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Video game language is really one of the most interesting ones considering it will always be changing and it isn't a official language. Anyone can make a difference to it by making up a word and get people to use it and there are no guidelines or rules. Every gamer develops their own style of gamer language depending on friends, games and community. Of course the biggest thing to affect this is the games. What game does the person play? Every community within any game has their own differences from the basic guidelines in gamer language and it is not always so easy to understand.

Some of the common stuff to use within any game or community can consist of.
LOL = Laugh out loud, this is now a very common one that are not only used by gamers and it is even said in real life by a lot of people.
ROFL = Rolling on floor laughing, a less used version of lol really.
AFK = Away from keyboard, a very common one for when you are not by your computer and you want the people in the game to know that you are not.
BRB = Be right back, used within any game often when going afk.
TBH = To be honest, used a lot in discussions in any game community.
WTF = What the f*, used a lot in general not only within games.
AFAIK = As far as I know, a long thing to type unless you use the short version, this is a must to know when playing online games.
QFT = Quote for truth, less commonly used, but still used so I felt I could as well put it up here.
ASAP = As soon as possible, used in real life as well, even at work places so this one should be known by heart.

The above ones are just some of the words you can encounter when taking on a game for the first time and they are pretty much required knowledge. If you do not know these you will probably be lost fast when talking to a gamer. I use at least four of the above terms in real life while describing actions. Some of them are just very basic knowledge and good to know in general. Terms like ASAP is definitely something you should know if not only for games, but for eventual times in real life as well.

Other terms can be more game specific. I have mostly in my life been a MMORPG player and I feel that is the game with the most terms that will change overnight. In a MMORPG the terms used will always be a mixture of the normal ones above and all the game specific ones. The ones specific for the game can include short names of places in the game, like Undercity in World of Warcraft becoming UC and so on. These are a lot harder to get to know 100%, but these ones are also less embarrassing to not know as they change all the time and there might be several places with the same short name.

So if you are the parent of a gamer I would just advice you to take a look at the first ones I mentioned really, those will be the most commonly used phrases that are easiest to take up in real life as well. I hardly use any game specific terms in real life, but I use a lot of the general ones. And modified general ones like LOL becoming LAL even though that makes no sense. If you have a interest in learning the language of your children then try to look around at the sites of the game he or she plays, but I would rather advice you to stay clear and just pray to god he or she wont start speaking like that in real life.

Learn more about this author, Alexander Maaby.
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