Bait-Dodge	A technique used primarily by cruisers and gunboat destroyers where a player baits the enemy to take a shot at his ship, only to evade, thus negating most or all damage.
Balans	from 'balance'   A term used ironically in reference to Russian/USSR ships being powerful.
Banzai	Declaration of a hopeless attack (Ramming, YOLO rush). From the Japanese war cry "Tenno Heika Banzai!" (Long live the Emperor!).
Battery	A group or organizational unit of guns, usually by caliber and purpose. A battery is usually controlled by a common director.
Battle-Line	A continuous area of influence that extends between ships in a given sector. Advancing the line applies pressure to the enemy while pulling the line alleviates pressure.
BB	Battleship.
Beam	The breadth of a ship's hull at its widest point.
BFT	obs. The old commander skill Basic Firing Training.
Big Mamie	The nickname of the Tier VIII premium battleship Massachusetts.
Blap	To do a large chunk of damage to an enemy ship.
Blindfire	Salvos fired against a target that cannot be seen from the firing ship. Often done as counter-fire against a ship obscured by smoke, or camping behind an island.
Bot	1) A game-directed combatant. In a PVE mode, one side in battle is composed of bots. 2) An illegal autonomous 'player' ship.
Bote	A joking reference to a ship. (A ship is not a "boat", so the misspelling.)
Bounce	n. A shell hit that ricochets off the target due to the impact angle. v. To ricochet.
Bow	Front of the ship where the porpoises hang out when underway.
Bow-in / Bow-on Bow tanking	Facing the bow of the ship directly at the enemy. The orientation restricts the number of guns that can bear, but reduces the ship's target size and forms sharp angles that tend to deflect incoming projectiles.
Bracket	When a well-aimed salvo misses to both sides of the ship due to dispersion.
Brawl	A close-quarters engagement between ships. Some ships are better than others in this capacity.
BRB	"I'll Be Right Back"
Broadside	n. 1) The long ("broad") side of a ship. Turning the ship's broadside to an enemy allows the greatest number of main battery guns to target the enemy, but presents a large, flat-faced target in return. The opposite of angled. Shells arriving perpendicular to a broadside are much more likely to penetrate than shells arriving at a sharp angle. 2) A salvo of all main guns that can bear on a target.
Buff	To increase the effectiveness of a ship or mechanism.
BZ	"Bravo Zulu" or "Well done".

C

Term	Definition
CA	Heavy cruiser. (The 'A' comes from 'Armored', but the post-WWI CA is distinguished by the larger caliber of its guns.) Generally assigned an anti-cruiser role.
Camp	-er -ing To sit in one spot for the majority of the game. Usually pejorative.
Cap, Capping	from 'capture' - n. 1) An objective area, usually a circle. 2) The capture of an objective area. v. To attempt to control or capture an objective area or enemy base by occupying it.
Carry	To perform far better than the rest of the team in an effort to secure a victory.
Carwash	The soaking of an enemy ship with seawater splashes from shells that fail to hit. See 'bracket'.
CBT	-er Closed Beta Test — an early period in World of Warships development following Alpha test. The test period was by invitation only.
CC	Community Contributor.
CE	The commander skill Concealment Expert.
Chad	Taken from a meme, this is similar to a "YOLO" rush, in which a single ship rushes forward to engage enemy forces.
Chunk	A noticeable amount of damage, but not crippling.
Cit / Citted	Citadel hit.
Citadel	n. The vital areas of a ship containing machinery, magazines, etc. v. To penetrate the citadel and explode within, causing great damage.
Citadel City	A ship that is easy to citadel such as Emerald, Kuma, Omaha, Shchors, or the recent Italian cruisers. These ships are preferred targets for early elimination.
CL	Light Cruiser. A cruiser with smaller-caliber guns. Generally assigned an anti-destroyer or anti-air role.
Clam digging	Running aground. Close inspection of an uncharted island. "Pulling a Notser".
Clubson	Nickname for Tier IV USN destroyer Clemson, for its use in seal-clubbing expeditions.
Cockpit	The place where the crew and the stewardae have their parties. Oh wait. That's World of Warplanes. NVM.
Cockbote	Nickname for Tier X USN cruiser Worcester (rhymes with 'rooster').
Consumable	1) Items that are expended in battle, notably signal flags and single-use camouflage. 2) A class of equipment that provides new or enhanced capabilities to a ship and is consumed in battle.
Cooldown	or 'cooldown time', sometimes 'reload time'. After the use of an equipment Consumable, the length of time until it can be used again (assuming it has more charges available).
Crossfires	Intersecting lanes of gunfire that make it impossible for the enemy ship to effectively angle.
CTD	"Crash To Desktop". Usually accompanied by expletives.
CV	Aircraft Carrier.
CXP	Commander experience.

D

Term	Definition
Daily shipments	Small gifts for logging in each day - usually available with the advent of a new event.
Damage Farming	Doing damage to enemy ships as the primary objective, possibly at the expense of team objectives such as winning the battle.
Damage Saturation	When a part of a ship has sustained damage equal to its health pool.
DB	Dive Bomber.
DCP / Damacon	The Damage Control Party  consumable or its use.
DD	Destroyer.
DE	obs. The old commander skill Demolition Expert. Partially superseded by Pyrotechnician.
Dead Eye	obs. A short-lived commander skill buffing battleship dispersion at longer ranges, thus encouraging back-line camping and sniping.
Death ball	A tight huddle of ships intended to protect against air attack by overlapping AA auras. Mutual defense is good, but a death ball is not recommended due to the amount of map control surrendered.
Death snail	A squadron of ships — often a destroyer and two cruisers — sent up a flank to establish or prevent crossfires, or to roll up the flank. An uncommon tactic as radar places the ships at considerable risk of focus fire.
Deleted / Deletion	When a healthy ship is destroyed instantly; see "Devstrike," "One-shot".
Derp	Acting without skill or critical thought. Typically used by players to acknowledge a silly mistake (either in the battle or in chat).
Derpitz	Nickname for Tier VIII premium KM battleship Tirpitz.
Des Memes	Nickname for Tier X USN cruiser Des Moines.
Detected / Detection	The enemy obtaining enough location information to target a ship.
Detonation	A massive explosion caused by ignition of a magazine that destroys the ship. In Random battle it awards an achievement to the detonated. (The Juliet Charlie signal prevents detonation.)
Devstrike	Short for "Devastating Strike".
DFAA / DF	The Defensive AA Fire  consumable.
Disconnect / DC	When a player disconnects from the battle, whether accidentally or intentionally. Results in AFK. If the disconnect is unintentional, the player may be able to re-enter the battle.
Disengage	Break contact with the enemy.
Dispersion	The spread of shells fired in a salvo, typically described by the lengths of the axes of a containing ellipse. Vertical dispersion (the major axis) being the distance between the farthest and the closest shellfall (re: the firing ship), and horizontal dispersion (the minor axis) being the distance between farthest shellfall left and right.
Doubloons	A currency in World of Warships.
DOT	Damage Over Time. Damage caused by Fire or Flood. 100% repairable if the repair parties have enough action time.
DPM	Damage (health points) per minute. Usually refers to the damage output of anti-ship batteries.
DPS	Damage per second. Usually refers to the damage output of AA batteries.
Draft	How deep the ship sits in the water. The distance from the waterline to the lowest point of the ship.

E

Term	Definition
Earn your trusty flags	obs. Detonation no longer earns Juliet Charlie signal flags.
Economy	The earning and spending of the many in-game currencies.
EXP	Elite XP, or ship experience on Elite ships.
ECXP	Elite Commander XP - 5% of CXP earned by trained commanders, or all experience earned by elite (21-point) commanders.
Elite ship	A ship that has all of its modules, and all dependent ships, researched or unlocked. The term usually refers to tech tree ships as premium ships are always Elite.

F

Term	Definition
Farming	Taking advantage of a situation to accumulate a desired result. e.g. damage farming, farming fires.
Fighter	An aircraft designed and tasked to destroy enemy aircraft. See Aircraft.
Fish	Torpedoes.
Flank	An outermost side of a team's battle line.
Flanker	A ship whose attributes make it ideal for holding or exploiting a flank.
Float	v. The opposite of sink. A desired practice for a ship and her crew. n. A ship that maintains a position usually around the center of a battle formation for screening and line integrity.
Focus Fire	Organized and repeated fire against a single target in the attempt to sink it or force it to run away.
Frag rate / KD	Kill/Death Ratio. How many kills (frags) you have vs. how many times you fail to float in battle.
Freeboard	The height of a ship's side above the waterline.
Fun and Engaging	Traditional phrase expressing frustration over a game mechanic. "Detonating is so fun and engaging."
Furry Taco	Nickname for Tier V IJN cruiser Furutaka.

G

Term	Definition
G2G / GTG	1) "Got to Go." 2) ('GTG' or 'GtG') The commander skill Grease the Gears.
GG	"Good Game". Also Big Grin.
GLHF	"Good Luck and Have Fun!"
Going Dark	The act of disengaging or going back into concealment.
Gold	A World of Tanks currency. The equivalent in World of Warships is Doubloons.
Grind	The amount of time and effort it takes to play and progress through the tech tree, missions, or campaigns.
Gun Bloom	When firing the main guns there is a "bloom" of fire and smoke that can be seen from afar. As a result, the ship's detection range "blooms" to the maximum range of the guns for 20 seconds. (Secondary and AA batteries do not bloom.)

H

Term	Definition
Hard Cover	An object, such as an island, that breaks line of sight or protects ships from incoming shells and torpedoes.
Hard Spotted	Being spotted by a ship within the player ship's detection range.
HE	High-Explosive shells.
Hold	A hold position is usually near the center of the map near an island that is selected for supporting fire on one or more capture points.
HUD	Heads Up Display.
Hull	The part of the ship that makes it float.
Hydro	The Hydroacoustic Search  consumable.

I J

Term	Definition
IGN	In Game Name.
IJN	Imperial Japanese Navy.
Impregnator	Lewd nickname for Tier IV VMF battleship Imperator Nikolai I.
Island Hugging	Hiding behind an island for cover. Usually in an Anchoring or Holding position.

K

Term	Definition
Kek	Alternative to "LOL," indicating amusement.
Kiting	The act of moving away from a superior chasing enemy while engaging them, thereby maximizing the risk/reward factor.
Knot (Kn)	A unit used to measure the speed of ships on the water. 1 knot is equal to 1 nautical mile per hour. 1 nmi = 1.15 mi = 1.85 km.
KM	Kriegsmarine (Germany).
KMS	A ship of the Kriegsmarine. "KMS" is not used in German. Presumably of an Anglophone source attempting to simulate the non-existent German term "Kriegsmarineschiff" or "Kriegsmarines Schiff".
KS / Kill Steal	A misguided accusation for the act of eliminating an enemy ship without "earning" the kill.

L

Term	Definition
Lead	v. To aim a distance in front of or behind the target to counter its speed and direction. n. the amount offset.
Lemming	A small rodent that inhabits arctic and sub-arctic tundra and taiga environments. Lemmings are believed to migrate as a large, mindless horde.
Lemming Train	A group of ships that travel together in close proximity to one area or objective, often neglecting the capture of strategic points and leaving other ships without support.
LL / Load Lock	"Late Load" A frustrating glitch where the ship gets hung up on the battle load screen instead of entering battle with the team. The hang-up can last several seconds or the entire match. Killing the game client and restarting will usually bypass the glitch, but takes a while itself. Failing to enter battle can result in an unsportsmanlike conduct warning.
Lit up	Spotted by the enemy, usually with radar.
lol/LOL	"Laughing Out Loud".
Lolibote	(derived from Japanese slang) A destroyer.
LOLcit / LOLpen	Receiving a citadel or penetrating hit from an unlikely angle.
LoS	"Line of Sight".
Luck-chuck	To launch torpedoes into an area where an unspotted enemy ship is likely to be. Hey! Sometimes it works.

M

Term	Definition
Magazine	The area where explosives and ammunition are stored, usually in close proximity to the guns. Hits on this armored storage room are understandably deadly.
Main	Usually prefixed with a type of ship, e.g. "DD main", "PVE main": A player who prefers and mostly plays a certain type of ship or battle mode.
Main battery, main guns	The largest caliber guns carried by a gunship.
Meta	The common practice in selecting and outfitting ships and fighting them in battle. "Ship X is ineffective in the current meta." Can refer to a map strategy such as camping or island hugging.
MM / MatchMaker	The game's matchmaking system that groups players together for battle.
MN	Marine Nationale (France).
Mods	1) Moderators - Forum moderators who maintain order in the forums or stream chats. 2) Modifications - 3rd party game modifications that alter the game in some way. Some are illegal. Legal mods are often bundled in such as WoWS' ModStation and Aslain's Modpack.
Mong Rush	Similar to Shoving, except with the bulk, if not the entirety, of your team's ships, all in one concentrated blob.

N

Term	Definition
Nerf	Decrease the effectiveness of a ship, a characteristic, or a mechanism.
Newbie, Noob	A player new to the game. 'Noob' has a faintly disdainful flavor. Players are often considered newbies for their first 1000 battles, though protected mode and access level advancement cut off after 200.
NS	"Nice Shot."
NVM, nvm	"Never Mind."

O

Term	Definition
o7, <o	A text emoji representing a salute, typically used as a sign of respect.
o/	A text emoji representing a wave, typically used as a friendly greeting.
OBT	Open Beta Test -ing -er - An early period in the game's development, after CBT.
OOR	"Out Of Range."
OMW	"On My Way."
One-Shot	To destroy a healthy ship with a single salvo. May involve detonation.
Op	Operation, syn. scenario, one of the choices in the Scenarios battle mode.
OP	1) Original Post -er in a forum thread. 2) Overpowered - Said of a game vehicle or mechanism that is unfairly powerful. 3) Over-Penetration.
Open-Water Fighter	A ship who's gun arrangement or survivability is better suited for fighting in the open ocean, vs. using terrain.
Ordnance	Generally, weapons. Usually, what is delivered by weapons: shells, torpedoes, bombs.
Overmatch	A game mechanic in which large-caliber armor-piercing projectiles ignore thin armor on impact, regardless of angle. A shell overmatches a piece of armor if its caliber exceeds 14.3x the armor's thickness. See this table.
Overpen	Over-penetration - A shell hit that passes straight through a ship without doing significant damage. See penetration mechanism. Awards a hit ribbon.

P

Term	Definition
PA	Pan-Asia
Paint Scraper	A torpedo that passes close enough to scrape paint from the hull.
Pen / Penetration	When a shell passes through the target's armor and explodes inside for significant damage.
Perma-fire Perma-flood	Fire of flooding on a ship that has recently used its Damage Control Party  consumable, meaning the fire/flood will deal considerable damage.
Pink, pinked	The result of a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct: the player's IGN and ship icons are colored pink. See this article.
Poi	The infamous tic of an animé character. The word has no meaning.
Pop	-ped -ing To use or activate a consumable (Ex: "I just popped DFAA").
Port	1) Nautical term for the left side (facing the bow) of the ship. 2) A protected place to park and admire your ship.
Port screen	The main screen of the World of Warships user interface.
Potato	An un- or poorly-skilled player. Not always pejorative.
Preemptive launch	A salvo of torpedoes toward where an unseen target is predicted to go. Often used for area denial.
Pressure	Attacking an enemy ship to achieve a desired outcome. That outcome includes but is not limited to; stopping a push, distraction, etc.
Proximity Spotting	(sometimes Proxy Spot) Detecting an enemy by being within the assured detection range, which overrides all concealment. Detection.
Pulling a Notser	Grounding the ship on an island, sometimes intentionally. Coined for WG-CC and YouTuber, Notser.
Push	Moving closer to the enemy in an attempt to gain ground (or sea water) against them.
PVE	Player vs. Environment; used to refer to Co-Op battles or Scenarios, where players fights game entities rather than other players.
PVP	Player vs. Player; used to refer to Random, Ranked, and Clan battles, where players fights other players rather than game entities.

Q R

Term	Definition
Railgun	A semi-joking term used to describe guns with very good ballistic performance and penetration, esp. Russian.
Ram	To perform an intentional collision with an enemy, usually resulting in the destruction of both ships. Can be an effective tactic.
Random Torp(s)	An unexpected encounter with torpedoes, though said torpedoes may not have been aimed at the encounterer. Too often, wayward torps from an ally.
Rekt	Wrecked. Badly damaged or destroyed. "I pushed around the corner and got rekt."
Reverse Push	Reversing toward the enemy in a way that all of your firepower can be used while also giving your ship a viable escape. A form of kiting.
RL / RDF	Commander skill Radio Location, a.k.a. Radio Direction Finding.
RM	Regia Marina (Italy)
RN	Royal Navy
RNG	Random Number Generator, the output of which determines many occurrences in World of Warships.
RNGesus	The embodiment of RNG. Praying to him for good luck in battle has a 50% chance of not working against one.
Robocop	v. To focus-fire a ship from many angles.
Rounds	Shells. Ammunition.
Rudder	A large flat surface used for steering a ship to port and starboard, usually located beneath the stern and behind the propellers.

S

Term	Definition
Salt	-y What an angry player spews in chat.
Screening	Advance ships scouting threats for larger ships. Sometimes, providing a smoke screen to help another ship break contact.
Seal Clubbing	When a veteran player ventures into low tiers to fight inexperienced players — a controversial, if fun, practice.
Shadow	Following an allied or enemy ship using concealment to remain undetected.
Shooting the Bow	Passing close in front of another ship's bow.
Shooting the Stern	Passing close behind another ship's stern.
Shove	In competitive modes, a tactic involving a push up a flank, typically with cruisers.
Sigma	A number representing the probability of a gun's shells falling close to the point of aim. The higher the more likely.
Silver	Credits.
Smoke Camping	Sitting still inside a smoke screen.
Sniping	Typically, a battleship far from the heart of the engagement trying to hit enemy ships that are more than 15 - 20 km away. Not a popular tactic with teammates.
Soft Cover	Something that obscures a ship from detection but does not protect from ordnance. Ex: smoke screens, weather.
Spawn	Where on the map a ship or team starts a battle. "On X map we spawned in the NE corner."
Spec	-ed 'fm. specialized' What a ship/captain is specialized for. "I'm spec'd for AA."
Squat	-ing Hold a position, undetected, early in a battle to exploit a hole in the enemy lines mid-game.
ST	Super Tester, a player who has volunteered to assist Wargaming in testing the game, and thus has access to unreleased ships - but also agreed to a Non-Disclosure Agreement about them, and cannot discuss them with non-ST players.
Starboard / STBD	Facing forward toward the bow, the right side of the ship.
Stats	Player statistics.
Stealth Torp	Launching torpedoes while undetected. (The best way to launch torps.)
Stern	The rear of the ship. The propeller(s) and rudder are located under the stern.
Strats	Battle strategy.
Stream Sniping	Following the Twitch Livestreams of Community Contributors in the hopes of ending up in the same match as them. The ultimate goal is to find and sink them. Often considered poor sportsmanship.
Superstructure	Structures on the deck of a ship.
Sync Drop	Clicking the "Battle" button at the same time as another player in the hoped of getting in the same battle. Similar to Stream Sniping

T U V

Term	Definition
Teamkill, TK	-ing -er Destruction of an ally, resulting in penalties. See this article.
Tech tree	The ships of a nation organized by type and tier. Higher tier ships are more powerful. A player progresses upward through the tiers.
"That's a Paddlin'"	Phrase used by WG-CC 'The Mighty Jingles' to describe the often poor results of thinly-armored ships presenting their sides to hostile battleships.
Torpedo Belt / Bulge	A specialised armor zone on the lower hull of a ship designed to mitigate torpedo damage.
Torpedo Soup	A bunch of torpedoes churning up the sea.
Torpedobeat / Torpbeat	Skillfully maneuvering through torpedo soup without being rekt, especially to the sound of eighties European dance music.
Torps / Torps out	Often, a chat warning to friendly ships that a ship has launched torpedoes behind friendly lines, and to take care to avoid them if possible.
Turn-Out	When a ship reaches a certain position on the map, putting itself at an angle where it can begin kiting once contact is made with enemy forces.
TY	"Thank you"
U2	"You too."
Unicum	A highly skilled player, as evidenced by remarkable stats.
USN	United States Navy
VMF	Voenno-Morskoj Flot (USSR)

W

Term	Definition
Wall of Skill	A large wave of torpedoes, usually from a Japanese Torpedo Destroyer. Ironic.
Warcanoe	Nickname for Tier V premium ship destroyer Okhotnik.
WASD	The principle keys controlling the direction and speed of a ship in combat. Often used to refer to maneuvering to avoid damage. "I used WASD hacks to dodge that wall of skill."
Waterline	The perimeter area of the ship just above and below water.
WG / Weegee	Wargaming.net.
WeeVee	Nickname for Tier VI premium ship West Virginia.
Wide / Narrow spread	The choice of spread between torpedoes. Typically a narrow spread is preferred against a specific target. Wide spread is used for area denial or hunting destroyers in smoke screens. (On some DDs the choice is between wide-ish and single-shot.)
WITNESS ME	"I'm going for the ram!"
WITNESSED	Acknowledging a successful ramming attempt.
WoWs	World of Warships.
WP	"Well-Played."

X Y Z

Term	Definition
XP	Experience, used to research (unlock) ships and modules.
YOLO	"You Only Live Once" — the necessary battle cry to let the team know that the player who just typed it into chat is about to do something very brave or very dumb (suicide charge).
Yolo Emilio	Nickname for Tier IX Premium Destroyer Paolo Emilio
Zone-Out	Using islands to prevent certain enemy ships from engaging your ship.

Notes

Glossary of terms