If you want to fit in with your friends in League of Legends, communicate efficiently in the game or closely follow the competitive scene, you need to keep up to date with the latest jargon.
The language in League is widely acknowledged in the community, from Summoner’s Rift to Twitch, Discord, and Reddit. So, grab a pen and paper and take notes as we explain all the terminology you need to know in League of Legends.
A
AA: Your basic attack or auto attack.
ARAM: All Random All Mid. It’s the little brother to Summoner’s Rift, and its name speaks for itself. All players battle it out for control of a single lane.
AD: Attack damage.
ADC: Attack damage carry. This is usually your bot laner or marksman. They use attack damage items and are often one of the biggest threats in the game.
AFK: Away from keyboard. If your teammate says this in chat, you’re probably done for. Have fun playing four-vs-five.
AP: Ability power.
Area of Effect (AOE): An ability that can hit multiple targets at the same time.
B
Baron: Baron Nashor. This is the big purple boss that appears 20 minutes into a game.
Base: This is where you’ll find the shop, the Nexus, and the inhibitors. If a teammate says they’re going back to base, they’re either recalling, walking manually, or about to die.
BG: Bad game. If someone writes this in all chat, they’re not pleased with the outcome of the match.
Blue buff: A buff that grants increased mana (or energy) regeneration and cooldown reduction. The buff is obtained by killing the Blue Sentinel or an enemy with a blue circle around them.
BM: Bad mannered or bad manners.
Bot: Bot lane.
C
Camp: To repeatedly gank a specific lane in quick succession.
Carry: A player who takes hold of the game and leads the team to victory.
CC: Crowd control.
CD: Cooldown.
Champion pool: A selection of champions a players frequently uses in solo queue or competitive play.
Cheese: An unusual champion build or team strategy that allows a player to gain momentum in the game. It’s often unorthodox and generally comes as a surprise.
Clown fiesta: A ridiculous teamfight or game where nobody knows what’s happening. It usually refers to a lower-ranked game, but can be relevant up to the highest level.
Creeps: Monsters or minions.
CS: Creep score. This is how many minions a specific player has slain in that game.
D
Dive: To continue attacking an opponent and pursuing a kill beneath an enemy turret.
Damage over time (DOT): An ability or attack that deals damage over time.
Damage per second (DPS): How much damage you deal per second.
Double Buff: When a player collects both the blue and red buff.
Drake: Dragon.
E
Elo: A rating system for a player’s rank.
F
Face check: Walking into a brush without vision.
Farm: The act of killing creeps.
Fed: When a player is ahead in gold, levels, and kills.
FF: Forfeit or /ff to surrender a game.
Focus: To prioritize damage on an enemy player or monster.
G
GA: Guardian Angel, an item.
Gank: To flank and surprise and an enemy champion in their lane.
Glass Cannon: A set of items that allows a champion to deal high damage while sacrificing defensive stats.
I
IE: Infinity Edge, an item.
Inhib: Inhibitor. The three glowing things behind the towers in your base.
Insec kick: A play where Lee Sin knocks back an enemy champion into the fray of his allies with the use of Dragon’s Rage (ultimate ability). The phrase is named after former pro player Choi “inSec” In-seok.
Int: Intentionally feeding (allowing your enemy to kill you).
K
Kill lane: A combination of champions (in the bot late) with the intent of finding kills, rather than playing a passive playstyle.
Kiting: Backing away from an enemy and dealing free damage, while simultaneously avoiding attacks.
KS: Kill steal.
L
Lane bully: A champion that’s specifically prominent in the laning phase of the game. They typically take the upper hand when trading and can often secure an early kill.
Laning phase: The early stages in a game where players farm to build items.
Last hit: Securing the kill on a minion or an enemy champion. This is essential to receiving gold.
Leash: When a player assists a teammate (usually a jungler) with killing a monster.
LoL: League of Legends.
Lol: Laughing out loud.
M
Marksman: A ranged AD carry champion.
Mia: Missing in action.
Mid laner: A role that tends to the middle lane.
MOBA: Multiplayer Online Battle Arena.
N
Nerf: To cause an aspect of the game (often a champion) to be weaker or ineffective.
OOM: Out of mana.
OP: Overpowered. Too strong.
Overextending: Pushing too far, often without vision.
P
PBE: Public Beta Environment. A test server for unreleased content and champion balances.
Peeling: Using crowd control or snaring to stop enemies from attacking a teammate.
Ping: To signal something using the ping system.
Penta: Killing five enemies within a short time period.
Poke: Damaging enemy champions while staying back at a safe distance.
PvP: Player versus player.
Q
QQ: Used to imply someone is complaining about an issue.
QSS: Quicksilver Sash.
R
Ragequit: Leaving the game prematurely out of frustration.
S
Scrim: Scrimmage. When teams compete in a friendly match in preparation for a tournament.
Shop: The in-game location where items are bought.